In the wake of Cody Wilson’s newly released and operational 3D printed firearm, gun control advocates are all aflutter. The idea that someone can print a gun at home without a background check is, as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) puts it, “stomach-churning.” They can seem themselves losing control of the proliferation of firearms in the hands of citizens, and they’re striking back. Representatives Steve Israel and Charles Rangel (both D-NY) introduced a bill (H.R. 1474) that would expand the “Undetectable Firearms Act” (passed because of a movie, out of fear that Glock handguns could slip through security checkpoints), and add provisions that might put Magpul and other plastic magazine manufacturers out of business. Here are the main points of the proposed legislation . . .
- This law is now expanded to include the RECEIVER ONLY of the firearm and not just the completed firearm. So while a printed AR-15 receiver was legal before (because the barrel is still metal and visible on x-ray machines) this new language would make them illegal and possibly put Frontier Armory’s polymer AR-15 lower in the “illegal” category.
- Magazines that are not at least as visible as a stainless steel magazine on an x-ray would be illegal to produce by unlicensed manufacturers. I can’t decipher the legalese to figure out if this also applies to possession by unlicensed individuals, but that would mean the end of Magpul.
This act would restrict the availability of a number of products that are already on the market. Plastic magazines are WAY more popular than metal ones for the AR-15 platform. Which probably explains why they’re going after them — it’s a back door way of making the AR-15 less accessible. If people don’t have magazines, the guns are disturbingly difficult to shoot. Either way, this knee jerk reaction will probably die a quick death in the House, at which point the Democrats will again tear their clothes, wave the bloody shirt and claim that Republicans don’t care about the children.