In 2025, Rhode Island passed a law requiring law enforcement to submit test-fired cartridges from all crime guns to the state crime lab, the ATF, or other law enforcement agency with personnel certified in forensic ballistic examination for testing and entry into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).¹ The firearm’s make, model and serial number must also be sent to ATF for tracing.²

“Crime gun” is defined as any firearm used in a crime or identified by law enforcement as suspected of having been used in a crime.³ The law prohibits ballistic testing of firearms seized from a person being arrested if the firearm does not meet the definition of “crime gun.”⁴