3d Printing – LonelyMachines

Undetectable Firearms Act, Part Deux

It’s all over the news, and there’s some confusion surrounding this. The House voted today on HR 3626, which extends the Undetectable Firearms Act for ten years. They did not vote to expand it.

Senator Schumer plans to submit a proposal after Congress reconvenes early next year, but that will be a different bill. Rep. Steve Israel will likely be pushing it in the House, so he’s the guy to watch.

Israel started pushing the issue when 3D printing became a big deal last year. His statement was somewhat ironic:

In 1988, when we passed the Undetectable Firearms Act, the notion of a 3D-printed plastic firearm slipped through metal detectors, onto our planes in secure environments was a matter of science fiction. The problem is that today it is a reality…so we have to act now.

Yep. Despite being a “matter of science fiction,” it still got passed, reauthorized, and renewed as of today.

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Civil Rights

The Liberator Pistol Just Might Be

By now, you’ve probably heard about the Liberator pistol being produced by Defense Distributed. It was designed and executed on a 3D printer, it’s made of plastic, and it works to some extent. The best part is that the company made the schematics and instructions public.

Yep. An open-source gun.

The Department of State took notice, and in a fit of bureaucratic clue deficit, they’ve attempted to remove it from the internet. The blurb they’ve put up on the site reads, “until further notice, the United States government claims control of the information.”

Yeah. Um…no. Nobody tell them that’s not possible, okay? As I write this, the file has been mirrored all over the place. By trying to clamp down on it, the government has ensured that it is being more widely disseminated than it ever would have been if they’d just left it alone. Let’s just savor the irony for a moment.

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Civil Rights Ordnance

Return of the Glock 7

It looks like the anti-gunners will do anything to push that “conversation” they keep saying they want with us. Today’s example is a demand by Brady Campaign poster boy Steve Israel to renew the Undetectable Firearms Act.

Signed into law by President Reagan in 1988, the Act was a response to fears over newer methods of fabricating firearms parts. At the time, there was great concern about the polymer frame of the new Glock pistol, and the possibility that it could be invisible to airport metal detectors ⁽¹⁾.

It sunset after ten years in 1998. It was then resurrected and signed in 2003 by President Bush ⁽²⁾ as Public Law 108-174. It is set to expire again next year.

So, why the big push for renewal? Folks are using 3d printers to make guns. You might think this is illegal, but it’s not. The Gun Control Act is fairly silent on this, prohibiting only the assembly of NFA items or “non-sporting” guns made from imported parts.

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