Democratic lawmakers are lining up to take political shots at President Trump and his administration after the Justice Department reached a settlement with a nonprofit group that will enable it to publish plans for 3D printed plastic guns online starting Wednesday.
“The Trump Administration’s sickening NRA giveaway undermines the very foundations of public safety,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a written statement Tuesday. “This settlement makes clear that the GOP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NRA.”
“This decision is a death warrant for countless innocent men, women and children,” she continued. “For the sake of all our safety and lives, it must be reversed immediately.”
Pelosi praised her House colleagues, Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, for preparing a bill to be introduced in the lower chamber Tuesday that would ban the manufacture or possession of 3D printed plastic firearms. The weapons are particularly controversial given they have the potential to be undetectable by commonplace security measures if they do not include metal components and because they may not be registered by the person who made them.
“Gun violence is an epidemic in our country. We should be doing everything we can to make it more difficult for criminals, children, and individuals with serious mental illness to possess a gun,” Cicilline said via a press release. “Instead, the Trump administration’s decision will open the floodgates and allow anyone with access to the Internet and a 3-D printer to possess a firearm.”
Trump elicited a fresh wave of backlash from Democrats when he tweeted Tuesday morning that he is “looking into” the issue and had already consulted with the National Rifle Association, the highly influential pro-gun lobby group. “I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!” Trump tweeted.
[Opinion: 3D-printed guns were always going to be legal]
I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ripped Trump’s response for being at odds with decisions made by officials under his own leadership. “Your administration approved this,” Schumer wrote on the social media platform. “What kind of incompetence and dangerous governing is this? And to check with the NRA? Holy moly.”
The White House and the NRA are yet to confirm whether discussions have taken place, but Dana Loesch, a spokeswoman for the NRA, said last week in an appearance on NRATV that 3D printed guns symbolize “freedom and innovation.” Loesch added that any action prohibiting the production of such firearms would be unenforceable, especially since the country has a history of permitting some homemade guns and modifications.
“I realize that the Chuck Schumers of the world, the Dianne Feinsteins, and the Nancy Pelosis, and the Chris Murphys want to completely pretend that none of those laws are on the books, nor do they exist,” she said, referring to legislation that prevents certain people from obtaining weapons. “But it’s not our fault that under the previous eight years of lawlessness that there was an actual decrease in prosecutions for felony gun crimes.”
The Justice Department in June settled a free speech lawsuit that was filed in 2015 by Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation against the State Department. The settlement waived past restrictions placed on Defense Distributed regarding the publication of the gun blueprints. The limitations had initially been imposed pursuant to International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which seeks to supervise exports of military materials.
Eight states and the District of Columbia announced on Monday they would ask a federal court in Seattle to issue a nationwide temporary restraining order that would block Texas-based Defense Distributed from disseminating the plans, which the nonprofit group said it wants to do from Aug. 1.
