Ability to print guns 'critical issue' for law enforcement around the world: Goodale

As controversy swirls in the U.S.over downloadable blueprints for a3D-printedgun, Canada's public safety minister says the technology is a "critical issue" that's causing concernfor lawenforcement around the world.

Speaking to reporters in Regina, Public Safety Minister RalphGoodalesaid local police forces, theRCMP, their counterparts in the U.S. and Interpol are all troubled by the potential to"photocopy a weapon" presumably meaning to create one using 3D printing that"would be usable to cause harm to other people."

His comments follow a recent U.S.decision to settle a case and allow a Texas manto make theschematics for3D-printedplastic guns available for download online starting Wednesday though a U.S. federal judge temporarily blocked the releaseof the plans hours before they were to be released.

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Using a computer-generated model of a three-dimensional object, a 3D printer creates the object by depositing thin slices of material, such as plastics, metals or ceramics, building the objectup layer by layer.

Earlier, Jean-PhilippeLevert, a spokespersonforPublic Safety Canada, said in an email statement that thegovernmentis"closely monitoring developments to3D-printedfirearms, which do not change the law."

Subject to Firearms Act

He warned that Canadianswho are considering making their own3D plasticfirearmsare subjectto the same gun laws currently on the books, which makeitillegal to manufacture or possess a gunwithout the necessarylicences and registrations.

"Allfirearms are subject to the Firearms Act, the Criminal Code and their associated regulations," Levert said, regardless of the manufacturing method.

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The issue of 3D-printed gunshas come to the forefront following a U.S. State Department's decision to settle a years-long legal battle withCody Wilson, a self-described "crypto-anarchist" in Austin who started posting schematics fora3D-printedfirearm on hiswebsite, calledDefence Distributed,in 2013.

The designs were downloaded about 100,000 times until the State Department ordered him to cease, contending he was violatingfederal export laws since some of the blueprints were downloaded by people outside the United States.

The State Department reversed course in late June, agreeing to allow Wilson to postthe blueprints starting Aug. 1. But on Tuesday, a Seattle-based federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to stopthe release of the plans, saying there is the possibility of "irreparable harm because of the way these guns can be made."

Theblueprintshave sparked concernfrom some U.S. lawmakers and gun-control advocates who fear this latest development allows quicker, easier access to weapons and will lead to the proliferation ofunregistered firearms that are undetectable by metal detectors and untraceable because they have no serial numbers.

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In Canada, individuals are permitted to manufacture firearmsfor personal use that are not for resale and that they are licensed to own, saidSolomon Friedman, an Ottawa-based lawyer who specializes in gun rights.

There are three classes of guns in Canada: non-restricted, restricted and prohibited.

To owna restricted weapon including a handgun or a rifle that's restricted for various reasons, like an AR-15 an individual first needs a licence to possess restricted firearms.If they have manufactured their own restricted weapon, it has to be registered immediately upon itbecomingfunctional, said Friedman.

The gun owner has to contact their province's chief firearms officerto be issued a serial number that is verified and registered under the gun owner's name, he said.

Someone manufacturing a3D gun would be subject tothe same laws, he said.

Homemade guns predate 3Dprinters

"Hobbyists have been making firearms in Canada probably for as long as they'vebeen making them anywhere else," Solomon said. "This long predates3D polymer printers."

Although gun-control advocates in the U.S. have voiced their concerns about these weapons, Canada's Coalition For Gun Control said itwascurrently consulting on the issue and offered no position on the subject.

But Tony Bernardo, executive director of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, dismissed the controversy overprinted weapons.

"In Canada, there's zero market for this," he said. "In every gun club in Canada,every shooter we have in our association we're the largest association in Canada with 33,000 membersI have heard exactly zero [interest].

"Everybody looks at it and goes, 'I wouldn't fire that.'"

Bernardo is echoingwhat someotherindustry experts have said:That printedweapons are not accurate, and that criminals wouldn'tgo to the trouble to get a plastic gunsince the printers needed to make them are relatively expensiveand traditional firearms are easy to come by.

"Why on earth would a criminal go out and buy this giant, clunky, one-shotgun when there's a whole sea of them acrossthe other side of the border," Bernardo said.

Unlike traditional firearms that can fire thousands of rounds in a lifetime, 3D-printedguns normally last only a few rounds before they fall apart, some experts say. They don't have magazines that allow the usual nine or 15 rounds to be carried; instead, they usually hold a bullet or two and then must be manually reloaded.

"You're not talking about making a real gun," Bernardo said. "You're talking about making something that might go five shots without blowing up in your hand."

With files from The Associated Press