Senator Makes Worst Anti-Gun Gaffe Since '.30 Caliber Magazine Clip' Kevin De Leon
An astonishing number of elected Democrats and liberal media figures have utterly lost their minds in recent days with regard to the proliferation of blueprints online related to the 3D-printing of firearm components, but that in and of itself isn’t particularly surprising.
What is shocking is the incredible amount of absurd inaccuracies, blatant disinformation and lies by omission about 3D-printed guns on the part of the same anti-gun zealots who vehemently oppose virtually anything and everything firearm or Second Amendment related.
A prime example of such was a ridiculous speech delivered Tuesday by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, which could very well go down in history as the most ludicrous anti-gun speech ever, at least to this point, which should be a relief for California politician Kevin “ghost guns with .30-caliber clips” De Leon, who previously held that dubious honor.
Holding up a large poster comparing an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle built with a 3D-printed component atop a standard-built AR-15-style rifle, Blumenthal cranked the self-righteous sanctimony all the way to the maximum level.
“Coming to a theater near you,” proclaimed Blumenthal as he pointed at the picture. “Coming to a theater near you, coming to a school near you, coming to a sports stadium, to any public place … these ‘ghost guns’ are the new wave of American gun violence.
“You will see them around our streets, in our airports, our train stations, they are undetectable, untraceable … forget about the TSA guarding the plane that you board,” he warned, apparently oblivious to his own contradiction of how people would “see” these supposedly “undetectable” guns in all of these places.
“These ‘ghost guns’ are a menace … the failure to ban them will mean blood on the hands of officials who have that responsibility,” he added.
Oh, where to start with this, aside from the obvious gaffe about a freaking full-sized AR-15-style rifle being “undetectable.” What Blumenthal was most likely inferring by calling the weapon “undetectable” is that certain components of the firearm were built with 3D-printed plastic parts, which of course wouldn’t be picked up by a metal detector.
What Blumenthal failed to mention — perhaps deliberately, more likely out of sheer ignorance — is that only certain components of the firearm can be built with plastic parts, with other parts necessarily still requiring metal pieces, like the internal firing mechanisms, and of course the ammunition … all of which would be picked up by a metal detector.
Stephen Gutowski of the Washington Free Beacon took to Twitter on Tuesday and posted a thread of multiple tweets — which everyone should take a moment to click on and scroll through — to try and clear up the insane amount of misinformation being put forward by the media and politicians.
Nearly everything you're hearing about 3D printed guns right now is false.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018
He proceeded to explain how the 3D blueprints have already been posted and available online for years, how it is perfectly legal for law-abiding Americans to build — or 3D-print — their own firearms at home, how the weapons still require metal parts to properly function and how the lawsuit settlement the controversy stemmed from was in regard to international export concerns — which can be read about right here, courtesy of National Review — among other misconceptions.
Gutowski also reached out to the National Rifle Association for its take on the controversy over 3D-printed guns, and received a statement from Chris Cox, executive director for the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, about the laws already on the books with regard to actual “undetectable” firearms, which have been illegal for some time, and still are.
“Many anti-gun politicians and members of the media have wrongly claimed that 3D printing technology will allow for the production and widespread proliferation of undetectable plastic firearms,” Cox told the Free Beacon.
“Regardless of what a person may be able to publish on the internet, undetectable plastic guns have been illegal for 30 years. 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.”
So there you have it. Aside from the absurdity of calling a large rifle built with a few plastic parts “undetectable,” Blumenthal either displayed his utter ignorance about both 3D-printing technology and firearms more broadly, or is purposefully misleading the American public in order to further his progressive anti-gun agenda.
Neither would be a surprise at this point, and both are probably true.
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