SCHUMER, NELSON CALL FOR REVAMPING, EXTENDING REAGAN-ERA FIREARMS ACT THAT BANS NEW PRACTICE OF CREATING UNDETECTABLE GUNS, AT HOME, WITH 3-D PRINTER
With New Technology, Anyone Could Download a Design And Make A Gun Using a Computer and An In-home 3-D Printer – Plastic Weapon Could Slip Through X-Ray Machines Without Being Detected
Senators Say 3-D Printers Are Brilliant Technology With Capability To Revolutionize Manufacturing, But We Must Make Sure A Few Bad Actors Don’t Use It To Make Dangerous, Undetectable Weapons
With law enforcement and security officials worldwide growing increasingly alarmed, U.S. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) are calling for a ban in the U.S. specifically on the design, manufacture, sale, import, export and possession of so-called 3-D plastic guns.
Schumer and Nelson said a Texas student’s recent invention of a working pistol using an in-home 3-D printer sends out a signal that anyone, anywhere, anytime, soon will be able to make a gun that’s capable of killing and yet undetectable by metal detectors.
The two lawmakers announced they have filed the legislation aimed at stopping the spread of the home-made weapon where Department of Homeland Security officials already have labeled the 3-D plastic gun a serious threat to public safety.
In mid-May it was reported that the student from Texas invented a plastic pistol that he said anyone could make with a 3-D printer like his. Police in Australia reportedly produced a similar weapon using computer printing technology that’s expected to be widely available within three years to just about anyone for around $2,000.
Previously, 3-D printers have been used in industrial production to make such things as plastic models and prototypes. The industrial printers sent out streams of melted plastic, layer by layer, to produce an object. The 3-D printer the Texas student used to make the plastic gun costs about $10,000, according to CBS, which reported he then put the design data on his website and more than 100,000 people downloaded the data before the government shut down the site.
“With continuing advancements in technology, it is imperative that we renew the ban and take the necessary steps to keep people as safe as possible,” the two Senators they wrote in a letter to their colleagues seeking Senate co-sponsors. “Extending this ban will give law enforcement the tools that they need to keep undetectable firearms and magazines from slipping past security checkpoints and off of our streets.”
Their legislation not only would ban home-made 3-D plastic guns, but also extend a Reagan-era prohibition on any other “undetectable” firearm. President Reagan signed the first bill dealing with undetectable weapons in 1988, and Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush renewed it. But the current ban on undetectable firearms is scheduled to expire in six months.
On the House side, a revamped Undetectable Firearms Act has also been filed by U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington, NY). It makes it illegal to manufacture, own, transport, buy, or sell any firearm or magazine that is homemade and not detectable by metal detector and/or does not present an accurate image when put through an x-ray machine. The reauthorization would extend the life of the bill for another 10 years from the date of enactment.
Below is the text of the bill and the letter Sens. Schumer and Nelson have sent their Senate colleagues seeking cosponsors
Dear Colleagues,
We invite you to co-sponsor the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act of 2013. The Undetectable Firearms Act was originally signed into law by President Reagan in 1988, and was renewed under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.
The Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act of 2013 updates the 1988 law that bans undetectable firearms and their components by extending the ban on plastic guns and including a ban of homemade, 3-D printed, plastic high-capacity magazines. Specifically, this important legislation makes it illegal to manufacture, own, transport, buy, or sell any firearm, receiver, or magazine that is homemade and is not detectable by metal detector and/or does not present an accurate image when put through an x-ray machine.
The current ban on undetectable firearms is scheduled to expire on December 9, 2013. The reauthorization would extend the law for another ten years from the date of enactment. With continuing advancements in technology, it is imperative that we renew the ban and take the necessary steps to keep people as safe as possible. Extending this ban will give law enforcement the tools that they need to keep undetectable firearms and magazines from slipping past security checkpoints and off of our streets.
If you have any questions about this important legislation or would like to co-sponsor, please contact…
Sincerely,
To reauthorize the ban on undetectable firearms, and to extend the ban
to undetectable firearm receivers and undetectable ammunition magazines.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Mr. NELSON (for himself and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
A BILL
To reauthorize the ban on undetectable firearms, and to
extend the ban to undetectable firearm receivers and
undetectable ammunition magazines.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa
2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Undetectable Firearms
5 Modernization Act’’.
6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
7 The Congress finds that—
8 (1) according to data from the Federal Bureau
9 of Investigation, 8,583 of the 12,664 murders in the
1 United States in 2011 were committed using a fire
2 arm, and more than 57 percent of the murders that
3 occurred in New York State were perpetrated with
4 a firearm;
5 (2) the ability to produce a receiver for a fire
6 arm in the home would circumvent a number of
7 laws, because the receiver is the component of the
8 firearm that bears its serial number, as required by
9 regulations;
10 (3) digital manufacturing technologies, include
11 ing but not limited to computer numerical control
12 mills (‘‘CNC mills’’), 3-dimensional printers (‘‘3D
13 printers’’), and laser cutting machines, are quickly
14 advancing to a point where it will soon be possible
15 to fabricate fully operational firearm components;
16 and
17 (4) some commercially available products that
18 utilize digital manufacturing technologies to manu
19 facture objects are able to manufacture these objects
20 using materials that are unable to be detected by
21 traditional metal detectors, and may not present an
22 accurate image on an x-ray.
1 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF BAN ON UNDETECTABLE
2 FIREARMS.
3 Section 2(f)(2) of the Undetectable Firearms Act of
4 1988 (18 U.S.C. 922 note) is amended by striking ‘‘25’’
5 and inserting ‘‘35’’.
6 SEC. 4. BAN EXTENDED TO UNDETECTABLE FIREARM RE
7 CEIVERS MADE BY INDIVIDUALS.
8 Section 922(p) of title 18, United States Code, is
9 amended—
10 (1) in paragraph (1)—
11 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph
12 (A), by striking ‘‘It shall be unlawful’’ and all
13 that follows and inserting ‘‘It shall be unlaw
14 ful—’’; and
15 (B) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B)
16 and inserting the following:
17 ‘‘(A) for any person to manufacture, import,
18 sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive any
19 firearm—
20 ‘‘(i) that, after removal of grips, stocks,
21 and magazines, is not as detectable as the Se
22 curity Exemplar, by walk-through metal detec
23 tors calibrated and operated to detect the Secu
24 rity Exemplar; or
25 ‘‘(ii) any major component of which, when
26 subjected to inspection by the types of x-ray
1 machines commonly used at airports, does not
2 generate an image that accurately depicts the
3 shape of the component, except that barium
4 sulfate or other compounds may be used in the
5 fabrication of the component; and
6 ‘‘(B) for any person—
7 ‘‘(i) to import, sell, ship, deliver, possess,
8 transfer, or receive any receiver for a rifle, or
9 receiver for a handgun, manufactured by a per
10 son who is not a licensed manufacturer—
11 ‘‘(I) that is not as detectable as the
12 Receiver Security Exemplar for a rifle or
13 for a handgun, as the case may be, by
14 walk-through metal detectors calibrated
15 and operated to detect that Receiver Secu
16 rity Exemplar; or
17 ‘‘(II) which, when subjected to inspec
18 tion by the types of x-ray machines com
19 monly used at airports, does not generate
20 an image that accurately depicts the shape
21 of the receiver, except that barium sulfate
22 or other compounds may be used in the
23 fabrication of the receiver; or
24 ‘‘(ii) who is not a licensed manufacturer to
25 manufacture any receiver for a rifle, or receiver
1 for a handgun, described in subclause (I) or
2 (II) of clause (i).’’;
3 (2) in paragraph (2)—
4 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub
5 paragraph (B);
6 (B) by striking the period at the end of
7 subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
8 (C) by adding at the end the following:
9 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Receiver Security Exemplar’
10 means, with respect to a rifle or a handgun, an ob
11 ject, to be fabricated at the direction of the Attorney
12 General, that is—
13 ‘‘(i) constructed of, during the 12-month
14 period beginning on the date of the enactment
15 of this subparagraph, 3.7 ounces of material
16 type 17–4 PH stainless steel in a shape resem
17 bling the lower receiver for a rifle or for a
18 handgun, as the case may be; and
19 ‘‘(ii) suitable for testing and calibrating
20 metal detectors:
21 Provided, however, That at the close of such 12-
22 month period, and at appropriate times thereafter
23 the Attorney General shall promulgate regulations to
24 permit the manufacture, importation, sale, shipment,
25 delivery, possession, transfer, or receipt of receivers
1 for a rifle or receivers for a handgun, that were pre
2 viously prohibited under this subparagraph that are
3 as detectable as the ‘Receiver Security Exemplar’ for
4 a rifle or for a handgun, as the case may be, which
5 contains 3.7 ounces of material type 17–4 PH stain
6 less steel, in a shape resembling the lower receiver
7 for a rifle or for a handgun, as the case may be, or
8 such lesser amount as is detectable in view of ad
9 vances in state-of-the-art developments in weapons
10 detection technology.’’;
11 (3) in paragraph (3)—
12 (A) by inserting ‘‘or receiver’’ after ‘‘fire
13 arm’’ each place it appears; and
14 (B) by inserting ‘‘or receivers’’ after ‘‘fire
15 arms’’;
16 (4) in each of paragraphs (4) and (5), by in
17 serting ‘‘or receiver’’ after ‘‘firearm’’ each place it
18 appears; and
19 (5) in paragraph (6)—
20 (A) by striking ‘‘with respect to any fire
21 arm’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘with respect
22 to—
23 ‘‘(A) any firearm’’;
24 (B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘;
25 or’’; and
1 (C) by adding at the end the following:
2 ‘‘(B) any receiver manufactured in, imported
3 into, or possessed in the United States before the
4 date of the enactment of the Undetectable Firearms
5 Modernization Act.’’.
6 SEC. 5. BAN EXTENDED TO UNDETECTABLE AMMUNITION
7 MAGAZINES MADE BY INDIVIDUALS.
8 Section 922(p) of title 18, United States Code, as
9 amended by section 4 of this Act, is amended—
10 (1) in paragraph (1)—
11 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub
12 paragraph (A)(ii);
13 (B) by striking the period at the end of
14 subparagraph (B)(ii) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
15 (C) by adding at the end the following:
16 ‘‘(C) for any person—
17 ‘‘(i) to import, sell, ship, deliver, possess,
18 transfer, or receive any ammunition magazine,
19 manufactured by a person who is not a licensed
20 manufacturer—
21 ‘‘(I) that, after removal of the spring
22 and follower, is not as detectable as the
23 Magazine Security Exemplar, by walk
24 through metal detectors calibrated and
1 erated to detect the Magazine Security Ex
2 emplar; or
3 ‘‘(II) which, when subjected to inspec
4 tion by the types of x-ray machines com
5 monly used at airports, does not generate
6 an image that accurately depicts the shape
7 of the magazine; or
8 ‘‘(ii) who is not a licensed manufacturer to
9 manufacture any ammunition magazine de
10 scribed in subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i).’’;
11 (2) in paragraph (2)—
12 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub
13 paragraph (C);
14 (B) by striking the period at the end of
15 subparagraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
16 (C) by adding at the end the following:
17 ‘‘(E) the term ‘Magazine Security Exemplar’
18 means an object, to be fabricated at the direction of
19 the Attorney General, that is—
20 ‘‘(i) constructed of, during the 12-month
21 period beginning on the date of the enactment
22 of this subparagraph, 1 ounce of material type
23 17–4 PH stainless steel in a shape resembling
24 an ammunition magazine; and
1 ‘‘(ii) suitable for testing and calibrating
2 metal detectors:
3 Provided, however, That at the close of such 12-
4 month period, and at appropriate times thereafter
5 the Attorney General shall promulgate regulations to
6 permit the manufacture, importation, sale, shipment,
7 delivery, possession, transfer, or receipt of ammuni
8 tion magazines previously prohibited under this sub
9 paragraph that are as detectable as a ‘Magazine Se
10 curity Exemplar’ which contains 1 ounce of material
11 type 17–4 PH stainless steel, in a shape resembling
12 an ammunition magazine, or such lesser amount as
13 is detectable in view of advances in state-of-the-art
14 developments in weapons detection technology.’’;
15 (3) in paragraph (3)—
16 (A) by striking ‘‘firearm or receiver’’ each
17 place it appears and inserting ‘‘firearm, re
18 ceiver, or ammunition magazine’’; and
19 (B) by striking ‘‘firearms or receivers’’ and
20 inserting ‘‘firearms, receivers, or ammunition
21 magazines’’;
22 (4) in each of paragraphs (4) and (5), by strik
23 ing ‘‘firearm or receiver’’ each place it appears and
24 inserting ‘‘firearm, receiver, or ammunition maga
25 zine’’; and
1 (5) in paragraph (6)(B), by inserting ‘‘or am
2 munition magazine’’ after ‘‘receiver’’.