By Bob Katzen

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on several bills dealing with guns including these three:

GHOST GUNS (S 1496) – Would make ghost guns illegal in Massachusetts. Sponsor Sen. Cindy Creem (D-Newton) explains that ghost guns are unfinished firearms that allow individuals to easily build their own guns from unregulated kits.

“Once constructed, these firearms are unserialized and untraceable,” she said. “To address this loophole, this bill would make it illegal to manufacture, sell or purchase any firearm without a valid serial number, which would include the unfinished frames and receivers. In addition, this bill would make it illegal to manufacture, or 3D print, firearms without a license.

“I filed this legislation, because although Massachusetts has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, these laws are being undermined by the proliferation and availability of these untraceable ghost guns,” continued Creem. “We cannot sit idly by as people continue to exploit this loophole to skirt our state’s firearms regulations and contribute to gun violence across the commonwealth.”