Linda Stewart tries again to ban plastic firearms

Sen. Linda Stewart is taking another shot at banning all-plastic firearms that can be individually manufactured with 3D printers.

On Friday the Orlando Democrat introduced the “Three-Dimensional Printed Firearms” bill (SB 372) which would make it a felony for someone to print, transfer, import, distribute, sell, possess or give all-plastic guns that can be created with 3D printers, avoid detection by metal detectors, and fire projectiles with deadly results.

It’s Stewart’s second attempt to ban such guns in Florida. Last year she introduced an identical bill (SB 310), but it died a quiet death in committee without being heard.

This year’s effort defines plastic guns as being made of one of four types of polymers that are strong enough to withstand the blast of combustion: polyethylene terephthalate; polycarbonate; polylactic acid; or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. Any such guns that have at least four ounces of metal, which would set off metal detectors, would be exempt from the law.

Stewart said the homemade plastic guns are not covered by any state rules or laws regulating normal guns. And with the price of 3D printers falling significantly in the past couple of years, now in the $1,500 range she said, they’re becoming more broadly affordable. Blueprints for 3D guns have been on the internet, off and on, for several years.

“They’re plastic so you can go right through screening in the airport and have a gun that can, that will fire bullets, and not be detected,” Stewart said. “These 3D guns do not have to abide by any gun rules in the state of Florida. We have guns. We have rules for guns. For 3D guns, there are no rules, because they’re so new.”

And, she added, “you can’t trace them.”

Last year her bill was referred to the Infrastructure and Security, Judiciary, and Rules committees, but received no hearings.

“I’m trying again. It’s a good bill. It’s a public safety bill,” Stewart said. “We’re just going to have to talk to the other senators and get them to understand what’s out there.”

This year’s bill includes an amnesty period in which anyone possessing such guns would be required to turn them into law enforcement agencies to be destroyed.

 A 2015 federal lawsuit had blocked the 3D gun blueprints from distribution. In 2018, President Donald Trump‘s administration settled the lawsuit, opening the door for the blueprints to be reposted. The plans reportedly have been downloaded thousands of times.

There also have been occasional bills in Congress seeking to outlaw plastic guns, but they haven’t gone anywhere either.