PLASTIC Act

Bill: 115-hr-7016
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18]
Introduced: 2018-10-02
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations

Advisory bodies

Congressional oversight

Firearms and explosives

Government studies and investigations

Hazardous wastes and toxic substances

Manufacturing

Metals

Smuggling and trafficking
Latest action: action_date: 2018-11-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.

Summaries:
action_date: 2018-10-02
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Protect Lives and Stop the Imminent Chaos Act or the PLASTIC Act</b></p> <p>This bill establishes new criminal offenses for making a firearm, ammunition, or component using a three-dimensional (3-D) printer, or for transferring or possessing a firearm, ammunition, or component that was made using a 3-D printer.</p> <p>A violator is subject to criminal penalties&#8212;a fine, a prison term of up to 50 years, or both.</p> <p>Additionally, the bill establishes a task force to address the national security and safety issues involving 3-D printer technology.</p>

tv_txt: I 115th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7016 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 2, 2018 Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself, Mr. Carson of Indiana , Ms. Moore , and Ms. Norton ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish a task force to address the national security and safety issues presented by the manufacturing of prohibited firearms, munitions, and related materials through the use of 3–D printing technology, to prohibit the use of 3–D printing technology to make a firearm, ammunition, or a component of a firearm or ammunition, and to prohibit the possession or transfer of a firearm, ammunition, or component so made, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect Lives and Stop the Imminent Chaos Act or the PLASTIC Act . 2. Task force (a) Establishment The Attorney General shall establish a task force that includes the following: (1) The Secretary of Homeland Security. (2) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (3) The Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. (4) The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. (b) Duties The task force shall do the following: (1) Address national security and safety issues presented by the manufacturing of munitions through 3–D printing technology. (2) Address national security and safety issues involving 3–D printer manufacturers and suppliers of materials, component parts, and ancillary items, including composite materials used in 3–D printing applications. (3) Address the use and development of the technology to produce prohibited or unlawful items such as firearms, ammunition, component parts of firearms, or other materials that may be used to support or facilitate unlawful acts, including the smuggling of illicit or illegal materials which may include weapons, hazardous materials, and other materials that present a public hazard or risk. (4) Work with 3–D printer manufacturers and suppliers of materials and component parts on ways to protect the public from the misuse of 3–D printing technology. (5) Study and offer policy recommendations on the national security threat imposed by undetectable weapons, such as 3–D printed weapons that may not contain the requisite 3.7 ounces of metal necessary to set off metal detectors. (6) Study and offer policy recommendations on statutory and regulatory loopholes surrounding untraceable weapons such as weapons that become functional firearms but circumvent the manufacturers’ serial number requirement. (7) Address the current loophole allowing the serial number exemption for the so-called 80 percent receiver, , which is the central component that houses the firing mechanism of the weapon and which, by leaving the manufacturer as an unfinished product, allows the serial number requirement to be circumvented, because a purchaser may adapt 80 percent receivers into a final product in a relatively uncomplicated fashion. (c) Hearings, etc The task force may hold public hearings and engage stakeholders to better understand the scope of the benefits, threats, and challenges of 3–D printer technology. (d) Report to Congress Within 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the task force shall submit to the Congress a report on its findings. 3. Prohibitions on using 3–D printing technology to make a firearm or ammunition, and on possessing or transferring a firearm or ammunition so made (a) In general Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: (aa) It shall be unlawful for any person, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, to— (1) make a firearm, ammunition, or a component of a firearm or ammunition by use of a device that can produce a 3-dimensional copy of an object; or (2) possess or transfer any firearm, ammunition, or component of a firearm or ammunition so made. . (b) Penalties Section 924(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following: (8) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(aa) shall be fined $500,000, imprisoned not more than 50 years, or both. .