2019 -- S 0464

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LC001608

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS

     Introduced By: Senators Coyne, Goodwin, Sosnowski, Felag, and Lynch Prata

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2019

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     (Attorney General)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 11-47-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-47 entitled "Weapons"

is hereby amended to read as follows:

     11-47-2. Definitions.

     When used in this chapter, the following words and phrases are construed as follows:

     (1) "Antique firearm" is defined as that term is defined under the provisions of 18 U.S.C.

§ 921.

     (2) "Binary trigger" means a device that replaces a standard trigger on a semi-automatic

weapon and is designed to fire one round on the pull of the trigger and another round upon release

of the trigger.

     (3) "Bump-fire stock" means any device that replaces a semi-automatic weapon's

standard stock and is designed to slide back and forth rapidly, harnessing the weapon's recoil to

rapidly fire the weapon.

     (4) "Crime of violence" means and includes any of the following crimes or an attempt to

commit any of them: murder, manslaughter, rape, first- or second-degree sexual assault, first- or

second-degree child molestation, kidnapping, first- and second-degree arson, mayhem, robbery,

burglary, breaking and entering, any felony violation involving the illegal manufacture, sale, or

delivery of a controlled substance, or possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver a

controlled substance classified in schedule I or schedule II of § 21-28-2.08, any violation of § 21-

28-4.01.1 or § 21-28-4.01.2 or conspiracy to commit any violation of these statutes, assault with a

dangerous weapon, assault or battery involving grave bodily injury, or assault with intent to

commit any offense punishable as a felony; upon any conviction of an offense punishable as a

felony offense under § 12-29-5.

     (5) "Firearm" includes any machine gun, pistol, rifle, air rifle, air pistol, "blank gun", "BB

gun", or other instrument from which steel or metal projectiles are propelled, or that may readily

be converted to expel a projectile, except crossbows, recurve, compound, or longbows, and

except instruments propelling projectiles that are designed or normally used for a primary

purpose other than as a weapon. The frame or receiver, including an unfinished frame or receiver

of the weapon shall be construed as a firearm under the provisions of this section. Any

combination of parts designed or intended for use in converting any device into a firearm and

from which a firearm may be readily assembled shall be construed as a firearm.

     (6) "Fugitive from justice" means any person who has fled from any state, territory, the

District of Columbia, or possession of the United States to avoid prosecution for a crime of

violence or to avoid giving testimony in any criminal proceeding.

     (7) "Licensing authorities" means the board of police commissioners of a city or town

where the board has been instituted, the chief of police or superintendent of police of other cities

and towns having a regular organized police force, and, in towns where there is no chief of police

or superintendent of police, it means the town clerk who may issue licenses upon the

recommendation of the town sergeant, and it also means any other person or body duly authorized

by the city or town charter or by state law.

     (8) "Machine gun" means any weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily

restored to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single

function of the trigger. The term also includes the frame or receiver of the weapon, any

combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun,

and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if the parts are in the

possession or under the control of a person.

     (9) "Person" includes an individual, partnership, firm, association, or corporation.

     (10) "Pistol" includes any pistol or revolver, and any shotgun, rifle, or similar weapon

with overall length less than twenty-six inches (26"), but does not include any pistol or revolver

designed for the use of blank cartridges only.

     (11) "Sawed-off rifle" means any rifle with overall length of less than twenty-six inches

(26") or barrel length of less than sixteen inches (16").

     (12) "Sawed-off shotgun" means any shotgun with overall length of less than twenty-six

inches (26") or barrel length of less than eighteen inches (18").

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     (13) "Sell" includes let or hire, give, lend, and transfer, and "purchase" includes hire,

accept, and borrow, and "purchasing" shall be construed accordingly.

     (14) "Trigger crank" means a trigger actuator that attaches to the trigger of a semi-

automatic weapon and causes the weapon to fire by turning the crank handle.

     (15) The term "frame or receiver" means the part of a firearm that can provide the action

or housing for the hammer, bolt, or breechblock and firing mechanism. It includes a frame or

lower receiver blank, casting or machined body that requires further machining or molding to be

used as part of a functional firearm and which is designed and intended to be used in the assembly

of a functional firearm. The term does not include a piece of material that has had:

     (i) Its size or external shape altered solely to facilitate transportation or storage; or

     (ii) Solely its chemical composition altered.

     (16) The term "ghost gun" means a firearm, including a frame or receiver, that lacks a

unique serial number engraved or cased in metal or metal alloy on the frame or receiver by a

licensed manufacturer or importer under federal law. It does not include a firearm that has been

rendered permanently inoperable.

     (17) The term "undetectable firearm" is defined under the terms of 18 U.S.C. § 922(p).

     SECTION 2. Section 11-47-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-47 entitled "Weapons"

is hereby amended to read as follows:

     11-47-8. License or permit required for carrying pistol -- Possession of machine gun.

License or permit required for carrying a pistol -- Machine gun and other weapons

prohibited.

     (a) No person shall, without a license or permit issued as provided in §§ 11-47-11, 11-47-

12, and 11-47-18, carry a pistol or revolver in any vehicle or conveyance or on or about his or her

person whether visible or concealed, except in his or her dwelling house or place of business or

on land possessed by him or her or as provided in §§ 11-47-9 and 11-47-10. The provisions of

these sections shall not apply to any person who is the holder of a valid license or permit issued

by the licensing authority of another state, or territory of the United States, or political

subdivision of the state or territory, allowing him or her to carry a pistol or revolver in any

vehicle or conveyance or on or about his or her person whether visible or concealed, provided the

person is merely transporting the firearm through the state in a vehicle or other conveyance

without any intent on the part of the person to detain him or herself or remain within the state of

Rhode Island. No person shall manufacture, sell, purchase, or possess a machine gun except as

otherwise provided in this chapter. Every person violating the provision of this section shall, upon

conviction, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten (10) years, or by

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a fine up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both, and except for a first conviction under this

section, shall not be afforded the provisions of suspension or deferment of sentence, nor a

probation.

     (b) No person shall have in his or her possession or under his or her control any sawed-

off shotgun or sawed-off rifle as defined in § 11-47-2. Any person convicted of violating this

subsection shall be punished by imprisonment for up to ten (10) years, or by a fine of up to five

thousand dollars ($5,000), or both.

     (c) No person shall have in his or her possession or under his or her control any firearm

while the person delivers, possesses with intent to deliver, or manufactures a controlled

substance. Any person convicted of violating this subsection shall be punished by imprisonment

for not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, and the sentence shall be

consecutive to any sentence the person may receive for the delivery, possession with intent to

deliver, or the manufacture of the controlled substance. It shall not be a defense to a violation of

this subsection that a person has a license or permit to carry or possess a firearm.

     (d) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess a bump-fire device, binary trigger,

trigger crank, or any other device that when attached to a semi-automatic weapon allows full-

automatic fire. Individuals who possess these items shall have ninety (90) days from the

enactment of this section to either sell, destroy, or otherwise remove these items from the state of

Rhode Island. Every person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be

punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten (10) years, or by a fine up to

ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both, and, except for a first conviction under this section, shall

not be afforded the provisions of suspension or deferment of sentence, nor a probation.

     (e) No person shall manufacture, sell, purchase, or possess a machine gun except as

otherwise provided in this chapter. Every person violating the provision of this section shall, upon

conviction, be punished by imprisonment for not less than two (2) nor more than twenty (20)

years, or by a fine up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), or both, and except for a first

conviction under this section shall not be afforded the provisions of suspension or deferment of

sentence, nor probation.

     (f) No person shall manufacture, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, possess, or have

under his or her control a ghost gun or an undetectable firearm. Any person convicted of violating

this subsection shall be punished by imprisonment of not more than ten (10) years, or by a fine up

to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), and except for a first conviction under this section shall not be

afforded the provisions of suspension or deferment of sentence, nor probation.

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     SECTION 3. 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

***

     This act would define the term "ghost gun" and bans the manufacture, sale purchase or

possession of a machine gun, a ghost gun or an undetectable firearm.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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