Posted on 11/28/2015 7:27:33 AM PST by JoeProBono
Possessing files that can be used to 3D print firearms will soon be illegal in New South Wales after new legislation, passed last week by state parliament, comes into effect.
Among the provisions of the Firearms and Weapons Prohibition Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 is an amendment to the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 stating that a person "must not possess a digital blueprint for the manufacture of a firearm on a 3D printer or on an electronic milling machine."
The maximum penalty is 14 years' jail.
The provision does not apply to any person with a licence to manufacture firearms or the police.
'Possession' is defined as "possession of a computer or data storage device holding or containing the blueprint or of a document in which the blueprint is recorded" or "control of the blueprint held in a computer that is in the possession of another person (whether the computer is in this jurisdiction or outside this jurisdiction)".
Defences for the offence include innocent production, dissemination or possession; public benefit (such as enforcing or administering a state or federal law); or approved research.
3Dprint.com reported on the bill's passage.
The bill, introduced to the NSW Legislative Assembly in October, was passed by the Legislative Council on 17 November and is now waiting royal assent.
The provisions "are targeted at criminals who think they can steal or modify firearms or manufacture firearms from 3D blueprints," NSW's justice minister, Troy Grant, said when introducing the bill in the state's lower house on 27 October.
"Those who think they can skirt the law will find themselves facing some of the toughest penalties for firearms offences in this country," Grant said.
In 2013 the NSW Police issued a warning about the potential of 3D printed firearms to catastrophically misfire.
The police revealed that they had created and tested two 3D-printed firearms based on the the Liberator pistol blueprints produced by US-firm Defense Distributed.
A federal parliamentary inquiry earlier this year recommended the federal and state governments look into uniform regulations covering 3D printing of firearms.
However in a dissenting report, Coalition senators and Liberal Democratic Party Senator David Leyonhjelm argued that existing laws were adequate for dealing with the issue.
I see the Aussie gun-grabbers are still at it.
People will have to bury their USB drives in the back yard.
A blueprint represents knowledge. Their goal is to make knowledge illegal. This is their path to safety.
Austrailia is a S#!t#ole bump for later...
AND electronic milling machines. I hope they don’t go to cncguns dot com and download blue prints.
Not me. I lost all my USB drives in a horrible boating accident...
Semi-auto!! Banned in NZ,OZ and the UK!
Yes. The Feudalist impulse to control the Serfs still lives, even in the descendants of the very people who were transported away from home and hearth by them.
We should ban the entry into this country of all people bearing passports of such nations. Why should we want to import those who would strip us of our rights?
And cooperation with such police states should simply cease.
A virus carrying such plans should be sent to every electronic device in New South Wales.
Endangering lives again, I see.
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