§ 11-47-24. Alteration of marks of identification on firearms.
(a) No person shall change, alter, remove, or obliterate the name of the maker, model,
manufacturer's number, or if there is no name of the maker, model, or manufacturer's
number then any other mark of identification on any firearm.
(b) No person shall, absent recertification paperwork, knowingly receive, transport, or
possess any firearm which has had the name of the maker or manufacturer's serial number
removed, altered, or obliterated, or if there is no name of the maker, model, or manufacturer's
number then any other mark of identification on any firearm.
(c) Possession of any firearm, absent recertification paperwork, upon which the name of
the maker, model, manufacturer's number, or if there is no name of the maker, model,
or manufacturer's number then any other mark of identification on any firearm has
been changed, altered, removed, or obliterated shall be prima facie evidence that
the possessor has changed, altered, removed, or obliterated.
(d) A person in possession of a firearm, with proof of ownership and/or transfer from
a FFL dealer, may apply for recertification of that firearm from a Rhode Island based
licensed firearms business owner who also is an FFL dealer or a local police chief
and/or police department official if the name of the maker, model, manufacturer's
number, or if there is no name of the maker, model, or manufacturer's number then
any other mark of identification on the firearm has been only partially damaged.
(e) The Rhode Island based licensed firearms business owner who is also an FFL dealer
or a local police chief and/or police department official shall, within sixty (60)
days of the application if he or she is reasonably able to verify the firearm ownership
and identifying marks recertify the firearm or return the firearm to the person who
presented it, certify by written notarized documentation that the firearm's name of
the maker, model, manufacturer's number, or if there is no name of the maker, model,
or manufacturer's number then any other mark of identification on the firearm has
been partially damaged and is still identifiable and traceable to the record owner.
(f) The sale or transfer of a recertified firearm and/or the submission of a report by
the record owner that the firearm was stolen immediately voids all recertification
documentation.
(g) Violation of the provisions of this section may be punished by imprisonment for not
more than five (5) years.
(h) This section shall not apply to the lawful exchange of component parts of any firearms,
nor to any antique and collectible weapons legally possessed by collectors and dealers
of firearms as provided in § 11-47-25.