Kaine Bill Would Ban Distribution Of 3D Printed Gun Blueprints

Fairfax News

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has joined Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) to introduce a bill that would outlaw the online distribution of blueprints and instructions that allow for the 3D printing of firearms. Kaine has been pushing the Senate and Virginia’s General Assembly to pass gun safety legislation in the aftermath of the Virginia Beach shooting, including bills to close loopholes in the background check system. He recently held discussions on gun violence prevention in Springfield, Charlottesville, Richmond, and Fredericksburg. 

“Our nation has suffered too many gun violence tragedies. We must not allow 3D printed guns to present an additional danger to our public safety and law enforcement,” said Kaine. “These guns are untraceable and largely undetectable, and Congress must address this threat before lives are lost.”

Because 3D printing allows individuals to make firearms out of plastic, these guns may be able to evade detection by metal detectors at security checkpoints, increasing the risk that a firearm will be used to perpetrate violence on an airplane or other areas where people congregate, the senators said. Due to the increasing availability of 3D printers, unlicensed individuals, including felons and domestic abusers, could obtain a firearm by manufacturing it themselves.

The 3D firearms are untraceable since they do not have a serial number for law enforcement to reference. If the instructions for 3D printing firearms and firearm parts are available online, people intending to commit gun crimes may create untraceable firearms in order to avoid accountability for these crimes, the senators argued. The 3D Printed Gun Safety Act will make it illegal to distribute online digital files that can automatically program a 3D printer to produce or complete the manufacture of a firearm.

Many 3D gun plans, like the one pictured above, can be found on sites like thingiverse.com. However, most of them are “prop guns,” meaning they are intended for use as props in movies or stage productions or as hobbyist or collector items. The gun pictured, designed by Steiner 3D, does not have a firing pin and cannot be fired.

3D printing enthusiasts, in fact, say that most 3D guns made from plastic are not safe to fire. “[T]he guns that have been made on desktop 3D printers have been far from reliable. These weapons have proven to be dangerous to the shooter as well as anyone in the vicinity when it is fired,” according to an unsigned article on 3Dprint.com. “While legislators and gun control lobbyists try their best to make a spectacle over the dangers of 3D printed guns, the reality is that if someone wants a gun to commit a crime, there are much easier ways of either fabricating or purchasing a firearm.”

Last year, the Trump Administration settled a lawsuit brought by downloadable gun proponents and agreed to permit the online posting of schematics for the 3D printing of firearms. A federal judge, however, has blocked the Administration from implementing this settlement, and the litigation over this issue is ongoing.

A copy of the legislation can be found here.

https://fairfaxnews.com/2019/06/kaine-bill-would-ban-distribution-of-3d-printed-gun-blueprints/