By: José Niño
State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-NY) recently sponsored a bill that would prohibit the 3D printing of guns and block the sharing of computer-aided design (CAD) files.
Hoylman announced that he wants go after the manufacturer of 3D-printed firearms. The printing of guns would be made a felony in addition to the intentional sharing of files. Should this bill be passed, there would be several First Amendment concerns raised.
This law was put forward a few days prior to Defense Distributed rolling out its zero percent pistol. This pistol is part of DD’s Ghost Gunner project. The zero percent pistol’s code lets the end user print out a Glock-style pistol on the Ghost Gunner 3S. The new product is expected to be released on the market soon. Defense Distributed’s first 3D-printed gun was dubbed the “Liberator” in reference to the guns the Allies air-dropped across Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Cody Wilson, the founder of DD, criticized the new bill and likened it to a law that was passed in New Jersey.
“This proposed law is outrageously unconstitutional and a clear violation of Section 230 of the CDA [Communications Decency Act of 1996],” declared Wilson. “The point of the law is to attack sites like Def CAD. We will see them in court, so good luck.”
New York State law currently allows gun owners to legally print firearms. However, after printing the gun, the gunmaker must immediately register their gun with the state. Per state officials, no individuals have ever registered a 3D-printed firearm, something that has greatly angered Gun Control Inc.
3D-printed guns are just the latest boogieman that the gun controllers are targeting. They hate the very idea of lawful individuals finding ways to arm themselves to defend their life and property.
The National Association for Gun Rights President Dudley Brown opined on this latest gun grab:
“Let’s call a spade a spade here, this is a gun registration law, plain and simple. The scare tactics of calling these homemade firearms ‘Ghost Guns’ is nothing more than political sleight of hand used to vilify law-abiding gun owners and lump every American gun into the national registry needed for the gun grabbers ultimate end game of an Australia-style gun confiscation program.”
Given how dominant Democrats’ hold of politics in the Empire State is, there’s a strong possibility that this bill could become law. After all, this is a state that’s ranked in a dead-last place of 51st according to Guns & Ammo magazine’s best states for gun owners rankings. New York is an anti-gun bastion through and through.
However, there are still many patriotic New Yorkers that live in the state who will make noise. As long as these people are still making a scene against the gun controllers, a respectable form of pushback can be expected.
Undeniably, backing down is not an option in this existential struggle to restore gun rights in America.
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.