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Lawmakers protest US deal allowing free plans for 3D guns

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AFP Washington
Last Updated : Jul 29 2018 | 5:40 AM IST

Dozens of US legislators are demanding that the Trump administration explain a recent agreement to allow the free distribution of plans for using 3D printers to make plastic handguns that will be easy to hide and almost impossible to control.

After a lengthy legal battle, the government reached agreement last month with Cody Wilson, a militant gun rights advocate from Texas. He successfully argued that the US Constitution's Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to private gun ownership, should extend to a person's right to make guns at home -- uncontrolled by authorities, since they will bear no serial number.

Dozens of Democrats in both the US House of Representatives and the Senate have decried the settlement and are demanding an explanation from the President Donald Trump's administration, which has been extremely supportive of gun-owners' rights.

The agreement between the State Department, which controls the exportation of American arms, and Wilson's Defense Distributed (DD) group was reached on June 29.

But it remained secret until last week, after groups advocating for stronger gun controls demanded its publication. The consent agreement "permits any United States person, to include DD's customers and SAF's members, to access, discuss, reproduce or otherwise benefit from the technical data that is the subject of the action."

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First Published: Jul 29 2018 | 5:40 AM IST

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