2020 -- H 7102 SUBSTITUTE A | |
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LC003660/SUB A/2 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Serpa, Caldwell, McEntee, McKiernan, and | |
Date Introduced: January 15, 2020 | |
Referred To: House Judiciary | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 11-47-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-47 entitled "Weapons" |
2 | is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 11-47-2. Definitions. |
4 | When used in this chapter, the following words and phrases are construed as follows: |
5 | (1) "3D printing process" means 3D printing or additive manufacturing which is a |
6 | process of making three (3) dimensional solid objects from a computer file and shall include any |
7 | of various processes in which material is joined or solidified under computer control to create a |
8 | three (3) dimensional object, with material being added together including liquid molecules, or |
9 | powder grains. |
10 | (1)(2) "Antique firearm" is defined as that term is defined under the provisions of 18 |
11 | U.S.C. § 921. |
12 | (2)(3) "Binary trigger" means a device that replaces a standard trigger on a semi- |
13 | automatic weapon and is designed to fire one round on the pull of the trigger and another round |
14 | upon release of the trigger. |
15 | (3)(4) "Bump-fire stock" means any device that replaces a semi-automatic weapon's |
16 | standard stock and is designed to slide back and forth rapidly, harnessing the weapon's recoil to |
17 | rapidly fire the weapon. |
18 | (4)(5) "Crime of violence" means and includes any of the following crimes or an attempt |
19 | to commit any of them: murder, manslaughter, rape, first- or second-degree sexual assault, first- |
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1 | or second-degree child molestation, kidnapping, first- and second-degree arson, mayhem, |
2 | robbery, burglary, breaking and entering, any felony violation involving the illegal manufacture, |
3 | sale, or delivery of a controlled substance, or possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or |
4 | deliver a controlled substance classified in schedule I or schedule II of § 21-28-2.08, any |
5 | violation of § 21-28-4.01.1 or § 21-28-4.01.2 or conspiracy to commit any violation of these |
6 | statutes, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault or battery involving grave bodily injury, or |
7 | assault with intent to commit any offense punishable as a felony; upon any conviction of an |
8 | offense punishable as a felony offense under § 12-29-5. |
9 | (5)(6) "Firearm" includes any machine gun, pistol, rifle, air rifle, air pistol, "blank gun", |
10 | "BB gun", or other instrument from which steel or metal projectiles are propelled, or that may |
11 | readily be converted to expel a projectile, except crossbows, recurve, compound, or longbows, |
12 | and except instruments propelling projectiles that are designed or normally used for a primary |
13 | purpose other than as a weapon. The frame or receiver of the weapon shall be construed as a |
14 | firearm under the provisions of this section. |
15 | (6)(7) "Fugitive from justice" means any person who has fled from any state, territory, |
16 | the District of Columbia, or possession of the United States to avoid prosecution for a crime of |
17 | violence or to avoid giving testimony in any criminal proceeding. |
18 | (8) "Ghost gun" means a firearm, including a frame or receiver, that lacks a unique serial |
19 | number engraved or cased in metal alloy on the frame or receiver by a licensed manufacturer or |
20 | importer under federal law. It does not include a firearm that has been rendered permanently |
21 | inoperable, or a firearm that is not required to have a serial number in accordance with the |
22 | Federal Gun Control Act of 1968, or a firearm that is possessed by an individual who is not |
23 | prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm and is marked in accordance with 27 C.F.R. § |
24 | 479.102. |
25 | (7)(9) "Licensing authorities" means the board of police commissioners of a city or town |
26 | where the board has been instituted, the chief of police or superintendent of police of other cities |
27 | and towns having a regular organized police force, and, in towns where there is no chief of police |
28 | or superintendent of police, it means the town clerk who may issue licenses upon the |
29 | recommendation of the town sergeant, and it also means any other person or body duly authorized |
30 | by the city or town charter or by state law. |
31 | (8)(10) "Machine gun" means any weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be |
32 | readily restored to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single |
33 | function of the trigger. The term also includes the frame or receiver of the weapon, any |
34 | combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, |
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1 | and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if the parts are in the |
2 | possession or under the control of a person. |
3 | (11) "Major component" means, with respect to a firearm: |
4 | (i) The slide or cylinder or the frame or receiver of the firearm; and |
5 | (ii) In the case of a rifle or shotgun, includes the barrel of the firearm. |
6 | (9)(12) "Person" includes an individual, partnership, firm, association, or corporation. |
7 | (10)(13) "Pistol" includes any pistol or revolver, and any shotgun, rifle, or similar |
8 | weapon with overall length less than twenty-six inches (26"), but does not include any pistol or |
9 | revolver designed for the use of blank cartridges only. |
10 | (11)(14) "Sawed-off rifle" means any rifle with overall length of less than twenty-six |
11 | inches (26") or barrel length of less than sixteen inches (16"). |
12 | (12)(15) "Sawed-off shotgun" means any shotgun with overall length of less than twenty- |
13 | six inches (26") or barrel length of less than eighteen inches (18"). |
14 | (13)(16) "Sell" includes let or hire, give, lend, and transfer, and "purchase" includes hire, |
15 | accept, and borrow, and "purchasing" shall be construed accordingly. |
16 | (14)(17) "Trigger crank" means a trigger actuator that attaches to the trigger of a semi- |
17 | automatic weapon and causes the weapon to fire by turning the crank handle. |
18 | (18) "Undetectable firearm" means any firearm that: |
19 | (i) After removal of all parts, other than a major component, is not as detectable by walk- |
20 | through metal detectors commonly used at airports or other public buildings; or |
21 | (ii) Any major component of which, if subjected to inspection by the types of detection |
22 | devices commonly used at airports or other public buildings for security screening, would not |
23 | generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component; or |
24 | (iii) Is manufactured wholly of plastic, fiberglass, or through a 3D printing process; or |
25 | (iv) Upon which the frame or receiver lacks a unique serial number engraved or cased |
26 | into on the frame or receiver by a licensed manufacturer or importer under federal law, or is not |
27 | marked in accordance with 27 C.F.R. § 479.102. |
28 | SECTION 2. Section 11-47-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-47 entitled "Weapons" |
29 | is hereby amended to read as follows: |
30 | 11-47-8. License or permit required for carrying pistol -- Possession of machine gun. |
31 | License or permit required for carrying pistol -- Other weapons prohibited. |
32 | (a) No person shall, without a license or permit issued as provided in §§ 11-47-11, 11-47- |
33 | 12, and 11-47-18, carry a pistol or revolver in any vehicle or conveyance or on or about his or her |
34 | person whether visible or concealed, except in his or her dwelling house or place of business or |
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1 | on land possessed by him or her or as provided in §§ 11-47-9 and 11-47-10. The provisions of |
2 | these sections shall not apply to any person who is the holder of a valid license or permit issued |
3 | by the licensing authority of another state, or territory of the United States, or political |
4 | subdivision of the state or territory, allowing him or her to carry a pistol or revolver in any |
5 | vehicle or conveyance or on or about his or her person whether visible or concealed, provided the |
6 | person is merely transporting the firearm through the state in a vehicle or other conveyance |
7 | without any intent on the part of the person to detain him or herself or remain within the state of |
8 | Rhode Island. No person shall manufacture, sell, purchase, or possess a machine gun except as |
9 | otherwise provided in this chapter. Every person violating the provision of this section shall, upon |
10 | conviction, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten (10) years, or by |
11 | a fine up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both, and except for a first conviction under this |
12 | section, shall not be afforded the provisions of suspension or deferment of sentence, nor a |
13 | probation. |
14 | (b) No person shall have in his or her possession or under his or her control any sawed- |
15 | off shotgun or sawed-off rifle as defined in § 11-47-2. Any person convicted of violating this |
16 | subsection shall be punished by imprisonment for up to ten (10) years, or by a fine of up to five |
17 | thousand dollars ($5,000), or both. |
18 | (c) No person shall have in his or her possession or under his or her control any firearm |
19 | while the person delivers, possesses with intent to deliver, or manufactures a controlled |
20 | substance. Any person convicted of violating this subsection shall be punished by imprisonment |
21 | for not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, and the sentence shall be |
22 | consecutive to any sentence the person may receive for the delivery, possession with intent to |
23 | deliver, or the manufacture of the controlled substance. It shall not be a defense to a violation of |
24 | this subsection that a person has a license or permit to carry or possess a firearm. |
25 | (d) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess a bump-fire device, binary trigger, |
26 | trigger crank, or any other device that when attached to a semi-automatic weapon allows full- |
27 | automatic fire. Individuals who possess these items shall have ninety (90) days from the |
28 | enactment of this section to either sell, destroy, or otherwise remove these items from the state of |
29 | Rhode Island. Every person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be |
30 | punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten (10) years, or by a fine up to |
31 | ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both, and, except for a first conviction under this section, shall |
32 | not be afforded the provisions of suspension or deferment of sentence, nor a probation. |
33 | (e) No person shall manufacture, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, possess, or have |
34 | under his or her control a ghost gun or an undetectable firearm or any firearm produced by a 3D |
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1 | printing process. Any person convicted of violating this subsection shall be punished by |
2 | imprisonment of not more than ten (10) years, or by a fine up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), |
3 | and except for a first conviction under this section shall not be afforded the provisions of |
4 | suspension or deferment of sentence, nor probation. |
5 | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage and its provisions shall be |
6 | enforceable ninety (90) days after passage. |
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LC003660/SUB A/2 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS | |
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1 | This act would provide certain definitions relative to undetectable firearms and would |
2 | prohibit the manufacturing, importation, sale, shipment, delivery, possession, or transfer of any |
3 | ghost gun or firearm that is undetectable by metal detectors commonly used at airports and public |
4 | buildings including 3D printed firearms as defined herein. |
5 | This act would take effect upon passage and its provisions would be enforceable ninety |
6 | (90) days after passage. |
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