Rep. Steve Israel urges Congress to renew 'Wiki Weapon' ban
Holding up a photo of a plastic AR-15 automatic weapon, produced by a 3-D computer printer, Congressman Steve Israel (D-Huntington) announces new legislation Friday for the renewal of a ban on plastic guns that is set to expire in 2013. (Dec. 7, 2012) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Rep. Steve Israel on Friday urged lawmakers to renew a federal ban on plastic guns that can evade detection at airports, including weapons made partially with three-dimensional printers right out of "Star Trek," the congressman said.
Israel (D-Huntington) said a group of young men recently built and fired six shots from a "Wiki Weapon" -- an AR-15 assault rifle partially assembled with parts from a 3-D printer, Israel said.
"It is just a matter of time before these three-dimensional printers will be able to replicate an entire gun," Israel said at a news conference at the security checkpoint at Long Island MacArthur Airport. "And that firearm will be able to be brought through this security line, through the metal detector, and because there will be no metal to be detected, firearms will be brought on planes without anyone's knowledge."
The Undetectable Firearms Act became law in 1988, "when this kind of technology was just a fantasy," Israel said. It lapsed in 1998 but was renewed in 2003 by President George W. Bush, Israel said. The law is slated to expire again in December 2013.
Israel said he will introduce the law's renewal in Congress next week.
Other officials at the news conference included Suffolk County Police Chief of Department James Burke, who said 3-D printers could bring about the proliferation of guns "in our children's bedrooms, in basements and in dorm rooms."
"With the prices of these printers under $1,000, I think anyone can imagine the rise of an amateur gun maker in our community," Burke said.
