Sen. Bill Nelson Pushes to Ban Guns that Were Banned in 1988

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) is pushing to ban guns that have been illegal since the 1988 passage of the Undetectable Firearms Act.

He is seeking to ban them all over again as part of the Democrat onslaught against 3D gun print files.

The Miami Herald quotes Nelson saying, “Just think of the billions of dollars we spend trying to protect national security. And now, suddenly there is going to be published on the internet the plans for making a gun that can evade the detection systems in airports and seaports and all of these governmental buildings as well as some sports stadiums.”

On August 1, Breitbart News explained that the Democrat push against 3D gun print files is by and large a misinformation campaign. This is because the 3D print files in question are often files for making gun parts, rather than entire firearms.

In other words, a person who owns an AR-15 upper, which contains the bolt carrier group and barrel, would use a 3D printer to make a lower, which holds the trigger and hammer. In this scenario the gun is still 80 percent metal and by no means something that can “evade the detection systems in airports.”

Moreover, if someone does intend the construction of a gun that is wholly plastic and capable of bypassing an airport detection system they are already forbidden by law from doing so. The Undetectable Firearms Act (1988) made it illegal to “manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive any firearm: (1) which is not as detectable as the Security Exemplar (after the removal of grips, stocks, and magazines) by walk-through metal detectors calibrated and operated to detect the Exemplar; or (2) of which any major component, when subjected to inspection by x-ray machines commonly used at airports, does not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component.”

Ironically, the prohibition against “undetectable” guns in 1988 was the result of Democrat-led revolt against Glock handguns. In the 1980s the Democrats used arguments very similar to those employed against 3D gun print files, warning that Glock handguns could be carried into secured locations without detection.

In reality, the only part of a Glock that is plastic is the frame, and even it has pieces of metal embedded in it for strength in stress points.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.