Stop Downloadable Guns
What does it solve?
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.
Downloadable guns are a type of ghost gun because with a 3-D printer and access to the computer schematics, anyone can build an untraceable firearm without a background check. A functional downloadable gun can be made entirely out of plastic and evade a metal detector.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. To stop the spread of downloadable guns, we must stop the spread of the computer code that is used to create them.
Downloadable guns are dangerous
With a 3-D printer and access to the computer schematics, anyone can build an untraceable firearm without a background check.
Myth & Fact
Myth
Downloadable guns are unreliable and can’t be used in a crime.
Fact
Experts have shown time and time again that downloadable guns are operational firearms. The State Department has made clear the serious national security concerns of posting the files for downloadable guns. At the time, the State Department said it was “particularly concerned that [the] proposed export of undetectable firearms technology could be used in an assassination, for the manufacture of spare parts by embargoed nations, terrorists groups, or to compromise aviation security overseas in a manner specifically directed at U.S. persons.”1See Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 92, Defense Distributed v. U.S. Department of State, Case No. 15-cv-00372 (W.D. Tex. filed Apr. 6, 2018).
How it works
Federal action is needed to stop the spread of downloadable guns.
Downloadable guns cause the same harm as any other firearm. For years, the distribution of computer code for downloadable guns on the internet was strongly regulated—it was considered to be an export of a deadly weapon and regulated by the Department of State on the United States Munitions List.
The Trump Administration,1US 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,2S.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 reauthorize3In 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 Act4H.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.
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.
Victories
You might be wondering…
- 1 Are 3-D printed guns illegal?
- 2 Do plastic guns even work?
- 3 Are downloadable guns considered to be ghost guns?
- 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 Why did the Trump administration decide to move jurisdiction over downloadable guns away from the State Department?