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People carry weapons during the Defend Our Second Amendment: Michigan's fight for Self Preservation rally, held in a farm field in Ionia, Michigan, on July 19 2023. In 2021, the Capitol Commission in Michigan banned the open carry of weapons within the Capitol building, and is expected to vote on a full ban by its August meeting. Members of the group Sons of Liberty PAC created the Defend Our 2A: Michigan's fight for Self Preservation rally to protest the ban, saying that people's rights in Michigan are being eroded. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP) (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

NEWS HEADLINES: Federal judge upholds state gun law requiring citizens to demonstrate a ‘need’ for open carry – One America News Network

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People carry weapons during the Defend Our Second Amendment: Michigan’s fight for Self Preservation rally (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Blake Wolf
2:51 PM – Monday, August 4, 2025

A federal judge ruled in favor of upholding a Rhode Island gun permit system, requiring citizens to demonstrate a “need” to openly carry a firearm. He claimed that the law does not violate the Second Amendment.

U.S. District Judge William Smith announced the ruling on Friday, ultimately dismissing the lawsuit filed by a coalition of gun owners, led by Michael O’Neil, a lobbyist for the Rhode Island 2nd Amendment Coalition.

O’Neil argued that the Rhode Island law requiring gun owners to demonstrate the “proper showing of need” to open carry was in violation of the group’s Constitutional rights.

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Members of the coalition also noted that the attorney general’s office previously denied all seven of their “unrestricted” firearm permit applications in 2021, which would have provided authorization for both concealed and open carry.

O’Neil said that he was denied an open carry license by Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office in 2021, “despite meeting all of the requirements.”



In response, Nerhonha’s office argued that he already held a restricted concealed carry permit and, therefore, failed to demonstrate the need for an open carry license.

“Under Rhode Island law, permits of this nature are a privilege and there is no constitutionally protected liberty interest in obtaining one,” Smith wrote in the ruling.

The statute requires local officials to issue concealed-carry permits to individuals who meet the criteria. However, the attorney general is not required to issue open carry permits regardless of whether the individuals showcase “proper showing of need.”

“Consider that, in Rhode Island, an unrestricted license is a privilege and not a right, these interpretive safeguards add clarity to the statute and do not mean that the law is impermissibly vague,” Smith added.

The plaintiffs pointed toward a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a New York state law restricting residents from obtaining an open carry permit.

However, despite the Supreme Court’s previous ruling, Judge Smith argued that the High Court did not declare that the Second Amendment “requires open carry,” and that Rhode Island’s gun laws are “within the Nation’s historical tradition of regulation.”

Following the ruling, the attorney representing the firearm advocates revealed that he will be appealing the decision, as he does not believe the ruling was consistent with the Supreme Court.

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