In 2018 alone, 9,578 people in the United States have died because of gun violence, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The newest controversy in gun control legislation is the introduction of 3D printable guns. Blueprints of guns made for a 3D printer invented by Cody Wilson in 2012 have recently been made more available for people nationwide because of new legislation. These guns would be available online and all someone would need to make them is a 3D printer. The scariest part of the guns is the fact that nobody can track them because of their lack of serial number and that they’re made up of plastic.

The idea of a do-it-yourself gun is frightening. People can make them completely invisible in the eyes of the government, these blueprints make guns readily available to the public in a way that is invisible in the eyes of the government. The thought of anybody having access to any form of gun puts an awful feeling in my stomach. Letting people make guns invisible (without a serial number) will make every public place feel dangerous, nobody will feel safe, especially in places like the airport or at concert venues, where metal detectors are commonly used.

Following the fatal shooting at Marjory Stoneman-Douglas and the widespread support for the March for Our Lives, gun control and reform has been under public scrutiny. The ability to create and print guns in your home is incredibly dangerous and should not be legal.

Giving a person the blueprints to a simple handgun can amount to so much damage and chaos. No one should be allowed to print lethal weapons from their living room. While people can obviously obtain a gun from an illegal source, those guns were still manufactured with a serial number, they are traceable by police and by security systems. Printable guns have no rhyme or reason, no one can track them, not even metal detectors making them able to bring on planes or any other public area. But the difference is that if legislation to make them legal passes, the whole process of having a seemingly invisible gun would be legal.