The United States Congress approved extending the 25-year-old gun law on December 9th which will extend it for another 10 years. This is good news for 3D printing as the bill they extended makes no mention of 3D printing. There was another bill put forward by Representitive Steve Israel which did include language on 3D printing which many worried would impede the growth of the 3D printing market. The positive news for people in the 3D printing industry is that this act will not affect 3D printing in any way. Rep. Israel stated that his plans weren’t targeted at 3D printers but planned to be “focused primarily on including a requirement that any firearm feature at least one functional metal part,” to make it detectable. Although there was no talk of 3D printing in the passed act that doesn’t mean that 3D printing is totally in the clear and as the technology becomes increasinly prevalent there will be many out there that look to curb its accessibility in the name of public safety.
