NY Rep. Israel targets 3-D printed gun magazines

A New York lawmaker will introduce a bill designed to ban people from making gun magazines with 3-D printers, following a demonstration of a working model by a Texas firearms group.

According to Long Island.com Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) will push to renew the Undetectable Firearms Act with an added stipulation banning the manufacturing, ownership, transport or purchase of 3-D printed firearms or high-capacity magazines.

Israel said he decided to not just renew, but expand the legislation after his staff discovered footage released by the group, Defense Distributed, of a man firing 86 rounds through a semi-automatic rifle using 30-round magazines created by 3-D printers.

In one video, released earlier this month, a man asks, "How's that national conversation going?" before firing, a possible allusion to the 23 executive orders signed this month by President Barack Obama as part of his efforts to stem gun violence.

The company has also offered downloadable blueprints for the 30-round magazines. More than 2,200 blueprints have reportedly been downloaded since becoming available.

Israel acknowledged to Forbes magazine that enforcing the law would be difficult, but he insisted his legislation was not aimed at owners of 3-D printers.

"We're not going to solve every problem," he said in an interview published Thursday. "No law can do that. What we're trying to do is deal with a very specific problem, which is the lone wolf who uses a 3D printer to make a plastic weapon in his home that can be brought onto a plane or into a secure environment."

Watch Defense Distributed's demonstration of 3-D gun magazines, originally posted on YouTube on Jan. 12, below.