A collective of Colorado lawmakers desires to place an finish to “ghost weapons” and their rising recognition. Earlier this week, the state’s Home Judiciary Committee voted in a 7-4 majority to go the invoice, HB26-1144, alongside for a call with the total Home of Representatives. The proposed regulation would “prohibit using a three-dimensional printer, or comparable know-how, to make a firearm or a firearm element.”
Ghost weapons are sometimes created from 3D printers or comparable machines with out serial numbers, making them just about unattainable to hint and permitting customers to skirt the federal necessities for buying a firearm. Whereas the invoice targets utilizing a 3D printer to make weapons, large-capacity magazines and different associated elements, it even bans possessing and distributing the directions to fabricate weapons on this method. Nonetheless, these guidelines could be exempt for federally licensed firearm producers.
“These ghost weapons are more and more discovered at crime scenes, making it tougher for regulation enforcement to trace down a suspect as a result of the gun isn’t traceable,” the invoice’s sponsor, Lindsay Gilchrist, stated in a press launch.
Previous to this proposal, Colorado handed a regulation in 2023 that banned proudly owning ghost weapons or making frames for them. Whereas SB23-279 laid the groundwork, HB26-1144 will be seen as the following step because it’s far more encompassing by concentrating on ghost weapons even earlier than they’re made. Based on the invoice, first-time violations might be handled as a misdemeanor, whereas repeat offenses might be upgraded to a felony cost. Wanting forward, HB26-1144 nonetheless has to safe a vote from each the Colorado Senate and Home of Representatives earlier than being delivered to the governor to be signed into regulation.
