Rhode Island Security Guard License Information (Guard Card)
Sections
- Requirements to Become a Security Guard
- Security Guard License (Unarmed Security Officer)
- Firearms Permits (Armed Security Officer)
- Fingerprinting/Background Check
- "Mace" or Similar Substances
Requirements to Become a Security Guard
The applicant must:
- Be eighteen (18) years of age;
- Be a citizen of the United States or a resident alien;
- Not have been convicted in any jurisdiction of a felony;
- Not have had his or her license or registration revoked or application for the license or registration denied by the attorney general or by the appropriate authority of any other jurisdiction;
- Not have been declared by any court of competent jurisdiction incompetent by reason of mental defect or disease and not having been restored;
- Not suffer from habitual drunkenness or from narcotics addiction or dependence; and
- Be of good moral character.
Security Guard License (Unarmed Security Officer)
No person shall perform the functions and duties of an employee of a business required to be licensed in this state, without first having been registered or licensed.
Employers set the training requirements and standards. Individual guards are not lincesed. However, employers must register guard employees with the State.
Firearms Permits (Armed Security Officer)
The Attorney General issues a license or permit to state residents 21 years of age or older to carry a pistol or revolver, whether concealed or not, upon a proper showing of need. In assessing the need of an applicant to carry a pistol or revolver, the Office also considers the issuance of a restricted permit for specified purposes.
All new pistol permits issued from this office must have a full set of applicant's fingerprints submitted on a FBI FINGERPRINT APPLICANT CARD [FD-258 (Rev. 12-29-82)] included with be application.
If the permit is to be used for employment, a TYPED AND SIGNED letter of explanation must be submitted on your employer's letterhead and included with the application. Also, please include a copy of the business license as proof that the business exists.
All permits will expire FOUR (4) YEARS from the date of issue.
It is important to remember that a permit to carry a pistol or revolver does not authorize you to use the firearm. Such usage of a handgun is regulated by other provisions of RI law.
The applicant must also qualify to obtain a permit. The right to carry a loaded, concealed firearm in public is different from the right to purchase or possess a handgun in one's own home or business. The privilege to carry a concealed firearm is limited to those who demonstrate a need for, and an understanding and acceptance of, this responsibility.
- NOTE: A Carry Concealed Weapon (CCW) permit does not qualify a security guard to carry armed.
Fingerprinting/Background Check
Federal guidelines now require that all security guards be fingerprinted for a national background check. BCI is charged with ensuring that all security guard companies, their employees and management personnel comply with the Act.
"Mace" or Similar Substances
Any person eighteen (18) years of age or over may carry on his or her person and use, unless otherwise prohibited by law, any non-lethal noxious substance or liquid for his protection or the protection of others; however, the use of any non-lethal noxious substance or liquid for any other purpose shall be punishable by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
