[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 31, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       3D PRINTED GUN SAFETY ACT AND THE UNTRACEABLE FIREARMS ACT

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the 
3D Gun Safety Act and the Untraceable Firearms Act. I applaud my 
colleagues, Senators Nelson, Blumenthal, and Markey, for their work on 
these bills.
  Days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a 
31-percent increase in homicides involving guns between 2014 and 2016.
  In 2016 alone, there were 14,415 gun homicides in America.
  I have asked over and over, what is it going to take? When are we, as 
a nation, going to act and do something to save lives that are 
needlessly lost year after year?
  Yet, instead of working to enact commonsense, gun safety measures to 
keep families, schools, and children safe, the Trump administration 
took a reckless and dangerous step that puts all of us in danger.
  The Trump administration has now allowed a private company to publish 
step-by-step instructions on how to manufacture assault weapons and 
other guns using a 3D printer.
  These instructions are going to be available on the internet, for 
anyone to use and follow, starting tomorrow. Think about that.
  The Trump administration is giving away free instructions on how to 
manufacture weapons of war to anyone with a 3D printer, which can be 
bought online for less than $1,000.
  These people could be dangerous criminals, terrorists, children, or 
those who suffer from mental illness.
  I think this is absolutely unconscionable.
  We should be working on ways to stop gun violence and keep our 
communities safe, not expand the proliferation of these dangerous 
weapons.
  Several of us have written to the Justice Department and the State 
Department asking them to reverse this decision.
  We have also introduced legislation today. The 3D Gun Safety Act, 
introduced by Senator Nelson, would prevent anyone from intentionally 
publishing 3D gun designs.
  In addition, multiple state attorneys general have now sued the Trump 
administration and the purveyor of the 3D gun designs to prevent the 
dissemination of the 3D gun design instructions.
  I am also pleased to support Senator Blumenthal's bill, the 
Untraceable Firearms Act, which closes legal loopholes that allow 
individuals to build their own untraceable firearms using ``gun-making 
kits.''
  Guns made from these kits are known as ghost guns because the guns do 
not have serial numbers or any other traceable features.
  In other words, ghost guns--like 3D guns--are dangerous because any 
person, even those prohibited under Federal law from possessing guns, 
can just make a gun at home.
  This is already happening.
  For example, last November, a 44-year-old man named Kevin Janson Neal 
killed five people and injured eight others with a ghost gun in Tehama 
County, CA.
  Neal made the ghost gun at home because he himself could not legally 
purchase a gun after being ordered to relinquish all guns under court 
order months before.
  Tragically, with his ghost gun in hand, Neal shot his wife, his 
neighbors, and then went to a nearby elementary school.
  He crashed through the elementary school gates with a truck, got out, 
and started firing in the center of the school's quad and at nearby 
windows and walls.
  Neal fired approximately 100 rounds at the school, injuring seven 
children.
  He did all of this with his homemade AR-15 military-style rifle.
  We must act in the face of the real threat of untraceable ghost guns 
and 3D-printed firearms.
  Our communities are at risk, and as lawmakers it is our solemn duty 
to act and protect our communities. So I urge my colleagues to join me 
in supporting these bills.

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