US President Donald Trump attends a joint press conference with South Korea's President Moon Jae-In at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on November 7, 2017. US President Donald Trump arrived in Seoul on November 7 vowing to "figure it all out" with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-In, despite the two allies' differences on how to deal with the nuclear-armed North. / AFP PHOTO / Jim WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images) President Donald Trump hosts a business session with state governors in the State Dining Room at the White House February 26, 2018 in Washington, DC. TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump waits for a dinner with Latin American and US leaders at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly September 18, 2017 in New York City. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with bipartisan members of Congress on school and community safety in the Cabinet Room of the White House on February 28, 2018 in Washington, DC. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 21: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Donald Trump (R) hosts a listening session with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivors Julie Cordover (2nd R) and Jonathan Blank and his mother Melissa Blank and others in the State Dining Room at the White House February 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Trump is hosted the session in the wake of last week's mass shooting at the high school in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 students and teachers dead. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Trump: Take guns first, then go to court 3D-printed guns will soon be just a click away (2018) (CNN) — The Trump administration supports an existing law they say makes it illegal to own or make homemade plastic guns, a White House official said Tuesday, coming hours after President Donald Trump tweeted that the availability of the firearms “doesn’t seem to make much sense!” “The President is committed to the safety and security of all Americans; he considers this his highest responsibility,” deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said to reporters aboard Air Force One. “In the United States, it’s currently illegal to own or make a wholly plastic gun of any kind, including those made on a 3D printer.” The administration supports the three-decade-old law, Gidley said, “and will continue to look at all options available to us to do what is necessary to protect Americans while also supporting the First and Second amendments.” The comments came one day before a government settlement would have allowed plans to be posted online following a settlement with gun-rights activists. On Tuesday evening, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the federal government from allowing distribution of downloadable 3D-printed guns, according to a tweet from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. “Downloads are disabled until I see the order,” Defense Distribution founder Cody Wilson told CNN. Trump had expressed skepticism earlier Tuesday, saying he’s spoken with the National Rifle Association about the technology. “I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!” the President tweeted Tuesday, without offering further details about what he’ll do about the weapons. Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, released a statement Tuesday underscoring the larger point made by Trump earlier. “Regardless of what a person may be able to publish on the Internet, undetectable plastic guns have been illegal for 30 years,” Cox said. “Federal law passed in 1988, crafted with the NRA’s support, makes it unlawful to manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive an undetectable firearm.” But last month, NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch made a different argument in an NRATV segment saying that Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, was “freaking out” over the prospect of criminals printing assault-style weapons when there were laws that forbade “prohibited possessors” from doing so. “I’m actually talking about what Democrats call, quote unquote, ‘ghost guns’ and the what the rest of us call freedom and innovation: 3-D printed guns,” she said. Loesch went on to say that she believed any attempt to outlaw the technology or regulate 3D printers under the National Firearms Act would be “absolutely unenforceable.” "If you're a prohibited possessor you can't do any of these things. I realize that the Chuck Schumers of the world, the Dianne Feinsteins and the Nancy Pelosis, and the Chris Murphys want to completely pretend that none of those laws are on the books, nor do they exist." @DLoesch pic.twitter.com/M33lCBiiHc — NRATV (@NRATV) July 23, 2018 Speaking to CNN’s “New Day” shortly before Trump’s tweet on Tuesday, Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting in February, said the ability to download blueprints for the firearms doesn’t make sense. “It’s horrible on a lot of levels. One week ago, I actually was in DC with some folks from the Newtown Action Alliance and nobody in DC on a legislative level even knew about this,” Guttenberg told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. In June, a gun-rights group, Defense Distributed, reached a settlement with the government that would allow it to post 3D printable gun plans online. According to the settlement, the plan wasn’t supposed to be online until Wednesday but more than 1,000 people had already downloaded plans to print an AR-15 style semiautomatic assault rifle, according to the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. The settlement had ended a multiyear legal battle that started when Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson posted designs for a 3-D printed handgun he called “The Liberator” in 2013. The single-shot pistol was made almost entirely out of ABS plastic – the same material Lego bricks are made from – and could be made on a 3D printer. Twenty-one state attorneys general sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Jeff Sessions Monday, urging the government to withdraw from the settlement. Trump has previously offered tepid support for tougher gun restrictions, particularly after the Parkland shooting, but later backed off those positions to align himself with NRA proposals. This story has been updated with additional developments. CNN’s Sophie Tatum, Laurie Segall, Chris Boyette, Rebecca Berg, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Doug Criss, Katherine Brown and Lindsey Ellefson contributed to this report.<doc-sep>President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE said Tuesday that he is "looking into" 3D plastic guns, adding that he had spoken to the National Rifle Association (NRA) about them. "I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public," he tweeted. "Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!" I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018 The Trump administration has faced criticism over the issue after the Defense Department settled with a gun rights activist last month over the distribution of 3D firearm blueprints. The downloadable plans range from rudimentary handguns to rifles similar to an AR-15. The plans can be used by anyone with a 3D printer and minimal outside materials to create an untraceable firearm. The president's tweet comes a day after several states filed a lawsuit seeking to block the sale of the blueprints, calling them a threat to national security. ADVERTISEMENT “These downloadable guns are unregistered and very difficult to detect, even with metal detectors, and will be available to anyone regardless of age, mental health or criminal history. If the Trump Administration won’t keep us safe, we will," said Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D), who represents one of the eight states suing the Trump administration. A judge previously blocked a lawsuit from three gun control groups over the settlement that alleged the Trump administration gave no explanation for changing a policy concerning items previously considered by the government to be a threat to national security. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerSchumer says Senate will move on Biden's infrastructure agenda in July Senate confirms Biden pick to lead Medicare, Medicaid office Pelosi presses for Senate action on Jan. 6 commission: 'No time to waste' MORE (D-N.Y.) said Trump’s tweet was a display of “incompetence and dangerous governing.” “Your administration approved this,” Schumer tweeted. “What kind of incompetence and dangerous governing is this? And to check with the NRA? Holy moly.” --Updated at 10:18 a.m.<doc-sep>
President Donald Trump suggested on Twitter on Tuesday that he has doubts about the wider availability of 3D-printed plastic guns, also known as ghost guns. I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018 His tweet seems to reference a June settlement between the government and Defense Distributed, an organization that designs and disseminates schematics for plastic guns that can be manufactured with a 3D printer. In accordance with the settlement, the government will allow the organization to post the schematics online starting tomorrow. On Monday, attorneys general from eight states and D.C. filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to prevent it from allowing Defense Distributed to publish the information. Anyone who owns a 3D printer can download the schematics, which include a code that users can input into their devices to make the gun. There is also the option to buy 3D-printing kits with guns that are 80 percent finished, which allows users to buy them without having to undergo the legal procedures associated with buying finished guns. Indeed, so-called ghost guns do not require serial numbers, background checks, sales records, or seller’s licenses to print, which renders them virtually untraceable. People can build anything from handguns to AR-15-style rifles, which has been the weapon of choice for mass shooters in Parkland, Florida; Las Vegas; and Newtown, Connecticut. According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, more than 1,000 people downloaded Defense Distributed’s designs for such assault rifles between Friday and Sunday, even though they aren’t supposed to be legally available until Wednesday. The issue of printing guns has been a concern since the Obama administration. In 2013, Defense Distributed developed what is widely regarded as the world’s first 3D-printed firearm, a handgun called the Liberator. Schematics for the Liberator were downloaded 100,000 times in the first two days after Defense Distributed had made them available online. The State Department soon demanded that Defense Distributed take down the designs, noting that its actions could be a violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which regulates the export of defense data and services. The organization agreed, but designs for 3D guns began popping up elsewhere on the internet. Cody Wilson, the founder and director of Defense Distributed, sued the government in 2015 for the right to post the information, arguing that the State Department had restricted his First Amendment free speech rights. He further argued that the censorship infringed on his Second Amendment rights. “I understand why the State Department acted the way that they did; I just think that this is the way it is now,” Wilson said in an interview with Slate’s If Then podcast in March. He added, “It made Liberator popular. People actually wanted it at that point.” When asked about Trump’s tweet on Tuesday, Wilson told Slate in an email, “I don’t sell guns. I publish the plans for free into the public domain.” This distinction is salient because the Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits people from manufacturing and selling firearms without a license. However, it is legal to make a gun and keep it, a loophole that has allowed the 3D-printed gun sector to flourish. NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch also responded to Trump’s tweet: Also, the Trump admin didn’t make this happen, as is being asserted by many a verified account. The legal ability to produce something at home for personal use predates his admin by a few generations. — Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) July 31, 2018 The White House has not offered any additional comments or clarifications regarding Trump’s tweet. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that he would review the settlement, though a State Department official told USA Today that Pompeo was not planning to take any further action on the matter. The administration reportedly has the option to delay the settlement so that the courts will have time to consider the lawsuit from the state attorneys general.