The U.S. Department of Commerce’sBureau of Industry and Security(BIS) has announced a transfer in jurisdiction over certain technologies that could be used to 3D print firearms.
今年早些时候,美国第九巡回法院的Appeals issued apreliminary injunction删除这样的侦探hnologies from the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and made them exempt from International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
In response, the BIS has now declared that anyone engaged in manufacturing, exporting or ‘furnishing’ 3D printed firearms, are subject toExport Administration Regulations（耳朵）。为了帮助目前拥有该软件和机械制作这些弹药的人保持合规性，该局已发布了详细的信息FAQ, which it “strongly encourages” them to read.
The BIS calls the shots
In essence, the BIS’ decision to subject 3D printed firearms to EAR regulation was triggered by an injunction issued by a U.S. District Court in Washington back in March 2020, which prevented it from enforcing ITAR rules on any “technical data and software directly related to the production of firearms or firearm parts using a 3D printer or similar equipment.’’
After this court order, the Department of State declared that its ‘final rule’ 85 FR 3819 had come into effect, meaning that any license requests for related ‘‘technology’’ and ‘‘software” no longer fall under USML jurisdiction. Published in the Federal Register, the announcement effectively saw the BIS inherit authority over 3D printed firearm regulation, subjecting it to articles ‘15 CFR 732.2’ and ‘734.7’ instead.
Specifically, these two legal codes refer to distinct passages of the EAR, which determine the scope of the legislation’s remit and whether certain 3D printed items are legal or not. In the former, for instance, the code outlines how EAR import/export restrictions now apply to certain 3D printed goods, while many other ‘publicly-available’ technologies continue to remain outside the regulation’s remit.
关于'15 CFR 734.7,’ the code elaborates further on this point, saying that a technology is ‘published’ in the public sphere once it’s “available to the public without restrictions,” before adding that this exemption doesn’t apply to certain types of encryption software or any AMF or G-code shared online, which could be used to “produce a firearm frame, receiver or a complete firearm.”
What are EAR regulations?
Of course, the two codes referenced in the Department of Commerce’s announcement represent only a small part of a sprawling piece of regulation, which stretches on for some 774 sections. Luckily, the BIS has put together a handy guide for anyone whose technologies fall under Section C of regulation 734.7,这敦促他们“仔细检查”，以免违反相关许可法。
例如，在这些常见问题中，明确表示，现在需要BIS许可证在线发布“任何文件，包括任何CAD文件，一旦转换为任何CAD文件，都将使用可执行的代码来生产枪支。”在颁发许可证的情况下，它们的有效期为四年，旨在出口，以提供任何武器的口径，枪管长度和饰面等细节。
In addition to new import/export requirements, the BIS’ advice also explains how firearms that weren’t subject to ITAR restrictions prior to the EAR rules’ first introduction on March 9 2020, are likely to remain exempt unless regulatory amendments are made, although it encourages all those unsure about how the changes affect them to reach out.
To find out if their specific technology qualifies as “ready for insertion into a computer numerically-controlled machine tool, additive manufacturing equipment or any other equipment,” thus becoming subject to EAR regulation, manufacturers can now submit a free classification request to the BIS via its onlinesnap – r提交系统。
否则，从事3D打印枪支零件的业务的人可以查看该局的完整常见问题解答故障这里.
A crackdown on 3D printed guns?
The last few years has seen manufacturers, regulators and social media firms join forces to discourage gun 3D printing, yet design files seem to be as prevalent as ever on file sharing sites. In 2019, for instance, 3D printer manufacturerDagoma和TBWA/Parisdistributed假和无法使用的枪支文件in an attempt to frustrate those trying to download them.
Not long before this, Facebook reportedly stated that “sharing instructions on how to produce firearms using 3D printers is“not allowed under its Community Standards.” In response to the move, theFirearms Policy Coalitionissued a call to action, asking Facebook to lift the ban on one particular affected site, implying that its freedom of speech had been impeded.
However, despite these initiatives and the EAR regulations imposed on 3D printed guns, the wider debate surrounding them has raged on for years and it’s unlikely to be the last time the issue rears its head. After all, it was only three years ago that theU.S. Department of Justiceoverturned a禁止共享枪支文件, thus the topic is under constant review, even if the resulting guns tend to be ineffectual.
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Featured image shows the ‘Plastic Liberator’ handgun. Photo via Defense Distributed.
