2015 -- S 0670

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LC001538

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS

     Introduced By: Senators Goodwin, Ruggerio, and Miller

     Date Introduced: March 11, 2015

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     (Attorney General)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 11-47-24 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-47 entitled "Weapons"

is hereby amended to read as follows:

     11-47-24. Alteration of marks of identification on firearms. -- (a) No person shall

change, alter, remove, or obliterate the name of the maker, model, manufacturer's number, or if

there is no name of the maker, model, or manufacturer's number then any other mark of

identification on any firearm.

      (b) No person shall, absent recertification paperwork, knowingly receive, transport, or

possess any firearm which has had the name of the maker, or manufacturer's serial number, or

any other mark of identification on any firearm removed, altered, or obliterated, or if there is no

name of the maker, model, or manufacturer's number then any other mark of identification on any

firearm.

      (c) Possession of any firearm, absent recertification paperwork, upon which the name of

the maker, model, manufacturer's number, or if there is no name of the maker, model, or

manufacturer's number then any other mark of identification on any firearm has been changed,

altered, removed, or obliterated shall be prima facie evidence that the possessor has changed,

altered, removed, or obliterated.

      (d) A person in possession of a firearm, with proof of ownership and/or transfer from a

FFL dealer, may apply for recertification of that firearm from a Rhode Island based licensed

firearms business owner who also is an FFL dealer or a local police chief and/or police

department official if the name of the maker, model, manufacturer's number, or if there is no

name of the maker, model, or manufacturer's number then any other mark of identification on the

firearm has been only partially damaged.

      (e) The Rhode Island based licensed firearms business owner who is also an FFL dealer

or a local police chief and/or police department official shall, within sixty (60) days of the

application if he or she is reasonably able to verify the firearm ownership and identifying marks

recertify the firearm or return the firearm to the person who presented it, certify by written

notarized documentation that the firearm's name of the maker, model, manufacturer's number, or

if there is no name of the maker, model, or manufacturer's number then any other mark of

identification on the firearm has been partially damaged and is still identifiable and traceable to

the record owner.

      (f) The sale or transfer of a recertified firearm and/or the submission of a report by the

record owner that the firearm was stolen immediately voids all recertification documentation.

      (g) Violation of the provisions of this section may be punished by imprisonment for not

more than five (5) years.

      (h) This section shall not apply to the lawful exchange of component parts of any

firearms, nor to any antique and collectible weapons legally possessed by collectors and dealers

of firearms as provided in section 11-47-25.

     (i) For purposes of this section, the term "mark of identification" shall include, but not be

limited to, orange or otherwise brightly colored plugs, or tips inserted into the barrel of any

firearm.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS

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     This act would include orange or otherwise brightly colored plugs, or tips inserted into

the barrel of any firearm within the definition of "mark of identification" for those persons who

change, alter, remove, or obliterate any mark of identification on a firearm.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC001538

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