RI lawmakers debate necessity of 'ghost gun' legislation

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — One of the latest gun debates in Rhode Island centers on homemade firearms.

At the State House, lawmakers are considering a bill to ban the production and sale of 3D printed guns and so-called ghost guns.

Ghost guns are firearms that don't have a serial number or any other identifier and cannot be traced by police.

"In this case, we want to be responsible and proactive," said Sen. Cynthia Coyne, D-Barrington, a former Rhode Island State Police lieutenant who sponsored the Senate bill.

According to a spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, federal law allows a person to make a firearm for personal use as long as it's detectable, and as long as the person is not prohibited from having a gun.

Under federal law, anyone who makes a gun for personal use is not required to mark them with a serial number or any other identifier, according to the ATF. That includes making a 3D printed gun. However, it is illegal to sell or trade that gun without a federal firearms license.

"We want to keep the guns out of the hands of the individuals who shouldn't have firearms," said Rhode Island State Police Capt. Derek Borek.

Rhode Island State Police leadership spent hours testifying in front of Rhode Island lawmakers last month, voicing support for the bill.

In 2018, state police seized 11 ghost guns during a massive motorcycle gang raid in Woonsocket.

"One of the challenges is, where did it come from and who's making these guns?" Borek said.

The big problem with ghost guns, police say, is they can't be traced when used in a crime.

"What is your reason for not having that weapon be traceable?" Borek said.

Under federal law, 3D guns are also not illegal, an ATF spokesperson told NBC 10 News.

"There is no need for the law to address this because there is no issue," said Rep. Michael Chippendale, R-Foster.

Chippendale called 3D guns "dangerous trinkets" and said the proposed law to band them is "fatally flawed."

"The bill is far overreaching," Chippendale said. "It doesn't address any real issues we're faced with in Rhode Island, regarding 3D guns, or anywhere in the nation."

Police have not seen any 3D guns in Rhode Island.

Borek said police are still unsure if 3D guns can properly function, as some have been said to explode when fired. He believes, however, they can be lethal and are detectable.

"A round projectile comes out of that weapon, absolutely," Borek said. "Even if that gun were to blow up when you do fire it because of the frame itself can't handle the ballistics of that, they are. Most often, the firing pin in the weapon, the 3D gun, is metal. It needs to be to strike the primer of the bullet to actually get it to fire off."

So, how is a 3D gun built? NBC 10 went to New England Institute of Technology to see how 3D printers work.

Annie Unger, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at New England Tech, said the process uses computer-aided design models to build anything from trinkets to prosthetic limbs.

"It's changing everything," Unger told NBC 10 News in an interview. "It's changing the way we manufacture goods. It's changing the types of materials we can use in certain types of mechanisms, systems, designs, because we can make them more lightweight, more efficient and more economical. And that's just the beginning."

To start, the product is designed with CAD. That file is processed, which essentially builds a map and tells the printer how to print each layer. After you send the file to the printer, it heats up to about 200 degrees and builds the object layer by layer, most often in plastic.

"We even have materials that include wood, ceramic, and metal fibers in them as well," Unger said. "We build something virtually through a mechanical desktop."

Edward Morrissette is studying mechanical engineering at New England Tech. He has a 3D printer at home and says printing a gun is not as easy as people fear.

"I absolutely understand the fear of, 'What if people can just 3D print guns?' That's scary," Morrissette said. "But in my opinion, that's largely a played-up fear. I still have a great amount of difficulty, and I've been using 3D printers since high school."

"I think it's important to understand the good of society here and to understand how 3D printers will really help society and help us grow technologically," Unger said. "I think anything that's good, in the wrong hands, could be turned into something bad."

Chippendale said printing a fully-functional 3D gun is time consuming and expensive, and would require a large 3D printer, not one someone could buy online.

"Why are we reacting so quickly on a piece of legislation that is addressing a perceived problem that doesn't exist?" Chippendale said.

"When we're trying to keep firearms out of the hands of children, the mentally ill, felons, we want to make sure they don't have access to these types of firearms," Coyne told NBC 10 in an interview, adding that the bill is not meant to go after gun owners who are law-abiding citizens.

Last week, House lawmakers passed a version of the bill that would give anyone with a ghost gun in Rhode Island 30 days to serialize their guns. The bill now goes back to the Senate for consideration.

Frank Saccoccio with the Rhode Island Second Amendment Coalition said gun-rights advocates support the 30-day grace period.