3D printed gun legislation

It should come as no surprise that a bill has been introduced to prohibit 3D printed guns in New York, A-7671.

Linda Rosenthal is prime sponsor.  She knows nothing about guns, but that hasn’t stopped her in the past from sponsoring other gun control bills as well as voting in favor of any that come up.  Because she’s clueless her bill does so much more than the bill memo says it does.  From the bill:

1 Section 1. Section 265.00 of the penal law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 25 to read as follows:
3 25. “FIREARM OR MAGAZINE DIGITALLY MADE” MEANS ANY FIREARM OR MAGAZINE
4 THAT IS PRODUCED USING DIGITAL MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES INCLUDING BUT
5 NOT LIMITED TO, COMPUTER NUMERICAL CONTROL MILLS, THREE-DIMENSIONAL
6 PRINTERS, AND LASER CUTTING MACHINES.
7 S 2. Section 265.02 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi-
8 vision 4 to read as follows:
9 (4) SUCH PERSON KNOWINGLY POSSESSES AN UNDETECTABLE AND UNTRACEABLE
10 MACHINE-GUN, FIREARM OR MAGAZINE DIGITALLY MADE AS DEFINED BY SUBDIVI-
11 SION TWENTY-FIVE OF SECTION 265.00 OF THIS ARTICLE, RIFLE OR SHOTGUN
12 WHOSE FRAME OR RECEIVER IS COMPOSED OF OR BUILT WITH OR MANUFACTURED
13 WITH OR FABRICATED WITH MATERIALS THAT ARE NOT DETECTABLE BY A METAL
14 DETECTOR OR MAGNETOMETER WHEN SET AT STANDARD CALIBRATION.
15 S 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
16 have become a law.

Notice, it does not say prohibit guns which are not readily detectable by a metal detector.  It says prohibit guns whose receivers are fabricated with materials that are not detectable by a metal detector.  Thus, all Glocks would be prohibited as well any every other gun with a polymer receiver even if a metal detector can detect it.

Legislative Reports Updated

Legislative Report #8 and New York City Legislative Report #12 are now online.

The state legislature is scheduled to go into recess on June 20.

Five reasons Forbes is wrong on 3D printed guns

Fisking Nigam Arora’s article, “Five Reasons Gunmakers Have Nothing To Fear From 3D Printed Guns“:

Regulation: It would seem that it would be difficult for the government to regulate 3D printed guns in the same way as traditional guns … The government may choose to act smarter and instead of regulating the printing of guns, it may simply regulate the sale of 3D printers.  All 3D printers are run by software.  The government may simply insist that 3D printer manufacturers install software that prevents printing of a hollow cylinder of a certain size, a firing pin, or a certain type of spring.

Additive manufacturing is a big deal and offers so much potential that stiffing the technology isn’t going to happen.  Any sort of DRM-type controls should work just as well as they have with movies, music, software, etc.

Reliability: 3D printers typically use plastics … There are higher end materials that can handle more heat but they are more expensive … The ability to print guns with reliability on par with conventionally manufactured guns at a competitive price is far, far away.

Really?  Cell phones have been around for 40 years and the first one cost $3995.  What do they cost now?

Accuracy: Making a rudimentary gun is relatively easy, but making a gun that fires accurately is not that simple. In my review, the prospects for manufacturing guns using inexpensive 3D printers and materials with the same accuracy as that of traditional guns in the near future are poor.

What about in 5 years?  10 years?  How long did it take for the personal computer to become ubiquitous?

Cost: For a law-abiding citizen, who does not mind registering his gun(s), 3D printed guns are not likely to be cost competitive for a long time to come.

Really?  Defense Distributed made their first gun on a second-hand $8000 printer earlier this month.  A couple weeks later someone else made an improved version on a ~$1800 printer.  How long until someone has a go on the $999 printer?  How about the $399 model?

Also, who seriously believes people are going to register them?

Tradition: In my experience, gun enthusiasts tend to be traditionalists. They like their guns not only because they are weapons but also for their craftsmanship, aesthetics and heritage. Can you see a gun enthusiast proudly displaying a plastic gun that looks like it is made of Legos next to his prized possessions in his gun rack?

Tradition is important.  That is why Colt still makes Peacemakers.  That hasn’t stopped other manufacturers from making affordable, quality replicas with modern manufacturing techniques.  It will be the same with printed guns.

NYAGV protests Ted Cruz

Texas Senator Ted Cruz came to New York City today as a guest of the state Republican Party for their annual dinner.  Upset over his confrontation with Diane Feinstein, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence decided to protest him.  Egging them on were the state Democrats:

So, how was turnout for their protest?


Our man on the street reports maybe 50 (click on image to enlarge.)

FAIL.

SCPC President wants SAFE repealed

Suffolk Co. Police Conference President Thomas Tartarian is no fan of the SAFE Act:

“… As far as the NY SAFE Act, I would personally like to see it repealed in it’s entirety.  It is such a flawed and poorly written law … I don’t believe the NY SAFE Act will make anyone safe; it will just make it harder for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves …”

The media can no longer claim it is just “some upstate officials” who are against SAFE.

Cause and effect

Antigunner gets instant karma:

“Clad in a blue running suit and white sneakers, embattled state Sen. Malcolm Smith waved the flag at a Memorial Day parade in his southeast Queens district and touted his legislative work … He proudly showed off his office’s spring-summer newsletter, which highlighted his work over the past few months. “In April, I filmed a segment on gun control for a documentary called ‘2nd Amendment,’ ” the flier read.  It didn’t mention that he was arrested in April.”

Constitutional claims have no merit

What does the State (and by definition Governor Cuomo) think of our lawsuit challenging SAFE on 2nd and 14th Amendment grounds?

“… Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Ahlstrom wrote in court papers last month that the constitutional claims have no merit …”

Another slap in Cuomo’s face

A little over a week ago a man was pulled over by police for having a burnt out bulb over his license plate.  The driver had a legally owned pistol sitting his front seat and was arrested because the gun had 9 rounds in the magazine in violation of the SAFE Act.

Columbia Co. District Attorney Paul Czajka has refused to prosecute him.

Common Sense 1, Governor Cuomo 0.

Connecticut lawsuit filed

A lawsuit has been filed in federal court challenging Connecticut’s new gun control law.  It is being handled by Brain Stapleton who is also working on the NYSRPA lawsuit against SAFE.

Weed not guns

Apparently Mayor Mike’s stop and frisk program isn’t very effective at “getting guns of our streets”, but is pretty good at generating marijuana arrests.  Gothmist reports:

“… The NYCLU [PDF] looked at last year’s 532,911 stops and found that while the NYPD recovered 729 guns, more than 5,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession …”

As for guns, the NY Times finds:

“… according to court documents, officers found only one gun for every 69 stops in which they cited a “bulge.”  And guns were seized in only 0.15 percent of all stops …”

This show that once again gun control does not work as advertised.  Don’t count on either Bloomberg or the NYCLU to admit that.