FIREARM PARTS; REQUIRE SERIAL NUMBER S.B. 331 & 332:
SUMMARY OF BILL
REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE
Senate Bills 331 and 332 (as reported without amendment)
Sponsor: Senator Mallory McMorrow
Committee: Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety
CONTENT
Senate Bill 331 would amend the handgun licensure Act to do the following:
-- Prohibit an individual from manufacturing, assembling, importing, purchasing, selling, or transferring a firearm, frame, or receiver that did not have a valid serial number.
-- Prescribe the serialization requirements for a firearm or completed or unfinished frame.
-- Beginning 18 months after the bill's effective date, prohibit a person from knowingly possessing a firearm or any completed or unfinished frame or receiver that was not imprinted with a valid serial number.
-- Prohibit the use of a three-dimensional (3D) printer or computer numerical control milling machine for unlicensed firearm manufacturing.
-- Prohibit an unlicensed individual from manufacturing more than five firearms annually and require the individual to notify the Michigan State Police within 10 days of producing a firearm.
-- Prescribe misdemeanor and felony penalties for violating the bill's provisions.
-- Specify that the bill's prohibitions would not apply to antique or inoperative firearms, transactions involving law enforcement agencies, law enforcement activities, or buyback programs, among other things.
-- Require a person who moved into the State to comply with the serialization requirements within 90 days of moving.
Senate Bill 332 would add sentencing guidelines to the Code of Criminal Procedure to make a second or subsequent violation of Senate Bill 331's prohibitions a Class E felony against the public safety punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.
Senate Bill 332 is tie-barred to Senate Bill 331.
Proposed MCL 28.434c (S.B. 331);
777.11b (S.B. 332)
BRIEF RATIONALE
Generally, ghost guns are un-serialized firearms built from separate pieces or a kit and are often made of 3D printed material and untraceable. According to testimony before the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety, minors and prohibited individuals can easily acquire ghost guns. Some believe that un-serialized firearms and ghost gun precursors should be regulated and undergo serialization to reduce unauthorized and potentially dangerous access to guns.
PREVIOUS LEGISLATION
(This section does not provide a comprehensive account of previous legislative efforts on this subject matter.)
Senate Bills 331 and 332 are respectively reintroductions of Senate Bills 1149 and 1150 of the