To The Editor:
One of last week’s mainstream media dustups was the hoopla about whether it was a First Amendment right to offer the computer file(s) needed to create an “undetectable gun” using a 3D printer. As the Community Organizer would state, this is a teachable moment.
It’s already illegal to manufacture firearms that are undetectable as per 18 U.S.C. § 922(p). This legislation was supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA).
I read an article last week that stated an Australian law enforcement agency printed and tested a few 3D handguns with the following outcome. The handguns were placed in a vise and the trigger was pulled with a string. In all test fires the projectile left the muzzle but the gun exploded. This is to say that the plastic material was not able to contain the pressure generated by the firing of the cartridge. Using the 9 mm Luger (standard law enforcement caliber) as an example, the chamber pressure is 35,000 pounds per square inch.
As to the argument that it is a violation of the First Amendment to deny access to the files, I find it ironic that it is perfectly legal to purchase on Amazon.com the “Anarchist Cookbook” as well as many other military training manuals that explain how anyone can make explosives and destructive devices.
This is an excellent example of fear mongering by the media and the party of the left to promote a political agenda. Take a legal decision and bend it through disinformation and get the public worked up about it. The United Nations is working to remove the private ownership of firearms throughout the world. Globalists will draw one conclusion, nationalists another.
Steve Allen
Waitsfield, VT
