The Ocean State will likely soon become the eleventh to restrict popular classes of semi-automatic firearms.

In the waning hours of the state’s legislative session, Rhode Island lawmakers gave their final approval to Senate Bill 0359 on Friday night. The measure seeks to outlaw the manufacture and sale of any semi-automatic rifle or shotgun capable of accepting a detachable magazine that has one or more disfavored cosmetic or ergonomic features. It now goes to Governor Dan McKee (D.), who has pledged to sign it into law.

“I’m proud that Rhode Island took an important step forward in protecting our communities from gun violence,” Mckee wrote in a social media post. “I thank the General Assembly and the many advocates for their tireless work, and I hope they’ll join me when I sign this bill into law. As Governor, I’m committed to working with our partners on common sense gun safety measures to keep our communities safe.”

The bill’s passage extends the success gun-control advocates have had in reigniting the spread of state-level ‘assault weapon’ bans in recent years. Between 2000 and 2022, the number of states with bans on certain disfavored semi-automatic firearms remained firm at seven, plus Washington, DC. That number has since grown by more than 50 percent, with Rhode Island becoming the fourth new state in the last three years to adopt a ban.

This resurgence has coincided with a spike in gun-rights lawsuits, encouraged by the Supreme Court’s evolving Second Amendment jurisprudence, aimed at getting “assault weapon” bans declared unconstitutional in court. Thus far, however, such lawsuits have largely been unsuccessful. And though the Supreme Court has suggested it agrees with gun-rights groups that sweeping semi-auto bans go too far, it has recently declined to get involved. Although, Justice Bret Kavanaugh suggested it will do so in the near future.

“Opinions from other Courts of Appeals should assist this Court’s ultimate decisionmaking on the AR–15 issue,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a statement on the court’s denial of  Snope v. Brown. “Additional petitions for certiorari will likely be before this Court shortly and, in my view, this Court should and presumably will address the AR–15 issue soon, in the next Term or two.”

Gun-control advocates celebrated the bill’s passage as a sign of progress.

“Rhode Island lawmakers just reaffirmed that in an age of political dysfunction, gun safety is one of the rare issues where progress is still possible,” John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a press release.

Meanwhile, gun-rights advocates decried the bill. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry’s trade group, called the bill another example of “antigun politicians walking over the constitutional rights” of American citizens.

“Banning the most popular-selling centerfire rifle in America today is clearly unconstitutional,” Mark Oliva, NSSF’s Director of Public Affairs, told The Reload. “There are over 30 million of these rifles in circulation today, more than there are Ford F-150s on the road. That alone demonstrates that they are commonly-owned and commonly-used for lawful purposes every day, including hunting, recreational shooting and self-defense.”

The bill in its original form, which cleared the state House, would have extended the proposed ban to include possession of the affected firearms as well—unless existing owners of AR-15s and similar firearms agreed to register them with the police. That proved too controversial for key members of the state’s Senate, including the chamber’s majority leader, who only agreed to back the measure if it was reworked to strip out the possession prohibition. The Senate passed the softened version by a 25-11 vote Friday, and the House concurred 43-28 with just hours to spare in the legislative session.

The final product now focuses on the manufacture, sale, transfer, and purchase of any “prohibited firearm.” This new category includes semi-automatic shotguns with fixed magazines capable of holding more than six rounds, any shotgun with a revolving cylinder, and any semi-automatic pistol or rifle with a fixed magazine capable of holding more than ten rounds.

The definition also incorporates the features test common amongst most state-level “assault weapon” bans, which renders any semi-automatic long gun that accepts detachable magazines illegal if it has an adjustable stock, a bayonet lug, pistol grip, grenade launcher, barrel shroud, thumbhole stock, threaded barrel, or can accept belt-fed ammunition. Violators of the new ban could face up to ten years in prison.

Once signed, the bill would go into effect on July 1, 2026.

UPDATE 6-24-2025 6:58 PM EASTERN: This piece has been updated with comments from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.