HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 352        FILED ON: 1/12/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2360

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

David Paul Linsky

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to 3D printed guns and ghost guns.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

David Paul Linsky

5th Middlesex

1/12/2023

Jack Patrick Lewis

7th Middlesex

1/12/2023

Mindy Domb

3rd Hampshire

1/12/2023

Marcus S. Vaughn

9th Norfolk

1/12/2023

Rodney M. Elliott

16th Middlesex

1/12/2023

Lindsay N. Sabadosa

1st Hampshire

1/15/2023

James C. Arena-DeRosa

8th Middlesex

1/20/2023

Manny Cruz

7th Essex

1/23/2023

Michelle L. Ciccolo

15th Middlesex

1/25/2023

Kay Khan

11th Middlesex

1/25/2023

Christine P. Barber

34th Middlesex

1/25/2023

Michael J. Barrett

Third Middlesex

1/26/2023

Carol A. Doherty

3rd Bristol

1/30/2023

Ryan M. Hamilton

15th Essex

1/30/2023

Jennifer Balinsky Armini

8th Essex

1/31/2023

Meghan K. Kilcoyne

12th Worcester

2/1/2023

Carlos González

10th Hampden

2/2/2023

Michelle M. DuBois

10th Plymouth

2/7/2023

Tricia Farley-Bouvier

2nd Berkshire

2/8/2023

Carmine Lawrence Gentile

13th Middlesex

3/6/2023

Patrick M. O'Connor

First Plymouth and Norfolk

3/9/2023

Brandy Fluker Oakley

12th Suffolk

3/10/2023

Tommy Vitolo

15th Norfolk

3/30/2023

Kenneth I. Gordon

21st Middlesex

4/3/2023

Simon Cataldo

14th Middlesex

4/10/2023

William J. Driscoll, Jr.

7th Norfolk

4/14/2023

Christopher Richard Flanagan

1st Barnstable

4/24/2023

David M. Rogers

24th Middlesex

5/17/2023

Patricia A. Duffy

5th Hampden

5/17/2023

Smitty Pignatelli

3rd Berkshire

6/22/2023

Dawne Shand

1st Essex

6/22/2023

Rebecca L. Rausch

Norfolk, Worcester and Middlesex

7/5/2023


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 352        FILED ON: 1/12/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2360

By Representative Linsky of Natick, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2360) of David Paul Linsky and others relative to 3D printed weapons and ghost guns.  Public Safety and Homeland Security.

 

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 4869 OF 2021-2022.]

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

_______________

 

An Act relative to 3D printed guns and ghost guns.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section 1. Section 121 of Chapter 140 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “detectors” in line 77, ‘“frame”, the part of a handgun, or variants thereof, that provides housing or a structure for the primary energized component designed to hold back the hammer, striker, bolt, or similar component prior to initiation of the firing sequence (i.e., sear or equivalent), even if pins or other attachments are required to connect such component to the housing or structure, including any such part (1) that is marketed or sold to the public to be used in an assembled, operable firearm or (2) that can be readily converted for use in an assembled, operable firearm.

Section 2. Section 121 of Chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after the word “detectors” in line 77, the following: a firearm shall include any firearm frame or receiver.

Section 3. Section 121 of Chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after the word “tense” in line 133, the following: “‘receiver,’ the part of a rifle, shotgun, or projectile weapon other than a handgun, or variants thereof, that provides housing or a structure for the primary component designed to block or seal the breech prior to initiation of the firing sequence (i.e., bolt, breechblock, or equivalent), even if pins or other attachments are required to connect such component to the housing or structure, including any such part (1) that is marketed or sold to the public to be used in an assembled, operable firearm or (2) that can be readily converted for use in an assembled, operable firearm. The term shall not include a piece of material that has had its size or external shape altered to facilitate transportation or storage or has had its chemical composition altered.”

Section 4. Section 121 of Chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after the word “lever” in line 165, the following: “‘variant’ and ‘variants thereof’ means a weapon utilizing a similar frame or receiver design irrespective of new or different model designations or configurations, characteristics, features, components, accessories, or attachments.

Section 5. Chapter 140 is hereby amended by inserting the following new Section after Section 122D.

Section 122E.

(a) “assembly” or “assemble” means the fitting together of component parts of a firearm to construct a firearm; but shall not apply to the restoration of antique firearms nor the replacement of existing parts of a completed firearm so long as the parts are properly imprinted with a serial number issued by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services.

(b) “manufacture” means the newly fabricate or construct a firearm.

(c) No individual shall sell, deliver, or transfer a firearm unless the firearm is required by law to be, and has been, imprinted with a serial number by a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer of firearms pursuant to 18 USC 923(i), or with a serial number issued by the by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services as amended from time to time, and any regulation adopted thereunder within.

(d) No individual shall purchase, obtain, or possess any firearm that is undetectable. "Undetectable firearm” means a firearm that: (1) after removal of all parts other than major components, is not as detectable as the Security Exemplar, by walk-through metal detectors calibrated and operated to detect the Security Exemplar; or (2) includes a major component which, if the firearm were subjected to inspection by the types of detection devices commonly used at airports for security screening, would not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component.

"Major component” means the barrel, the slide or cylinder, or the frame or receiver of a firearm.

“Security Exemplar” means the Security Exemplar fabricated in accordance with subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subsection (p) of 18 U.S.C. § 922

(e) No person shall use a three-dimensional printer to manufacture any firearm, or any part or component that is intended to be used to assemble or manufacture a firearm, unless such person possesses a federal license to manufacture firearms and operates in compliance pursuant to 18 USC 923(i), as amended from time to time, and any regulation adopted thereunder within.

(f) No person shall distribute by any means, including the Internet, to a person in Massachusetts who is not registered or licensed as a manufacturer, digital instructions in the form of computer-aided design files or other code or instructions stored and displayed in electronic format as a digital model that may be used to program a three-dimensional printer to manufacture or produce a firearm, magazine, or firearm component if the distributer intends the instructions to be used in commission of an act against the laws of the Commonwealth or knows, or has reason to know, that the person receiving the instructions intends to use them in commission of an act against the laws of the Commonwealth. As used in this subsection: “three-dimensional printer” means a computer or computer-driven machine or device capable of producing a three-dimensional object from a digital model; and “distribute” means to sell, or to manufacture, give, provide, lend, trade, mail, deliver, publish, circulate, disseminate, display, share, advertise, offer, or make available via the Internet or by any other means, whether for pecuniary gain or not, and includes an agreement or attempt to distribute.

(g) The department of criminal justice information services shall develop and maintain a system to distribute a unique serial number or other mark of identification to any individual requesting such serial number or mark pursuant to this section, in accordance with applicable federal laws and regulations. Upon an application made by a person for a serial number or mark for a firearm pursuant to this section, which shall include any information required by the department, the department shall confirm with the appropriate licensing authority that the applicant is authorized to possess such firearm and possess a valid license or firearm identification card as required under chapter 140. Upon issuance of a serial number or mark, the department shall maintain identifying information of the person requesting the number or mark and of the firearm for which each such number or mark is requested.

(h) Not later than ninety days after the effective date of this act, an individual who is in possession of a firearm that has not been imprinted with a serial number by the department of criminal justice information services, a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer of firearms pursuant to 18 USC 923(i) shall notify the commissioner of the department of criminal justice information services and provide any identifying information concerning the firearm and the owner of such firearm pursuant to Section 128B of Chapter 140, shall apply for a serial number or mark for a firearm pursuant to subsection (g), and within 30 days of receiving such serial number shall imprint or have it imprinted upon the firearm.

(i) No individual shall knowingly, facilitate, aid, or abet the manufacture or assembly of a firearm by an individual or for an individual who is otherwise prohibited by law from owning or possessing a firearm.

(j) The department of criminal justice information services shall promulgate regulations to carry out this section. 

(k) The provisions of this section shall not apply to (1) the sale or transfer of a firearm to, or to purchasing, obtaining, or possessing of a firearm by, a federally licensed firearm manufacturer, importer, or dealer, or (2) delivery or transfer of a firearm to a law enforcement agency.

Section 6. Chapter 269 of the Massachusetts General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following new Section after Section 10K

Section 10L.

(a) Any person who is found to have violated any provision of Chapter 140, Section 122E of the Massachusetts General Laws shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not more than ten years for each offense, or by not more than two and one half years in the House of Correction or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars for each offense or by both such imprisonment and fine. 

(b) Section 26 of Chapter 218 of the General Laws shall be amended by inserting after the words, “knowing the same to be forged”, the following words:

“a violation of Section 122E of Chapter 140 of the General Laws.”