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103 Ky. L.J. 433 (2014-2015)
Busting the Ghost Guns A Technical, Statutory, and Practical Approach to the 3-D Printed Weapon Problem

handle is hein.journals/kentlj103 and id is 465 raw text is: NOTES Busting the Ghost Guns: A Technical, Statutory, and Practical Approach to the 3-D Printed Weapon Problem Katherine E. Beyer' INTRODUCTION The 2012 Aurora movie theatre shooting, the 2012 Clackamas, Oregon mall shooting, the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the 2013 Chino, California school shooting, the 2013 Santa Monica, California shooting, and the 2013 Washington Navy Yard shooting-what do all of these events have in common? Each of these mass-shooting incidents involved the use of an AR-15-style assault rifle.2 Over fifty people in the last year were senselessly killed in these mass-shootings involving this particular weapon.' Political leaders from all over the country called for stricter gun control in the wake of these tragedies, but they were left with a stymied and unresponsive Congress.' No real reply has addressed the growing concerns and heated gun control debate. But, the solution may not be as easy as some think: a huge technological revolution has the potential to repudiate and render obsolete gun laws as they stand today. As if the use of the same weapon in these mass-shootings is not shocking enough, technology has now evolved to the point where computer users can make parts of these rifles in their own home with the use of three-dimensional (hereinafter 3-D) printing. A printer costing as little as $1,000 can now print the lower receiver of the AR-15 rifle, which is the part of the gun that houses all of its ' University of Kentucky College of Law, J.D. Candidate May 2015; University of Virginia, B.A. in English and Foreign Affairs 2012. 2 See Ben Brumfield, Navy Yard Shooting: AR-15, Back in the News - Briefly, CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/17/us/ar-15-gun-debate (last updated Sept. 17, 2013, 8:59 AM); Samantha Tata, Nyree Arabian & Tony Shin, Child Fires Officer's Ritle at Elementary School, NBCLA.coM (Oct. 24, 2013, 4:47 AM), http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Chino-Newman- Elementary-School-Safety-Demonstration-Weapon-Gun-Misfires-Injures-228984301.html. See Katy Hall, Ethan Fedida & Jan Diehm, There Have Been More Mass Shootings Since Newtown Than You've Heard About (INFOGRAPHIC), HUFF POST: CRIME (Nov. 11, 2013, 4:19 PM), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/mass-shootings-2013_n-3941889.html; Aviva Shen, A Timeline of Mass Shootings in the US Since Columbine, THINK PROGRESS (Dec. 19, 2012, 8:19 AM), http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/14/1337221/a%ADtimeline%ADofAdmass%ADshoo tings%ADin%ADtheADusADsince%ADcolumbine/1/12. 4 See Jonathan Weisman, Senate Blocks Drive for Gun Control, N.Y. TIMES, Apr. 17, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/us/politics/senate-obama-gun-control.html?pagewanted=al&_r= 1&. 433

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