I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3265 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the distribution of 3D printer plans for the printing of firearms, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Mr. DEUTCH (for himself, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of 

New York, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. 

CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. DEAN, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. KELLY of 

Illinois, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

PETERS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Ms. CASTOR

of Florida, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. CRIST, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. JAYAPAL, 

Ms. LEE of California, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 

SHALALA, Mr. SOTO, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. MENG, Mr. PAYNE, 

and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to 

prohibit the distribution of 3D printer plans for the 

printing of firearms, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘3D Printed Gun Safety 

3 Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Three dimensional, or ‘‘3D’’ printing, in7 volves the programming of a 3D printing machine 

8 with a computer file that provides the schematics for 

9 the item to be printed. 

10 (2) Recent technological developments have al11 lowed for the 3D printing of firearms and firearm 

12 parts, including parts made out of plastic, by unli13 censed individuals in possession of relatively inexpen14 sive 3D printers. 

15 (3) Because 3D printing allows individuals to 

16 make their own firearms out of plastic, they may be 

17 able to evade detection by metal detectors at security 

18 checkpoints, increasing the risk that a firearm will 

19 be used to perpetrate violence on an airplane or 

20 other area where people congregate. 

21 (4) The availability of online schematics for the 

22 3D printing of firearms and firearm parts increases 

23 the risk that dangerous people, including felons, do24 mestic abusers, and other people prohibited from 

25 possessing firearms under Federal law, will obtain a 

26 firearm through 3D printing. 


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1 (5) On June 7, 2013, an assailant used a gun 

2 he had constructed by himself to kill his father, 

3 brother, and 3 other people at Santa Monica College 

4 in California. The person had failed a background 

5 check when he tried to purchase a gun from a li6 censed gun dealer. The gun he used was made from 

7 an unfinished AR–15-style receiver, similar to a re8 ceiver that can now be made with a 3D printer. 

9 (6) Firearms tracing is a powerful investigative 

10 tool. When law enforcement agencies recover fire11 arms that have been used in crimes, the agencies 

12 work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire13 arms, and Explosives to trace these firearms to their 

14 first retail purchaser. The agencies can use that in15 formation to investigate and solve the crimes. In 

16 2017 alone, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire17 arms, and Explosives conducted 408,000 traces. 

18 (7) Firearms tracing depends on the ability to 

19 identify firearms based on their serial number. Tra20 ditionally, when a firearm is manufactured domesti21 cally or imported from abroad, it is engraved with 

22 a serial number and markings that identify the man23 ufacturer or importer, make, model, and caliber, and 

24 are unique to the firearm. Firearms made by unliVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3265.IH H3265

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1 censed individuals with 3D printers, however, do not 

2 contain genuine serial numbers. 

3 (8) Criminals seek firearms without serial num4 bers because they cannot be traced. In July 2018, 

5 the Los Angeles Police Department completed a 6- 

6 month-long investigation that resulted in the seizure 

7 of 45 firearms, some of which had been assembled 

8 without serial numbers in order to be untraceable. If 

9 the schematics for 3D printing firearms and firearm 

10 parts are available online, people intending to com11 mit gun crimes may create similarly untraceable 

12 firearms in order to avoid accountability for these 

13 crimes. 

14 (9) Interstate gun trafficking, including the 

15 trafficking of untraceable firearms, interferes with 

16 lawful commerce in firearms and significantly con17 tributes to gun crime. Of the 211,384 firearms 

18 traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, 

19 and Explosives in 2016, 60,936 of those firearms 

20 were originally sold by a licensed firearms dealer in 

21 a State other than the State where they were recov22 ered. These guns made up 28.8 percent of all fire23 arm recoveries in 2016. 

24 (10) The proliferation of 3D printed firearms 

25 threatens to undermine the entire Federal firearms 


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1 regulatory scheme and to endanger public safety and 

2 national security. By making illegal the distribution 

3 of certain computer code that can be used automati4 cally to program 3D printers and create firearms— 

5 the only means of combating this unique threat— 

6 Congress seeks not to regulate the rights of com7 puter programmers under the First Amendment to 

8 the Constitution of the United States, but rather to 

9 curb the pernicious effects of untraceable—and po10 tentially undetectable—firearms. 

11 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION. 

12 Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(aa) It shall be unlawful for any person to inten15 tionally distribute, over the Internet or by means of the 

16 World Wide Web, digital instructions in the form of Com17 puter Aided Design files or other code that can automati18 cally program a 3-dimensional printer or similar device to 

19 produce a firearm or complete a firearm from an unfin20 ished frame or receiver.’’. 

Æ 


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