U.S. Congressman David Cicilline of Rhode Island is introducing a bill that would ban the 3-D printing of plastic firearms, in response to the Trump Administration’s decision to allow a Texas-based company, Defense Distributed, to publish downloadable blueprints of 3-D guns online.
A judge has temporarily blocked the company from publishing the blueprints.
Cicilline, a Democrat, said the downloadable guns are a disaster waiting to happen.
“The proliferation of this technology will make it virtually impossible to prevent terrorists to build their own do-it-yourself firearms,” Cicilline said in a statement.
Rich Luchetty, communications director for Cicilline, told RIPR the plastic weapons are difficult to detect at most security checkpoints.
“These weapons are weapons that are able to be produced by anyone with a 3-D printer,” Luchetty said. “They’re essentially untraceable, because of the material, where it’s primarily plastic. They are virtually undetectable by modern security devices.”
Plastic firearms also have no serial number, making them difficult to trace.
Cicilline’s bill would bring 3-D printed guns and their components under a provision of the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988, which makes it illegal to possess or manufacture any firearm that is not detectable by walk-through metal detection.
Proponents of 3-D downloadable gun blueprints, like Defence Distributed, claim that prohibiting the posting of online code is a violation of both the second amendment and freedom of speech.
