Rep. Dean reintroduces legislation targeting potentially undetectable firearms

Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) recently reintroduced the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act as a means of addressing recent technological developments given rise to undetectable plastic guns.

The original law was enacted in 1988, with the public concerned about guns with frames and grips made of lightweight polymers. The law required all firearms to be at least as detectable as a security exemplar containing 3.7 ounces of stainless steel.

“Our current law, the Undetectable Firearms Act, was passed over 30 years ago, and it doesn’t address today’s technologies or security risks,” Dean said. “Today, we face a more pressing issue – firearms made entirely of plastic or with so much plastic that they fall below the current law’s detection standard.”

The proposed legislation would prohibit the possession of any firearm undetectable by airport-level detection devices and require any firearm with all of its major components attached to generate a gun-shaped image in the detection systems.

Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Eleanor Holmes Norton, Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), James Langevin (D-RI), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Steve Cohen (D-TN), and David Trone (D-MD) are among the lawmakers who co-sponsored the bill.

The bill’s reintroduction accompanies other gun violence legislation, including the Bipartisan Background Checks Act.