Oklahoma Restores Gun Rights; Rhode Island Eyes New Restrictions

Oklahoma just delivered a win for law-abiding gun owners, and Rhode Island is doing everything it can to cancel it out.

On April 14, the Oklahoma Senate voted to restore gun rights — a straightforward pro-Second Amendment action that puts the state firmly in the rights-restoration column. That's constitutional governance working as intended.

Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week on a stack of gun bills, and the news isn't good. Two of the measures under consideration are described as "extraordinarily anti-Second Amendment." Every single bill was "held for further study" — keeping them alive on the legislative calendar.

"Held for further study" is the oldest trick in the anti-gun playbook. It sounds like delay, but it means the knives stay sharp. These bills don't die — they wait for the right moment to strike.

Rhode Island lawmakers have a track record of using committee maneuvers to quietly advance gun control when citizens aren't watching. Gun owners in the Ocean State need to understand: the threat isn't dead, it's dormant.

The contrast between these two states couldn't be starker. Oklahoma expands freedom. Rhode Island manufactures new ways to burden law-abiding citizens who have done nothing wrong. Criminals don't register firearms. Criminals don't comply with magazine bans. Criminals don't show up to Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. Rhode Island's target isn't criminal violence — it's you.

The Second Amendment Foundation's grassroots network tracks these legislative battles state by state, and the April 20 report makes clear the fight is happening everywhere, simultaneously, with no off-season.

Rhode Island gun owners: contact your state senators now and demand they kill every anti-2A bill still sitting in that committee. The hearing is over — the fight is not. Find your senator at ri.gov and make your voice impossible to ignore.