3D Printed Gun Safety Act would prevent people from creating guns in their own home
Should the Second Amendment allow anybody to make their own gun with a 3D printer — even if that person is underage, has a felony, or is subject to a restraining order?
Context
Back in 1988, the Undetectable Firearms Act made it illegal to produce a weapon that could avoid a metal detector.
A few years ago, gun enthusiast Cody Wilson published an online instruction manual for how to print your own gun from a 3D printer. It was downloaded more than 100,000 times.
The Obama State Department forced him to take it down, arguing that such open publication would violate the law. Wilson sued.
The State Department switched sides under President Trump, settling the case in June and rendering “any form” of 3D printing instructions or tutorials legal for public release or “unlimited distribution.” In practice, this means 3D printed guns are now legal.
(Although a Florida judge put the decision on hold mere hours before it was set to go into effect. The decision is now being appealed.)
What the bill does
The 3D Printed Gun Safety Act [S. 3304] would ban the online publication of directions for creating a gun with a 3D printer.
It was introduced in late July by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL).
What supporters say
Supporters argue that the Trump administration’s decision not only endangers public safety but allows the evading of laws already on the book — taking a page from the “law and order” standpoint usually argued more by Republicans.
“Now suddenly there is going to be published on the internet the plans for making a gun that can evade the detection system in airports and seaports and all of these governmental buildings, as well as some sports stadiums,” Sen. Nelson said at a press conference. “It just defies common sense.”
“You remember 25 years ago the Clint Eastwood movie [In the Line of Fire] about the Secret Service?” Nelson continued. “The bad guy was going to shoot the president. He had a plastic gun but he had a metal bullet. He got through security by putting the metal bullet in a rabbit’s foot that was part of his keychain. You don’t have to worry that we can get the metal bullets, because you can produce a plastic bullet now that has the force of a metal bullet.”
What opponents say
Opponents counter that the blueprints for 3D printed guns should be a protected form of free speech under the First Amendment. They also that while sharing guns with minors or those who wouldn’t pass background checks is supposed to be illegal, sharing computer code technically isn’t.
“Not only is this a First Amendment victory for free speech, it also is a devastating blow to the gun prohibition lobby,” Second Amendment Foundation’s founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said in a statement. (The Second Amendment Foundation represented Wilson in his lawsuit against the Obama State Department.)
“For years, anti-gunners have contended that modern semi-automatic sport-utility rifles are so-called ‘weapons of war,’” Gottlieb continued. “With this settlement, the government has acknowledged they are nothing of the sort.”
Opponents also note that the cat may already be out of the bag, since the 3D blueprints were downloaded more than 100,000 times even during the brief period that they were online.
Odds of passage
The bill has 32 Senate cosponsors, all Democrats or Democratic-affiliated independents. The bill awaits a potential vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
While no Republicans have yet signed on, President Trump tweeted that he is “looking into the issue.” Trump also claimed to have spoken to the NRA, who according to Trump supposedly agreed that a 3D printed gun “doesn’t seem to make much sense.” However, the NRA’s official statement on the issue was deliberately vague and didn’t explicitly oppose it.
This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.
Like our analyses? Want more? Support our work!
