On Monday night, President Barack Obama signed a bill extended the Undetectable Firearms Act another decade.
On Monday the Senate passed a bill that would renew the 25-year-old Undetectable Firearms Act, but did not include additional restrictions that focused on plastic firearms made with 3D printers. According to NBC News, President Barrack Obama signed the bill into law later that day.
The renewal will add another 10 years to the lifespan of the Act, which went into effect in 1988 and effectively bans any firearm which cannot be identified by metal detectors or airport imaging technology. As the Undetectable Firearms Act was set to expire on December 9, legislators who supported gun control took the opportunity to attempt to modify the language of the ban. Politicoreported that Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) supported an amended version of the bill that required all firearms to have a permanent metal component. This addition was made primarily in light of recent advances in 3D-printing technology. Gun control advocates say these weapons are a dangerous “loophole.”
“Technology has advanced so not only are these guns real but they can be made so that the law that exists and expires tonight can be evaded,” Schumer said. “I haven’t heard one specific argument against our closing the loophole.”
However, gun rights advocates were worried that the amendments to the Act would have implications beyond 3D-printed firearms. The National Rifle Association and other gun owner groups widely opposed any further expansion of the Undetectable Firearms Act, although the NRA did not oppose the Act’s renewal.
“The NRA has been working for months to thwart expansion of the UFA by Senator Chuck Schumer and others,” the organization said in a statement.
Shortly before President Obama signed the bill, Schumer expressed that while he was disappointed that his amended version was not picked up, a renewal is “better than nothing.” Senator Schumer has since pledged to work on legislation which will prevent fully plastic firearms from being made using commercial 3D printers.
Image courtesy the White House
