July 30, 2018
For immediate release

Gun Owners of America Statement on 3D-Printed Firearms

Springfield, VA – Beginning August 1, Defense Distributed will begin posting blueprints online so that law-abiding gun owners can begin making their own personal firearms. This action comes after a court settlement with Defense Distributed which allows the company to resume the activity. Erich Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, issued the following statement:

“This is freedom. This is what the Second Amendment protects. With few exceptions under federal law, it is legal to make your own personal firearm, as long as it is not transferred to another person. Why wouldn’t the Second Amendment protect the right of a law-abiding citizen to make his or her own weapons?

“Anti-gun advocates are taking to the courts to try and stop Defense Distributed. They claim that 3D-printed guns will become a boon for criminals. But that argument is a red herring. Criminals will always break the law and will always get their hands on some kind of weapon.

“Our rights do not depend on what criminals do. For example, we do not shut down printing presses because someone might use it to libel.

“Already, almost 80% of firearms used in crime are weapons that were not legally owned. And studies have long shown that criminals have already been making their own illegal weapons or getting illegally-made firearms from overseas.

“Gun haters always want to focus on the illicit uses of guns, but that would be like only focusing on deaths result from doctors’ negligence — which are around 250,000 per year — and ignoring the overwhelming amount of good that they do. In fact, according to the CDC, guns are being used 16 to 100 times more often to save life, than to take life.

“The bottom line is this: the rights of law-abiding citizens should not be infringed simply because criminals refuse to obey the law. Otherwise, all our rights would be in jeopardy.”

Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over 1.5 million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Newsroom.

— GOA —