Looking for any logic in laws relating to firearms, weapons, or anything self-defense related is a fools errand - unless of course you understand the real logic behind it, that the state want's a monopoly on violence and the ability to defend itself.

This law was rendered unconstitutional per Caetano v. Massachusetts some years back, which is binding to RI and the AG's office did say they would respect it.

That being said - our esteemed state legislature has decided not to strike the law from the books yet.

RI is one of, if not THE safest state in the union, and has enjoyed (up until recently) a healthy respect for the 2A. That is all slated to change however as last year they passed a magazine capacity bill under questionable methods, and signs point to them doing the same this year with an "assault weapons" ban.

Meanwhile - you can count on one hand the number of times rifles affected by such a ban (or high capacity magazines) were used in crime in RI year over year, and if you want to be pedantic, with both hands you can count all gun crime (assuming you don't count those committed by the police).

OP - FWIW I carried a Taser Pulse for a few years when I had to go into anywhere I couldn't bring my legal handgun - mostly just NYC - but I was fortunate enough to never have to use it.

I abhor all the restrictions on your ability to defend yourself, especially since as you described yourself as a "small (sic) female with no self defense skills" - you need something to balance the scales and even the playing field. It is unfortunate that the state legislature seeks more and more to strip that ability from you. That being said - the best thing you can do is to try to get yourself out of your situation as quickly as possible. That should be your first priority. Once that is sorted - myself (and any other member of the r/riguns community I'm sure) would be more than happy to walk you through whatever the next steps you seek in order to defend yourself adequately to your own comfort.

Good luck!