Brown Students Want More Red Tape Wrapped Around Right to Keep and Bear Arms

February 20, 2026
7:26 pm

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Imagine a group of elite Brown University students, cocooned in their Ivy League bubble, deciding that your fundamental right to self-defense needs more bureaucratic strangling. That's the scene unfolding in Rhode Island, where these well-meaning but wildly out-of-touch undergrads are pushing for stricter gun laws that mandate periodic safety training and testing for law-abiding gun owners. It's not enough that Rhode Island already burdens permit holders with background checks, waiting periods, and a laundry list of restrictions—this crew wants to turn your Second Amendment into a hamster wheel of endless recertification, complete with fees, schedules, and government-mandated pop quizzes on firearm handling. Because nothing says shall not be infringed like treating responsible adults like DMV repeat customers. This isn't just campus activism; it's a microcosm of the anti-2A playbook we've seen nationwide, from Berkeley to Boston. These students, likely raised on Bloomberg-funded talking points, frame it as common-sense safety, but peel back the layers and it's pure incrementalism: normalize training mandates today, and tomorrow it's universal registries or outright confiscation. Rhode Island's already one of the most restrictive states—ranking near the bottom in gun owner freedoms per Guns & Ammo's metrics—with assault weapon bans, mag limits, and red flag laws galore. Adding recurring tests disproportionately hits working-class folks who can't afford time off or extra costs, while elites like the students' donors skate by. It's class warfare disguised as compassion, ignoring data from places like Connecticut's pistol permit program, where training requirements haven't dented rising violent crime rates (FBI stats show RI's violent crime up 10% since 2020). For the 2A community, this is a wake-up call: Rhode Island's small size means national eyes are watching, and if these mandates pass, expect copycats in blue states like Massachusetts or New York. Firearms Freedom Watch and the RI Second Amendment Coalition are already mobilizing—join them, hit your state reps, and remind these kids that rights aren't renewed annually like Netflix subscriptions. The founders didn't bleed for a permission slip; they enshrined an unalienable right. Let's keep it that way, one exposed agenda at a time.

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This isn’t just campus activism; it’s a microcosm of the anti-2A playbook we’ve seen nationwide, from Berkeley to Boston. These students, likely raised on Bloomberg-funded talking points, frame it as common-sense safety, but peel back the layers and it’s pure incrementalism: normalize training mandates today, and tomorrow it’s universal registries or outright confiscation. Rhode Island’s already one of the most restrictive states—ranking near the bottom in gun owner freedoms per Guns & Ammo’s metrics—with assault weapon bans, mag limits, and red flag laws galore. Adding recurring tests disproportionately hits working-class folks who can’t afford time off or extra costs, while elites like the students’ donors skate by. It’s class warfare disguised as compassion, ignoring data from places like Connecticut’s pistol permit program, where training requirements haven’t dented rising violent crime rates (FBI stats show RI’s violent crime up 10% since 2020).

For the 2A community, this is a wake-up call: Rhode Island’s small size means national eyes are watching, and if these mandates pass, expect copycats in blue states like Massachusetts or New York. Firearms Freedom Watch and the RI Second Amendment Coalition are already mobilizing—join them, hit your state reps, and remind these kids that rights aren’t renewed annually like Netflix subscriptions. The founders didn’t bleed for a permission slip; they enshrined an unalienable right. Let’s keep it that way, one exposed agenda at a time.

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