NYC's New Bill to Regulate 3D-Printed Guns Is Just the Beginning

Somewhere, Cody Wilson is fuming. On June 12th, Council Member Lewis Fidlar (D-Brooklyn) proposed a bill to regulate 3D-printed guns in New York. The bill would make it illegal to produce any firearm via 3D printer unless the maker is a licensed gunsmith. Additionally, the gunsmith would have to notify the NYPD and register the 3D-printed weapon within 72 hours of its creation.

Fidlar's goal is to make 3D-printed weapons subject to the same rules as any other gun, including requirements like serial numbers and regulations against destroying the equipment. The bill also notes that no one can be a 'special theatrical dealer' (aka a 3D-printed gun seller), unless he has a license for gun dealing, and has possesed a license and engaged in business for at least one year.

Cody Wilson has stayed quiet on his Twitter account, but he sent an email to The Epoch Times, stating "Such legislation is a deprivation of equal protection and works clear ignorance of Title I and II of U.S. gun laws [the Gun Control Act and National Firearms Act, respectively]."

According to The Epoch Times, this isn't the only recent government measure to attempt to control 3D-printed guns. State Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal proposed a piece of legislation on June 12th that would make it a felony for anyone to create, sell, or use a firearm genereated by a 3D printer. That legislation has not been turned into a bill yet, however. But it would indeed be the type of measure that directly opposes Wilson's ideology of an unregulated, open market for firearms manufacturing and sales.

Fidlar's bill, however, is not the first check on 3D-printed guns. After Wilson's organization, Defense Distributed, posted the files to download and print the Liberator handgun on Defcad.org, the State Department sent Wilson a letter demanding that he take the files down, claiming they were in violation of international arms trafficking laws. The Liberator was the world's first totally 3D-printed weapon, and its file was downloaded over 100,000 times in two days before the State Department sent the cease and desist letter.

Fidlar's bill could signify more government intervention in the 3D-printing market in the near future. There have already been conversations regarding the legality of printing bongs, and it could only be a matter of time before copyright law enters into the 3D printed terrain. Maybe I'm being cynical, but anything that can be mass-produced by big business will most likely end up requiring a license and other barriers to entry. New York was the first state to propose a bill that opposes 3D printed weapons, but it certainly won't be the last. Expect the gun control conversation—and the nascent 3D-printed copyright debate—to only get more complicated from here on out.