Bill Analysis
S3108 amends Rhode Island’s expungement law to allow licensing authorities to access expunged criminal records when reviewing carry permit applications. Under current law, expunged records cannot be used against a person for any purpose – this bill carves out an exception for gun rights.
The Key Change
Section 12-1.3-4 of Rhode Island law governs the effect of expungement. S3108 adds language allowing applicants for a license or permit to carry a pistol or revolver under §§ 11-47-11 or 11-47-18 – and the law enforcement agencies reviewing those applications – to access expunged records. The same protection that currently seals those records from use in licensing decisions would no longer apply to carry permit applications.
What It Means for Gun Owners
Rhode Islanders who have had prior charges expunged – including charges that were dismissed, reduced, or that resulted in a disposition that qualified for expungement – could have those cleared records used to deny a carry permit application. Expungement is a court-ordered legal clearing of a record. S3108 creates a backdoor that allows the state to reach into sealed records specifically to deny gun rights, even for charges the court has already wiped clean.
Email and Petition
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