Last week, the Senate passed a 10-year extension of the federal law banning plastic firearms, according to usatoday.com. Plastic firearms pose a significant threat in our society because they can go unread by metal detectors in airports. Banning plastic firearms was undoubtedly a move in the right direction, but there needs to be legislation implemented by the government that creates further regulation at the foundation of this problem- 3D printers.

Despite obvious upsides, the things that come out of 3D printers are not always beneficial for our society. A plastic gun is one of these things, and it can be printed fairly easily.

Kelth Wagstaff of nbcnews.com writes: “Printing a gun isn’t prohibitively expensive. The printer and the plastic combined can be bought for as little as $1,400… while an ideal set-up would involve a higher-end 3D printer that normally sells for around $6,000.”

3D printers should not be banned from private use in our country because they provide many benefits to their users and are important for innovation. However, there needs to be more regulation placed on these printers by the federal government. The government can pass legislation to ban plastic firearms, but that won’t stop certain individuals from printing these weapons themselves.