Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence (RICAGV) endorsed candidates that support gun safety legislation prevailed in 19 races in Tuesday’s primary election. Among all candidates, gun violence was an important campaign issue.

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Even in races in which our endorsed candidates did not prevail, primary victors including Nathan Biah, David Morales, Tiara Mack, and Melinda Lopez support bills that would ban the sale and use of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and support keeping guns out of our schools. This is not surprising. As we saw in our March 2020 statewide poll, nearly two thirds (64.7%) of Rhode Islanders follow the issues of gun safety and gun violence prevention closely.

As we saw in 2020, gun safety bills have strong support on Smith Hill. Representative Justine Caldwell’s H7264 had 42 co-signers, and Senator Gayle Goldin’s S2130 had 21 co-signers. This represents a majority in favor of banning high-capacity magazines in both chambers. This week’s primary victories by Brandon Potter, Leonela Felix, Brianna Henries, and Michelle McGaw over pro-gun legislators will add even more strong pro-gun safety voices to the General Assembly in 2021.

Momentum has been building statewide and across the country for stronger gun laws that will keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have them, ensure that weapons are stored safely in order to prevent theft and suicides, and to keep highly lethal military-style weapons and ammunition out of civilian hands. We look forward to working with old and new legislators alike in 2021 as we continue our fight to make Rhode Island the safest state in the United States.

House

• District 8 – John Lombardi
• District 11 – Grace Diaz *
• District 12 – Jose Batista
• District 16 – Brandon Potter *
• District 18 – Joe McNamara *
• District 27 – Patricia Serpa
• District 34 – Teresa Tanzi
• District 35 – Kathy Fogarty *
• District 61 – Leonela Felix
• District 64 – Brianna Henries
• District 71 – Michelle McGaw *
• District 72 – Terri Cortvriend *
• District 74 – Deb Ruggiero

Senate

• District 1 – Maryellen Goodwin
• District 5 -Sam Bell
• District 9 – John Burke
• District 15 – Meghan Kallman *
• District 16 – Jonathan Acosta
• District 36 – Alana DiMario *

*These candidates have a general election opponent