Twenty-five years ago, Congress passed the Undetectable Firearms Act, which bans firearms that can't be picked up by metal detectors. It's due to expire on December 9, but its renewal has been stalled due to a dispute over whether to include provisions aimed at curbing the proliferation of weapons that can be made simply by printing them on a 3-D printer. And that has law enforcement and gun-safety advocates running scared.
It is not an idle concern: Homemade plastic guns are a reality, made possible by the proliferation of 3-D printing technology that was only getting started when the law was first passed by Congress and signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.
“They are so frightening because they render most standard detection useless,” said Tim Murphy, a former deputy director of the F.B.I.
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“We’re on the clock, and as we know, this Congress doesn’t deal well with deadlines,” said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
For now, the extension is delayed as lawmakers fight over whether to simply extend the law or amend it to include new provisions aimed specifically at 3-D printed weapons.
When the House returns from Thanksgiving recess next week, it is due to take up a measure that would renew this law for 10 years. Democrats are pushing a measure by Congressman Steve Israel called the
Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act, which would require that an essential part of the gun contain enough metal that it can be picked up by a metal detector. The current law requires printed guns to contain metal, but is worded in such a way that the metal can be a nonfunctional part that is easily removed. Israel's bill has
seven cosponsors, but has been bottled up in committee since April because Republicans are only willing to pass a renewal of the current law.
In the Senate, Senator Bill Nelson has proposed a companion measure to Israel's bill, as well as a stopgap measure to reauthorize the original bill for one year. But both are stalled due to Republican concerns that Democrats may use it to add more provisions when it expires again. No, that isn't snark. And that has supporters of renewing the law flabbergasted. Chuck Schumer, for instance, was dumbfounded that anyone could open the door for people to get into airports, stadiums and schools with guns that can't be picked up by a scanner.
This isn't an idle concern. Back in May, a Second Amendment absolutist outfit called Defense Distributed published what are believed to be the first online instructions on how to print a 3-D pistol. After the ATF assembled the gun and determined it could potentially fire .380 shells, the State Department and the Pentagon ordered the instructions removed--but not before they were downloaded thousands of times and published on multiple file-trading services. Critics of the current law say that 3-D printing isn't readily available yet. However, the technology is becoming less expensive by the day; apparently 3-D printers can be bought for as little as $1,000.
The NRA hasn't weighed in on this yet, so it goes without saying that this issue is something we need to get ahead of them on. Call or email your senators or congressmen on Monday and urge them to support the Israel-Nelson proposals to amend this law--or at the very least, renew the current law. This is one issue on which doing nothing is not an option.