In 1995, when Phil Zimmermann was having legal difficulty with encrypting communications in the early stages of the internet—strong encryption was then considered to be a controlled “munition” by the U.S. government—he published the PGP’s (Pretty Good Privacy) source code in a book, PGP: Source Code and Internals. He did this to specifically challenge U.S. export controls on strong encryption, as printing the code in a book made it First Amendment-protected speech.
The gambit worked. Rather than fight this in the courts on First Amendment grounds, the government dropped the case. This paved the way for the internet we now use—online purchasing, banking and more would not be possible without strong encryption.
Today, code for the 3D-printing of guns and gun parts are being treated similarly by gun-ban legislators.
In a recent example, as the New York state legislature session begins, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) announced multiple proposals that target the sale/manufacture of 3D-printed guns and gun-related items.
Also, under the proposed legislation, gun manufacturers would be required to design firearms in a way that would make it harder to modify them to shoot full-auto—this is, of course, already illegal.
“Public safety is my top priority. When I took office, I made a promise to New Yorkers to attack the gun violence epidemic head-on, and as gun technology continues to evolve, so do our strongest-in-the-nation gun laws,” said Gov. Hochul. “From the iron pipeline to the plastic pipeline, these proposals will keep illegal ghost guns off of New York streets, and enhance measures to track and block the production of dangerous and illegal firearms in our state.”
Okay, so the proposed legislation could be used to prosecute anyone with a felony who “manufactures or causes to be manufactured any machine-gun, assault weapon, large capacity ammunition feeding device, GHOST GUN, UNFINISHED FRAME OR RECEIVER, FIREARM SILENCER, MAGAZINE, OR MAJOR COMPONENT OF A FIREARM, RIFLE OR SHOTGUN [sic] or disguised gun is guilty of a class D felony. Any person who manufactures or causes to be manufactured any rapid-fire modification device is guilty of a class E felony. Any person who manufactures or causes to be manufactured any switchblade knife, pilum ballistic knife, metal knuckle knife, undetectable knife, billy, blackjack, bludgeon, plastic knuckles, metal knuckles, throwing star, chuka stick, sandbag, sandclub or slungshot is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.”
Also, (and sorry about this all-caps madness, but it is in the published legislation) “ANY PERSON WHO INTENTIONALLY SELLS, DISTRIBUTES, OR DISPOSES OF, BY ANY MEANS, INCLUDING VIA THE INTERNET, DIGITAL INSTRUCTIONS IN THE FORM OF COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN FILES, STANDARD TRIANGLE/TESSELLATION LANGUAGE FILES, OR OTHER CODE OR INSTRUCTIONS THAT MAY BE USED TO PROGRAM A THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTER TO MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCE ANY MACHINE-GUN, ASSAULT WEAPON, LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICE, DISGUISED GUN, GHOST GUN, UNFINISHED FRAME OR RECEIVER, FIREARM SILENCER, MAGAZINE, RAPID-FIRE MODIFICATION DEVICE OR MAJOR COMPONENT OF A FIREARM, RIFLE OR SHOTGUN, TO A PERSON IN NEW YORK WHO IS NOT REGISTERED OR LICENSED AS A GUNSMITH AS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 400.00 OF THIS CHAPTER WITH A TYPE 7 FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSE, IS GUILTY OF A CLASS A MISDEMEANOR.”
Any constitutional layman can see the First Amendment implications in banning the dissemination of code, but there is a lot more going on with this old/new topic.
As NRA-ILA has explained, “While 3D printing is a newer and developing technology, homemade firearms, or PMFs (privately made firearms) are not. Since the birth of our nation, citizens have enjoyed the right to create their own privately made firearms. A review of the basic facts on PMFs would have made for a helpful presentation at the summit.
“As far as federal law is concerned, individuals can legally make firearms for personal use without a license, as long as the person is not prohibited from possession of firearms, the firearm is detectable, and the firearm is not made or sold for profit. Firearms and related items that are illegal under federal and/or state law, however, are still illegal. Items that are already regulated by federal and/or state law are still regulated,” write NRA-ILA.
This latest attempt by anti-gun legislators in New York to criminalize everything to do with armed self-defense, including computer code they don’t like, is not in step with First and Second Amendment constitutional protections. This thinking is born from the illogical idea that guns are the cause of crime and that of lawfully armed citizens are instigators or practitioners of criminal activity.
It also ignores the fact that firearms continue to be heavily regulated regardless of how they are manufactured. Focusing on the actual problem—criminals, not the peoples’ guns—is how to formulate good policy.
