Posted on 04/06/2015 8:11:19 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
New York Congressman Steve Israel and a photo of an AR-15 which includes 3D printed parts.
Gun rights groups from Defense Distributed to the NRA to Come and Take It Texas will not be pleased with the latest piece of proposed legislation from Congressman Steve Israel. Israel, a representative from New York state, first called for legislation to ban 3D printed guns. Israel’s bill has gotten little traction at this point, but he says he’s not about to give up the fight.
In fact, Israel says he’ll be reintroducing legislation aimed at banning 3D printed, or for that matter, all fully-plastic firearms.
Called the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act, Israel’s first failed attempt would have forbidden possessing or manufacturing any type of firearm capable of sneaking under the notice of any standard metal detector.
Israel says the proposed legislation which was co-sponsored by Republican Representative Peter King was meant to make certain “criminals and terrorists can’t produce guns that can easily be made undetectable.”
“Security checkpoints will do little good if criminals can produce plastic firearms and bring those firearms through metal detectors into secure areas like airports or courthouses,” Israel told WIRED. “When I started talking about the issue of completely plastic firearms, I was told the idea of a plastic gun is science-fiction. That science-fiction is now a dangerous reality.”
Israel says he originally wanted to create penalties for anyone who chooses to build a weapon or weapon component using a 3D printer without the proper permitting and licensing. Though he now says he won’t be targeting anyone who uses a 3D printer specifically, it’s fairly clear his push for this legislation arose from the welter of news stories surrounding firearms such as the Liberator by gun access group Defense Distributed.
Cody Wilson with the Liberator .380-3D Printed Gun.
Cody Wilson, the founder of Defense Distributed, has made no secret of his intention to do his best to thwart any such legislation via technology and free information.
While it’s not currently feasible to produce a reasonably safe handgun which uses no metallic components, an entirely 3D printed gun may some day be legally produced with non-metallic materials as advancement in such materials is moving forward at a furious pace. In fact Wilson is currently trying to get his hands on a Mark Forged Mark One 3D Printer, which is capable of printing with a mixture of thermoplastic and fibers, such as Kevlar, carbon fiber, and fiberglass. Mark Forged refused to sell him their printer, but Wilson has publicly sought an alternative route, offering a large sum of money to anyone willing to get him one of these advanced machines.
The Undetectable Firearms Act was renewed last year, but it makes no specific mention of 3D printing. With that said, Israel says his new bill is aimed at making sure current iterations of 3D printed guns can’t be legally produced without the proper licensing and marketing.
The law still lags behind recent innovations in DIY gunsmithing as the lower receiver of an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle can be printed or milled and the rest of the weapon is legally available. In fact, Defense Distributed sells a simple CNC mill capable of creating those lower receivers from aluminum.
Michael Weinberg, an analyst who works as general counsel at 3D printing service bureau Shapeways, told WIRED his company was not in favor of any bill which would make 3D printing a gun illegal. Weinberg is the author of “It Will Be Awesome If They Don’t Screw it Up: 3D Printing, Intellectual Property, and the Fight Over the Next Great Disruptive Technology and What’s the Deal with Copyright and 3D Printing?” Weinberg regularly writes about and speaks on the policy implications of emerging technologies in the press and at events.
Where do you stand on the issue of 3D printed firearms? Should legislature be put in place blocking you or me from printing guns from the privacy of our own homes? Let us know in the Bill to Ban 3D Printed Firearms forum thread on 3DPB.com.
Cause those plastic guns will shoot plastic bullets with plastic casings....
Cause those plastic guns will shoot plastic bullets with plastic casings....
What a wanker.
New York is almost as great a threat to liberty as Iran.
Is he going to ban CNC milling machines too?
Well, good luck on that.
How are you going to stop peer-to-peer transmission of plans?
It’s a worse threat because of it proximity to the rest of us.
“Mark Forged refused to sell him their printer......”
He desperately needs this printer to make two sado/masochist leather clad grooms to top a gay wedding cake.
I’d like to see some serious legislation that bans commie lib politicians from being elected by low information morons.
Better outlaw computers, too, just to be sure.
When will Steve propose a”Ban”on All”DemonRats”???????????
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Not long after the decision in Raich, the Court vacated a lower court decision in United States v. Stewart and remanded it to the court of appeals for reconsideration in light of Raich. In Stewart, the Ninth Circuit had held that Congress lacked the Commerce Clause power to criminalize the possession of homemade machine guns.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzales_v._Raich
I agree. Ban all terrorists. Forbid them from getting their hands on any 3D technology.
Oh, right, these laws only affect law abiding citizens who are no threat. They are the ones who will have their hands tied.
Ahh well, it is said that one can not actually complete an average day now without committing at least one felony. What's one more?
Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.
Quite a few very effective firearms were manufactured before CNC equipment appeared on the market. The only difference is in the required skills of the machinist. Guns like STEN were designed to be very simple in production. The drawings are available on the Internet.
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You can make an effective weapon from sheet metal as well. A good barrel should be forged, but that could change with newer technology as well.
They should ban the ignition of unobtanium by means of impact too. It could be dangerous.
Typical leftist statist Rat.
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