Trump Says He Told NRA 3-D Printable Guns Don't 'Seem To Make Much Sense'

[DonViejo]

Source: Talking Points Memo



By Nicole Lafond | July 31, 2018 9:12 am

President Trump claimed on Twitter Tuesday that he had spoken with the National Rifle Association about 3-D printed guns and asserted that publishing instructions for making the weapons “doesn’t seem to make much sense!”

Link to tweet

The tweet came just an hour after “Fox and Friends” ran a story on the attorneys general of eight states and the District of Columbia who filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to keep blueprints for 3-D printed guns offline.

After reaching a settlement with the federal government in June, a Texas-based company plans to publish the instructions for 3-D printing weapons starting Aug. 1. The company, Defense Distributed, settled with the federal government after fighting the Obama administration in court for five years. The Obama administration argued that publishing the instructions for printing the weapons was a violation of firearm export laws, while Defense Distributed claimed the State Department was violating its First and Second Amendment rights.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed the lawsuit against the Trump administration in federal court in Seattle Monday and is asking the court for a temporary restraining order to keep the blueprints from going live on Wednesday.

Read more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-says-told-nra-3d-printable-guns-dont-make-sense

[FarPoint]

1. I know little if actually nothing about such guns...

Makes me wonder if tRump saying it makes no sense only because there if a major proft loss with 3-D weapons?

[NickB79]

6. That's what I believe (NRA pissed that gun makers will lose profits)

Currently, the tech isn't quite there to make a plastic gun anywhere near the quality of a metal gun, but with millions of gun nuts playing around with the equipment and files, advances will come fast.

Give the 3-D gun crowd a decade, and gun makers and their NRA pals are going to be in a world of hurt financially.

[LuvNewcastle]

30. That's all they care about.

After all, the NRA has claimed for years that more guns equal less crime. If they cared about anything besides arms makers, they would welcome the proliferation of cheap, easily available guns.

[MicaelS]

32. This whole pursuit of printed guns...

Is just a great big "Fuck You" to the advocates of Gun Control.

They are trying to prove that if you can print a gun, no matter the material, all Gun Control is useless, and shouldn't even be attempted.

I watched a CBS News interview with the guy in Austin who is behind all this, and the journalist stated he has a tombstone outside his office that has "American Gun Control" engraved on it.

[Renew Deal]

2. And the NRA said знай свою роль

[dalton99a]

11. Yep.

[CentralMass]

3. So he lifted the ban on the blueprints.

[NickB79]

4. No one is discussing selling plastic guns though

The issue is the right to distribute CAD files online that allow people to build their own guns for personal use at home. Selling them once made would be a major felony under existing laws without a federal firearms license.

So, this primarily boils down to a 1st Amendment, not 2nd Amendment, argument.

[inwiththenew]

7. This is getting lost in the shuffle

This has more far ranging implications for the 1st Amendment than the 2nd.

[PoliticAverse]

8. Once someone puts the plans in a book a bunch of people will suddenly understand. n/t

[Initech]

5. So is he admitting that the NRA is pulling his strings?

[louis-t]

9. I doubt he knows anything about how it works.

"Doesn't make much sense", meaning "I am clueless".

[catbyte]

10. Well, if plastic gun blueprints are made availble to everyone, then get to the airport 8 hours

ahead of of your flight. Metal detectors don't detect plastic, so if you think that the TSA is intrusive now, just wait. How about schools? Courthouses? Congress? Or am I wrong & metal detectors can detect them?

[Bantamfancier]

13. Plastic guns not much

good without ammo. Plastic ammo pipe dream.

[jmowreader]

21. Not really

The M1 Abrams tank's main gun uses plastic cartridges with metal projectiles. (This is so the crew doesn't have to deal with the empty shell casings. They burn up when the round is fired.) You could conceivably print shell casings for a plastic gun on your printer, or make them out of acetyl rod with a drill press. As for the projectiles...a hard piece of plastic is going into its victim if you accelerate it to a high enough speed.

I know..."but plastic is too soft to do damage!" So is water, and...

&t=198s

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

20. Most of the equipment at airports...

...have sensors that detect aromatic propellants and flammable and explosive chemicals. The microwave body scanners can find a pencil in your pocket and the luggage scanners can see earbuds and ice cubes. Flying will not be less safe due to this.

[jmowreader]

22. They don't have those sensors at convenience stores

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

26. Please help me out here. I'm not sure where you're heading.

Having a sensor without a closed space and security personnel to manage enforcement, any area at all may as well be a dark corner in the heart of the naked city. Printed gun, steel gun, crossbow, morning star... what's the difference in that circumstance?

[jmowreader]

27. I'm saying the same thing I've been saying for a while

Printed guns are for people who need disposable guns. You make one that wouldn't necessarily be shaped like a traditional gun (vape pens will be a popular shape), commit the crime you printed it for, and throw it in the trash while you're on your way home.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

28. Criminals throw regular guns in trash

I'm not really seeing the advantage. As the movie said, "Where there's a will, there's a weapon."

[Recursion]

12. Guns remain an issue movement conservatives don't trust him on

It's a long shot (no pun intended) but this is a conceivable wedge.

[hexola]

19. Yes - and his relationship with Rudy will hurt him...

How quickly they forget...

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/editorial-rudy-giuliani-sellout-article-1.2382950

"I believe that we should treat the possession of a handgun the way we treat driving an automobile. And therefore a person who wants to possess a handgun should pass a written test, should be able to pass a physical test in the actual use of the gun and should have to demonstrate good moral character and a reason to have the gun."

[Snellius]

14. Last time Trump got squishy on guns, after Parkland. The NRA paid him a visit.

With an offer he couldn't refuse. "Good (Great) meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA!" he wrote.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/01/politics/trump-pence-meeting-nra/index.html

[erpowers]

15. Why Did He Not Stop The Action

If he really feels this way why did his State Department settle with Defense Distributed? His State Department could have continued to fight Defense Distributed in court. Trump also, likely, could have issued an Executive Order preventing Defense Distributed from issuing the blueprints for making the guns.

[PoliticAverse]

23. Then he could have added yet another defeat in the courts to his record. n/t

[Snellius]

16. Still pretty stupid from public safety pov. Fun to make, maybe. Wouldn't want to fire one.

CNC or 3D printing will only make the rough parts. Milling, assembly, adjusting takes some skill and practice. And testing. And if they can't be sold, they can't be bought. So everyone has to learn from scratch. I sure wouldn't want to fire one. Good chance of killing yourself or blowing off your hand. Unless that's what you're aiming to do. You can buy the ingredients to make nitroglycerin too but not many people would mix up a batch just to make a bang. There are plans for all kinds of nasty terror weapons out there. But after Oklahoma City you can't even buy large amounts of fertilizer without a permit.

[truthisfreedom]

17. "I'm too busy tweeting so I'll just clear this with the NRA."

Right after this bucket of chicken.

[Maxheader]

18. Doesn't make much sense?

Jelly spined traitor....Why not the tough guy like with
n. korea and iran?

[Vinca]

24. The NRA won't care unless someone brings one into their convention and shoots Wayne.

Nothing to stop it from happening. Put some bullets in a holder on your key chain to get around the metal detector and there you go. Or maybe they'll buy tickets to a Ted Nugent concert since his venues don't allow guns either. All the self-described macho guys will suddenly be at risk. Just like the rest of us.

[Honeycombe8]

25. Where's all his tough talk? Reserved for people w/no power? Is he scared of the NRA?

He's such a wimp.

[PoliticAverse]

29. Wait until people find out about ceramic knives. n/t

[Orsino]

31. I doubt that any of the briefings he receives makes much sense to him.

He probably just hears "blah blah blah" as he tweets.