Schumer: House gun ban isn’t enough

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said a House bill banning undetectable guns doesn’t go far enough. 

Lawmakers are working to extend the existing ban, which is set to expire this month. The House is scheduled to vote on a 10-year extension of the current ban Tuesday afternoon. But Schumer said he wants more specifics in the legislation.

{mosads}“The House bill is better than nothing, but it’s not good enough,” Schumer said Monday. “We absolutely must close the loophole that allows anyone to legally make a gun that could be rendered invisible by the easy removal of its metal part.” 

The extension of the Undetectable Firearms Act comes in the midst of a developing debate over the ability to produce weapons parts using 3-D printers. That technology has led to increased calls for the renewal of the Undetectable Firearms Act.

Schumer said that when the Senate returns from Thanksgiving recess next week, he would ask for unanimous consent to extend current law, and also to close a loophole that allows plastic guns to pass through a metal detector by having easily removable metal parts.

“Under current law, it is legal to make a plastic gun so long as it has some metal in it, even if it is easily removable,” Schumer said. “The bill we’ll try to pass in the Senate would fix that.”

It’s unclear if Senate Republicans would object to Schumer’s unanimous consent agreement next week.

Schumer tried to pass a clean one-year extension of current law before the Senate adjourned for its two-week recess, but Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) objected, saying he wasn’t sure if all GOP senators had an opportunity to read the legislation.