'Ghost Gun' Bill Passes Rhode Island Senate

PROVIDENCE, RI — The Senate approved a bill Wednesday evening that would outlaw non-traceable "ghost guns" in Rhode Island. 3D-printed and non-traceable guns have been in the spotlight since a Pawtucket woman was fatally shot with a gun with no serial number on Jan. 1.

"Ghost guns, 3-D printed guns and undetectable plastic guns are designed especially for criminal activity," said Senator Cynthia Coyne, the bill's sponsor. "They are meant to dodge the legal safeguards that protect public safety. Our state laws should be very clear that possessing, creating or selling them is a criminal act, and we should be doing everything we can to keep these dangerous weapons from proliferating here."

If approved by the House and signed into law, the bill would ban the manufacture, sale, transfer, purchase or possession of a gun made from fiberglass, plastic or otherwise made from a 3D printer, as well as "ghost guns" — firearms that do not have a serial number. Any gun that would be invisible to a metal detector or other screening equipment would also be covered under the law. Anyone in violation would be subject to up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The bill, approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee one week ago, now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. Companion legislation, introduced by Representative Patricia Serpa, is on the calendar for the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday night.

"I’m very grateful that the Senate has expedited this common-sense legislation, which addresses a loophole that has developed via new technology while protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens," Coyne continued.

The legislation is not new to the Rhode Island State House. Similar legislation was approved by the Senate during last year's session.

The debate over ghost guns was recently reignited in Rhode Island after a Pawtucket woman was killed on Jan. 1. While the state's crime lab was unable to determine whether the gun used in the shooting was 3D-printed, the gun lacked a serial number.

The Rhode Island Working Group for Gun Safety, a 43-member task force assembled in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting, recommended banning 3D-printed guns in its final report released in 2018.