The concealed-gun permit legislation championed by local allies of the National Rifle Association is back before state lawmakers, along with other gun bills, drawing scores of people on both sides of the issue to a State House hearing on Tuesday.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The concealed-gun permit legislation championed by local allies of the National Rifle Association that brought last year's legislative session to an abrupt halt is back on state lawmakers' agenda.

Both sides in this perennially heated battle were headed for the State House on Tuesday night to argue again over this bill and others to ban high-capacity magazines, restrict guns on school grounds and recognize concealed-carry gun permits from other states.

Scores turned out.

The NRA Institute for Legislative Action tried to set the stage with a Facebook post urging a big turnout, which said: "There is no such thing as gun control. There is only defense prohibition."

"Despite having some of the toughest gun laws in the country, groups funded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have placed a bullseye on the Ocean State and are aggressively pushing their political agenda in Providence," argued the NRA affiliate, doing battle again this year with the Bloomberg-financed "Everytown for Gun Safety."

One noticeable difference this year: The annual bill to wrest guns, at least temporarily, from the hands of people under restraining orders or convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse is not on the agenda with the NRA-backed bills to remove perceived obstacles to getting a concealed-weapons permit.

Rep. Teresa Tanzi, D-South Kingstown — the lead sponsor — said she asked House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello to schedule that bill on a different night, and he agreed.

Her reason: "We have a lot of [domestic violence] survivors who want to come out," for whom sitting side by side with "gun supporters ... at a very intense hearing where passions flare ... [is] intimidating."

On the other side, Rep. Michael Chippendale, R-Foster, said those who belong to the 2nd Amendment Coalition have been meeting since the 2016 session ended to find "compromises" with critics in law enforcement who last year in scuttled their bill, after it emerged for an unexpected House vote in the final hours.

Chippendale said this year's concealed-weapons permitting bill reflects several of those compromises.

The issue: Current Rhode Island law dictates that authorities in any city or town "shall" issue a license or permit to carry a loaded handgun to a person 21 or older "if it appears that the applicant has good reason to fear an injury to his or her person or property or has any other proper reason for carrying a pistol or revolver, and that he or she is a suitable person to be so licensed."

In April 2015, the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled in favor of a man who claimed he was wrongly denied a concealed-weapon permit by the former police chief of East Providence, a city that had not issued such a permit for 10 years.

Given this ruling, backers of last year's bill argued that it did little more than "codify" current law.

As Attorney General Peter Kilmartin read it: it would have required the automatic renewal of concealed-weapons permits issued by the attorney general, waived the seven-day waiting period to purchase a gun for someone who held a carry permit, and curbed the discretion of local police chiefs.

Chippendale said this year's bill attempts, for example, to better define who is — and is not — "suitable" to carry a concealed weapon. It would allow the rejection of a permit application where there is a "clear and convincing evidence that the person is a clear and present danger to themselves or to any person ... [or] a member of a criminal street gang."

But Kilmartin sent a letter, dated Tuesday, to the House Judiciary Committee voicing his "many concerns." Among them: the proposed definition ignores "prior substance abuse, mental health issues, contacts with local police" in favor of "clear and present danger," which could "categorically jeopardize public safety."

Asked the prospects for any of the guns bills, Mattiello's spokesman, Larry Berman, said: "We already have the eighth-strongest gun laws in the country, but the House Judiciary Committee will review all the testimony on gun-control bills to be heard tonight.

"The House will soon be scheduling a separate hearing on the domestic violence bills, which have a different set of issues that will be strongly considered. Speaker Mattiello has been consistently sensitive to domestic violence issues and protecting its victims."

— kgregg@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7078

On Twitter: @kathyprojo