Senate Democrats on Tuesday said President Trump will have “blood” on his hands and be “totally responsible” for 3D-printed guns that end up on the streets if his administration doesn’t immediately move to block a Texas company from posting blueprints for the firearms online.
“The ball’s in his court – he has a chance to prevent this from happening,” said Sen. Ed Markey, Massachusetts Democrat. “Donald Trump will be totally responsible for every downloadable, plastic AR-15 that will be roaming the streets of our country if he does not act today.”
Mr. Markey and other congressional Democrats are pushing legislation that aims to block Defense Distributed, the company, from posting downloadable blueprints online ahead of what had been an Aug. 1 target date.
The issue has sparked a wave of legal action after the State Department and the company agreed to a settlement last month allowing Defense Distributed to post the files once again after a years-long legal battle that spanned both the Obama and Trump administrations.
The company and its founder, Cody Wilson, say their right to move forward with the plans to post the files online falls under constitutionally-protected free speech.
“These guns are a menace. The failure to ban them will mean blood on the hands of officials who have that responsibility. I call on the Trump administration now to do the right thing,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat.
Mr. Trump said in a Tuesday tweet that he’s looking into the issue and that he’s spoken to the National Rifle Association about it.
“He can blame it on anyone if he wants to save face, but it’s his doing. It’s his responsibility, and the blood’s going to be on his hands. It’s that simple and stark,” Mr. Blumenthal said.
The senators and other Democrats in Congress are now pushing legislation that aims to block the company from posting the prints — which it started doing last week — and looks to ban “untraceable” guns that don’t have serial numbers or metal parts that can be crafted using 3D printers.
“It will take time to pass legislation, and in the meantime, there will be a new wave of gun violence in America that is directly the fault of the president, Donald Trump, his administration, and our Republican colleagues,” Mr. Blumenthal said.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer predicted that nothing would come of Mr. Trump’s tweet, calling it “a dollar short and a day late.”
“[As] sure as we’re here today, nothing is going to happen from this administration,” he said. “[We’re] going to have to pass legislation [because] they are just enslaved by the NRA. When the NRA says jump, they say, how high?”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said last month’s decision “is a death warrant for countless innocent men, women and children.”
“This settlement makes clear that the GOP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NRA,” she said.
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