No, I'm not talking about Rick Astley or Perestroika. I'm talking about the
Undetectable Firearms Act. The late 1980's were scary times.
Full House was in its second season,
Miami Vice was really getting stale, and the Austrians were making
plastic guns, which as we all know, go right through airport metal detectors without a peep.
(OK, you might have to remove a few parts to do it. OK, you might have to remove
almost all the parts to do it, but stop dragging us all down with reality. People are trying to
panic, here.)
The ban expired in 1998, but the threat remained, so President Bush
signed it back into law in 2003. It's in effect until next year.
That is, unless
Representative Steve Israel gets his way. He's an A+ booster for the Brady Campaign, and he's got to do
something to prove he's still one of the true believers, so he's trying to demonize 3d printing. At least two folks have made functional (but fragile) AR-15 lowers using the new machinery, and it looks like Israel's trying to work a ban on that into a proposed renewal of the UFA.
This is worth keeping an eye on. With the exception of making NFA items or cloning guns banned from import, the Gun Control Act does not prohibit someone from making their own gun. I expect to see some sort of attempt to generate paranoia about
that in the media as the anti-gunners continue to grasp at straws.