Rep. Hanabusa: 3-D Gun Printing Must Be Stopped

Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa issued a statement on Monday, July 30, 2018, urging a bipartisan effort to stop the Trump Administration from allowing the proliferation of instructions for making guns at home with a 3-D printer. She is now a co-sponsor of the Untraceable Firearms Act of 2018.

“Untraceable guns that are almost impossible to detect are a serious public safety issue and a threat to national security,” Rep. Hanabusa said. “America already suffers from an epidemic of gun violence not seen anywhere else in the world. More than 33,000 people are killed by firearms every year in our country. We must not make it easier to obtain a firearm and circumvent state and federal law. The Hawai‘i Attorney General should take immediate action to protect the state’s right to regulate firearms and ensure that 3-D guns are subject to the same rules and regulations that help make Hawai‘i one of the safest states in the country.”

Last week, Congresswoman Hanabusa joined 41 of her colleagues in sending a letter to the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees seeking an immediate joint hearing to examine the settlement by the U.S. Department of State and Department of Justice in the Defense Distributed et al v. US Department of State case.

Defense Distributed, an organization from Texas, reached a settlement in June with the government that will allow it to post 3-D printable gun plans online.

“Using an inexpensive, 3-D printer, anyone will be able to use these blueprints to turn modest raw materials into untraceable, fully functional firearms,” the lawmakers wrote. “So called ‘ghost guns’ do not bear a manufacturer’s serial number and may be constructed using plastic materials that are impossible to screen at security checkpoints using metal detectors, like many used to keep guns out of airport terminals by the Transportation Security Administration. The free flow of this information on the internet will allow anyone to circumvent the Arms Export Control Act. More alarmingly, under the settlement, anyone—even those who couldn’t pass a background check—will be able to access these plans to print a gun with just a few clicks.”

Congresswoman Hanabusa is an ardent advocate for stricter gun laws that improve public safety while respecting the rights of law abiding firearm owners.

She signed a discharge petition to force consideration of HR 4240, the Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2017, a bill she co-sponsored with 164 of her colleagues, and HR 3464, the Background Check Completion Act of 2017.

HR 4240, introduced by Congressman Mike Thompson from California, chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, is a bipartisan bill to expand the existing background check system and close procedural and legal loopholes.

The measure requires enforceable background checks on all commercial gun sales, including sales made at gun shows, over the internet or through classified ads.

Additionally, the bill strengthens the National Instant Background Check System (NICS) to improve the procedures that manage the reporting of convicted criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill in order to ensure that individuals who should be prohibited from purchasing a firearm are in the system.

HR 3464, introduced by Congressman James E. Clyburn, amends the federal criminal code to prohibit a licensed gun dealer from transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person prior to completion of a background check. The current statute permits a licensed gun dealer to transfer a firearm to an unlicensed person if a submitted background check remains incomplete after three business days.

Hanabusa is also an original co-sponsor of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2018.