As some Rhode Island Democrats push to ban the possession of so-called assault weapons, as the state has already done with ammunition magazines that can hold more than ten rounds, the state's attorney general is out with a new report on "gun crimes" and prosecution in 2025; one that is missing several crucial bits of data.
According to AG Peter Neronha, there were 384 criminal cases "involving" magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds in 2025. That's up from 304 cases in 2024. Rhode Island's magazine ban took effect in 2022, so the fact that there are more prosecutions involving possession of illegal magazines suggests that violent criminals are still able to easily obtain these magazines if they want.
What Neronha's report doesn't say, though, is how many of the 384 criminal cases involving magazines were solely about possession, without any other charges for violent crimes attached to them. Are Rhode Island gun owners facing criminal charges and prison time simply for holding on to the "large capacity' magazines that they'd lawfully purchased before the ban took effect? Neronha's report doesn't say.
Neronha's report also fails to mention what type of firearms are being used in crime, which is pretty important given the push to ban the possession of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms. How often are so-called assault weapons used in violent crime in Rhode Island? Neronha should be able to tell us that, so why isn't that data included?
Instead, the AG's report is full of pablum like this.
Within the last four months, Rhode Islanders have experienced two unprecedented mass shootings. The trauma felt community-wide as a result of the Brown University shooting in December and the Lynch Arena shooting in February cannot be quantified by this or any other report. Whether gun crimes have trended up or down in 2025 (they have trended up a bit) is almost a moot point when a community as tight-knit as Rhode Island is still mourning in the aftermath of such tragedies.
And yet, our Office continues to work tirelessly to address gun violence. Throughour successful enforcement of existing laws, advocacy for new laws, and ourproactive collaboration with state and local law enforcement, we continue to use every tool at our disposal.
Consistent with my statutory duties under R.I.G.L § 42-9-12.1, I submit this year’s report to provide certain statistics involving firearms offenses in 2025. As in years past, this report provides additional details beyond what is required to illustrate our commitment to fighting violent crime in our communities. It is impossible to truly know how many gun crimes and instances of gun violence were avoided through our application of common sense gun laws, such as those mandating safe storage and prohibiting ghost guns and straw purchasing. But what I do know is that Rhode Islanders deserve to live free from the threat of gun violence, and my Office will continue to do everything we can to keep them safe.
If the scant amount of data provided by Neronha offers details beyond what is required of him, then the Rhode Island legislature should spend smoe time on a bill that would mandate the AG provide stats about the number of possession-only prosecutions as well as what other crimes were charged in addition to possession of a "large capacity" magazine.
It's not like this information is difficult for Neronha to gather. Instead of reporting details, though, the attorney general relies on sharing anecdotes like this one.
In 2022, the General Assembly passed a bill banning large capacity feeding devices, and since then, our Office has begun charging cases under the new ban. In 2025, there were 320 cases involving magazines with a capacity between 11-30 rounds. On October 23, 2025, following the conclusion of a 7-day trial, a jury found Luis Sepulveda (age 54) guilty of one count of first-degree murder and various other gun-related crimes, including one count of possessing a large capacity feeding device.
Neronha's account on the outcome of this case leaves out several relevant details, including the fact that Sepulveda was a convicted felon who wasn't allowed to touch a firearm or ammunition. Prosecutors noted that Sepulveda has fifteen prior convictions to his name, including seven separate felony convictions.
And it's not like the single count of possessing a large capacity feeding device was instrumental to the prosecution's arguments. Sepulveda was convicted of first-degree murder, which carries a far stiffer sentence that possessing a magazine that can hold more than ten rounds.
My guess is that in the vast majority of the 384 cases involving a "large capacity" magazine, there were more serious charges involved as well. That's a small assumption on my part, but here's what we know for a fact: three years after Rhode Island's magazine ban took effect, the number of prosecutions is growing, not shrinking, and career criminals like Sepulveda are still able to acquire these magazines. Rhode Island's mag ban isn't making the state a safer place, and all of Neronha's obfuscations can't hide that fact.
