USA TODAY International Edition
Our view: Don’t panic, yet, about 3D-printed plastic guns
America is already awash in 270 million firearms. Now it’s possible to assemble a pistol from parts created on a three-dimensional printer. For those worried about gun proliferation in an era of mass shootings and terrorism, is it time to panic?
Not yet.
Cranking out weaponry on a 3D printer, as readily as printing tax forms on your HP inkjet, remains futuristic. Arms-producing printer technology is expensive, time-consuming and rudimentary. Today’s plastic guns are odd, boxy creations that tend to crack or come apart when the first shot is fired. Traditional metal weapons, responsible for this weekend’s carnage in Chicago, are a much bigger concern.
Even so, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about technology it’s that it will improve rapidly. The time to address the threats posed by self-made guns is before, not after, they become a major problem.
Adding a certain amount of urgency to the issue is Cody Wilson, a Second Amendment champion and self-styled anarchist from Texas who seeks to post his plastic-gun blueprints online.
The internet unveiling was temporarily blocked by judges last week after eight states filed suit, arguing that the technology allows criminals and terrorists to build untraceable and undetectable firearms.
Wilson, 30, conceded as much on Fox News Sunday: “It should be expected that there will be social costs for protecting a right.”
The blueprint genie might be out of the bottle already. Wilson’s plans were downloaded more than 100,000 times before being pulled and are readily available elsewhere. But he has achieved something else, however unintended. In his zeal to promote firearms, Wilson shed a bright light on a giant loophole in gun laws.
The requirement to undergo a criminal and mental-health background check before purchasing a serialized and traceable firearm applies only to guns bought from commercially licensed dealers, the way most people acquire them. But if you can build one in your basement — or assemble it from printed parts — no background check or serialization is necessary.
That used to be the realm of hobbyists. No more. Now, companies are selling kits from which untraceable assault-style rifles can be assembled. They’re called “ghost guns,” and their popularity is growing.
In 2016, California passed a law requiring people who assemble homemade guns — be they metal or plastic — to apply for a serial number and submit to a background check. True, lawbreakers are unlikely to comply, but they’ll risk arrest or seizure of their guns.
As 3D printers advance, closing this loophole is one good way to get ahead of the problem of unlicensed, untraceable guns. Another way might be using technology, such as blocking software, to prevent the printers from being used to make firearms. To the extent that Wilson spurs such actions, he’s providing a valuable public service.