Rep. Meng, Sen. Markey Lead Colleagues in Letter Urging Biden Administration to Keep in Place Strict Regulatory Controls Over 3-D Printable Firearms

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Rep. Grace Meng, D-New York, issued the following news release on May 6, 2021:

Following a recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that threatens to allow the immediate online distribution of blueprints for three-dimensional ("3-D") printable firearms, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today wrote to President Biden requesting that the administration take action to keep in place strict regulatory controls over these weapons and prevent online sales.

"Widespread do-it-yourself gun printing undermines federal and state laws that block gun access by people who pose the most serious danger to the public -- including terrorists, violent felons, and domestic abusers," the lawmakers wrote. "3-D printed firearms allow anyone to have a gun without undergoing a criminal background check or otherwise involving the licensed dealer system. With gun schematics and a commercially available 3-D printer, anyone can print an unserialized, plastic 'ghost gun.'"

Prior to the Trump administration, 3-D printed firearms and their technical data were placed on the U.S. Munitions List and governed by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which restrict exports of military technologies in order to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives. Under the Trump administration, however, 3-D-printed gun files were removed from the Munitions List and regulation under ITAR, placed under the control of the Commerce Department, and approved for public release on the internet.

In their letter, the lawmakers urge President Biden "through further proceedings under the Administrative Procedure Act, to undo the Trump rulemakings," and "transfer regulatory control over 3-D printed firearms and their technical data back to the State Department, return them to the Munitions List, and once again control them under ITAR -- a regulatory scheme that makes sense."

Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) joined the letter.

Representatives Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Karen Bass (CA-37), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Andre Carson (IN-07), Ed Case (HI-01), David N. Cicilline (RI-01), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11), Jim Cooper (TN-05), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Suzan K. DelBene (WA-01), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), Theodore E. Deutch (FL-22), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Mike Doyle (PA-18), Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Raul M. Grijalva (AZ-03), Sara Jacobs (CA-53), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Robin L. Kelly (IL-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Betty McCollum (MN-04), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Jerry McNerney (CA-09), Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Joe Neguse (CO-02), Marie Newman (IL-03), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Scott H. Peters (CA-52), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Bobby L. Rush (IL-01), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Abigail D. Spanberger (VA-07), Thomas R. Suozzi (NY-03), Eric Swalwell (CA-15), Norma J. Torres (CA-35), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Nydia M. Velazquez (NY-07), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) also signed the letter.

In March, Senator Markey joined with Senators Bob Menedez (D-N.J.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to urge President Biden to take executive action to close the "ghost gun" loophole in the Gun Control Act, which allows individuals--including domestic abusers, prohibited buyers, gun traffickers, and domestic terrorists--to buy untraceable, unserialized firearms without a federal background check.

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May 5, 2021

To: The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States of America, The White House, Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden:

A recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit threatens to allow the immediate online distribution of blueprints for three-dimensional ("3-D") printable firearms.

Downloadable gun technology is profoundly dangerous, allowing anyone to build untraceable firearms on demand. We urge your Administration to promptly take administrative action that will keep in place strict regulatory controls over these weapons -- and the technical data for their manufacture -- and prevent their proliferation.

Widespread do-it-yourself gun printing undermines federal and state laws that block gun access by people who pose the most serious danger to the public -- including terrorists, violent felons, and domestic abusers. 3-D printed firearms allow anyone to have a gun without undergoing a criminal background check or otherwise involving the licensed dealer system. With gun schematics and a commercially available 3-D printer, anyone can print an unserialized, plastic "ghost gun."

The Ninth Circuit's April 27, 2021 decision in State of Washington v. U.S. Department of State arose out of the Trump administration's efforts to deregulate 3-D printable firearms. Before the Trump administration, 3-D printed firearms and their associated technical files were regulated as "defense articles" under the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (the "Export Control Act")./1 As "defense articles," 3-D firearms and their technical data were placed on the U.S. Munitions List and governed by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR"), which restricts exports of military technologies in order to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives. This treatment was warranted given legitimate concerns that terrorist groups or outlaw nations could manufacture plastic guns, smuggle them through metal detectors at overseas airports, and use them in attacks, including assassinations, thereby putting Americans and others in grave danger.

The Trump administration sought to undo those needed restrictions on 3-D printed firearms. Through rulemaking proceedings, the Trump administration removed 3-D-printed gun files from the Munitions List and regulation under ITAR, instead placing them under the control of the Commerce Department -- which regulates the export of non-Munitions List items under the Export Control Act -- and approved their public release on the internet. The Trump administration justified this change in part based on a "significant worldwide market for firearms in connection with civil and recreational activities such as hunting, marksmanship, competitive shooting, and other non-military activities."/2

Citing the threat to public health and safety posed by the distribution of blueprints for 3-D printed firearms on the internet, twenty-two states and the District of Columbia sued the State Department in federal district court in Washington State to stop the transfer of control over 3-D printed firearms from the State Department to the Commerce Department./3 The district court issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration's rules from taking effect. But the Ninth Circuit -- without reaching the merits of the policy change -- concluded that the matter was not subject to judicial review and vacated the injunction. Without further action, the Trump rules will soon go into effect.

We therefore urge your Administration, through further proceedings under the Administrative Procedure Act, to undo the Trump rulemakings. It is entirely within the power and authority of your Administration to transfer regulatory control over 3-D printed firearms and their technical data back to the State Department, return them to the Munitions List, and once again control them under ITAR -- a regulatory scheme that makes sense. And your Administration can take these steps without the need for legislation or congressional approval.

It is imperative that we halt the distribution of online blueprints for 3-D firearms and avoid the proliferation of these dangerous, untraceable weapons before the injunction is lifted in a few weeks. We thank you for your prompt attention to this important public safety issue.

See footnotes and signatories here: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.markey.senate.gov_download_letter-2Dto-2Dbiden-2D3d-2Dguns&d=DwMF-g&c=L93KkjKsAC98uTvC4KvQDdTDRzAeWDDRmG6S3YXllH0&r=uIv80f6e15JULmXI0X92H8ULX_iZSviiwHCP6tsKTHU&m=KdtfHBX31ap7DbkSZ6hwlL9K2pxcta5PXq28PyQgAyA&s=wwGLZDkoATkFuAxl2OxN07Be-BHuyyxg5wYjLwddF8g&e=