---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS (Defines rifle and shotgun as weapons and makes it unlawful to possess a loaded rifle or shotgun in public subject to various exceptions inclusive of hunting activity punishable upon conviction by imprisonment up to 5 years or a fine up to $5,000.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS (Defines rifle and shotgun as weapons and makes it unlawful to possess a loaded rifle or shotgun in public subject to various exceptions inclusive of hunting activity punishable upon conviction by imprisonment up to 5 years or a fine up to $5,000.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "HB 7358"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 7358 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alzate", "Caldwell", "Casimiro", "Cassar", "Felix", "Kazarian", "McNamara", "Morales", "Potter", "Shanley"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2022-02-04"
last_action: "2022-06-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c65428db-c5c3-4321-bb75-d14f018e8eef"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "bae8dfd69d609c0f373116404b6950e190060be74b8a22c2de238fa82a8bafe4"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 7358 (2022) — AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS (Defines rifle and shotgun as weapons and makes it unlawful to possess a loaded rifle or shotgun in public subject to various exceptions inclusive of hunting activity punishable upon conviction by imprisonment up to 5 years or a fine up to $5,000.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **7358 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText22/HouseText22/H7358A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **53–16** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **23–46** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Alzate — primary (person)
- Caldwell — primary (person)
- Casimiro — primary (person)
- Cassar — primary (person)
- Felix — primary (person)
- Kazarian — primary (person)
- McNamara — primary (person)
- Morales — primary (person)
- Potter — primary (person)
- Shanley — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2022-02-04** 02/04/2022 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2022-03-25** 03/25/2022 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/30/2022)
- **2022-03-30** 03/30/2022 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2022-06-07** 06/07/2022 Scheduled for consideration (06/09/2022)
- **2022-06-07** 06/07/2022 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2022-06-09** 06/09/2022 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-06-09** 06/09/2022 Placed on House Calendar (06/10/2022) `reading-3`
- **2022-06-10** 06/10/2022 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2022-06-14** 06/14/2022 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/14/2022) `reading-3`
- **2022-06-14** 06/14/2022 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2022-06-15** 06/15/2022 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2022-06-21** 06/21/2022 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c65428db-c5c3-4321-bb75-d14f018e8eef`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).