Downloadable Guns
What is the problem?
Downloadable guns, or 3-D printed guns, are serious threats to our communities. With a 3-D printer and access to the computer schematics, anyone can build an untraceable firearm without a background check.
Anyone can print their own firearm or the parts for the firearm with a commercially available 3-D printer. All they need is the computer code, a printer, and the plastic printing materials—no background check required. These plastic guns can evade metal detectors and exist completely outside the federal firearms licensee system.1US Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, “Audit of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ Monitoring of 3-D Firearm Printing Technology,” December 2021, https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/22-016.pdf. This makes it easy for individuals to carry these firearms with them anywhere, any time.
The Trump Administration,2US Department of State, “International Traffic in Arms Regulations: U.S. Munitions List Categories I, II, and III,” Federal Register 85, no. 15 (January 23, 2020): 3819–33, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-01-23/pdf/2020-00574.pdf. however, moved to remove downloadable guns from the United States Munitions List and make the computer code widely available to anyone—prohibited purchasers, children, and foreign terrorists—anywhere.
The Biden Administration should return 3-D printed firearms to the United States Munitions List to once again regulate the computer code required to make them. Congress should pass the 3D-Printed Gun Safety Act,3S.1819 – 3D Printed Gun Safety Act of 2023, 118th Congress (2023-2024), https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1819. which would make it unlawful to intentionally distribute the digital instructions that program 3-D printers to make firearms online—once and for all. In addition, Congress should reauthorize4In 2024, the Undetectable Firearms Act was reauthorized through 2031, after which it will require another reauthorization. Brian Freskos and Alain Stephens, “Congress Renews Ban on Undetectable Firearms,” The Trace, March 12, 2024, https://www.thetrace.org/2024/03/plastic-guns-metal-detector-federal-law/. and strengthen the Undetectable Firearms Act5H.R.4445 – Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988, 100th Congress (1987-1988), https://www.congress.gov/bill/100th-congress/house-bill/4445.—the law that bans plastic firearms. States should also take immediate steps to regulate 3-D printed guns and the plans necessary to make them.
Downloadable gun
Do-it-yourself, downloadable guns are incredibly dangerous.
Why is it an issue?
Downloadable guns are a threat to public safety.
By the numbers
80%
80 percent of Americans oppose the availability of downloadable guns.
600k
Nearly 600k consumer 3-D printers were sold in 2018.
$150
A basic 3-D printer that can be used to print guns can cost as little as $150.
What are the solutions?
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Stop Downloadable Guns
Downloadable guns, or 3-D printed guns, are serious threats to our communities. The key to stopping the spread of downloadable guns is to stop the spread of the computer code that is used to 3-D print the firearm or its parts.
You might be wondering…
- 1 Do plastic guns even work?
- 2 Are downloadable guns considered to be ghost guns?
- 3 Why did the Trump administration decide to move jurisdiction over downloadable guns away from the State Department?
- 4 Is there proof that people who are not allowed to have guns are printing guns?
- 5 Isn’t the technology for 3-D printing guns too expensive to pose a risk?
- 6 Are 3-D printed guns illegal?