R.I. House committee advances assault weapons ban in historic 12-6 vote • Rhode Island Current:

“Our advocates and partners have worked tirelessly for more than a decade in the name of public safety and we are thrilled to have made it this far in the legislative process,” Melissa Carden, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, said in a statement.

Tony Morettini, legislative chapter lead for Moms Demand Action, said he’s hopeful the bill will clear the full House.

“A chamber passing it sends a big message,” he said.

Give credit to everyone who worked on this for years. I remember when an AWB was quixotic quest by a single State Senator here. It was on the docket every year, but most of the time the committees wouldn’t hold hearings, much less give it a chance to be passed. Over the years though more and more co-sponsors signed on.

Maybe this is Rhode Island’s white whale, or maybe this is the year. But it reminds me of the fight for marriage equality here – when for years the legislature would refuse to hold hearings on the proposal, or it would pass in only one house. It seemed like there was no chance that it would move forward in the senate, but once it was seen to have a chance, so many people signed on that it ended up passing overwhelmingly.

So maybe this will be the year for the AWB. Or maybe next year. Or the year after that. Persistence pays off. It has in the past, I believe it will here too.