Hoping I can rally support here for blocking a currently proposed bill with dangerous long-term consequences. HB2320 was introduced in the house this legislative period under the guise of regulating the manufacture of ghost guns. The majority of the changes are just clarifications for actions that are already illegal under WA state law – manufacturing ghost guns with 3D printers/CNC machines.
There are 2 exceptions to this added into the law that create a thought crime and a violation of the first amendment. This has large implications to be twisted by potential bad actors. New sections are in bold italics.
No person may knowingly or recklessly allow, facilitate, aid, or abet the manufacture or assembly of an undetectable firearm or untraceable firearm, including by distribution of digital firearm manufacturing code, by a person who: (a) Is ineligible under state or federal law to possess a firearm; or (b) has signed a valid voluntary waiver of firearm rights that has not been revoked under RCW 9.41.350. For purposes of this provision, the failure to conduct a background check as provided in RCW 9.41.113 shall be prima facie evidence of recklessness.
No person may sell, transfer, distribute, or offer to sell digital firearm manufacturing code for a firearm to a person who is not licensed to manufacture firearms under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923. (6) No person may possess digital firearm manufacturing code for a firearm with an intent to distribute the code to a person who is not licensed to manufacture firearms under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923, or with an intent to manufacture a firearm using a three-dimensional printer or computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine.
And the most egregious part.
Possession of digital firearm manufacturing code for a firearm creates a rebuttable presumption of an intent to unlawfully distribute the code or manufacture a firearm in violation of this subsection.
Code was classified as free speech under the First Amendment in the 90s following Bernstein v US under very similar circumstances – the US attempted to prevent distribution of code by classifying it as a weapon.
Even without the first amendment challenges you could face an arrest under this law for having code of something called a 0% receiver – blocks of aluminum of specific dimensions – and not even realize it. That includes sharing said files to an online website that is then accessed by someone in the state – reckless distribution.
Our thoughts may be different on how we approach gun control since HB1240, particularly with our rise to authoritarianism since 2001 with a significant uptick since 2020, but I hope we can all agree on this concerning addition that ultimately does not catch any new bad actors. Again, it only reiterates actions that are already illegal under other WA laws.
What we should all desperately want to avoid is this law setting a precedent for other legislatures in our state, the state legislature if god forbid it ever flips, or other states. This is a stepping stone to create laws violating our ability to organize, communicate, share ideas, or see the truth by limiting code as free speech.
The absolute worst case is that this law gets challenged and escalated to SCOTUS, who then overturns the Bernstein v US ruling similar to Roe v Wade. All of our online communications – technically just code – would be at risk of being censored and regulated even beyond what we go through today. We would see the largest legal reduction in our rights since the Patriot Act.
submitted by /u/MidNerd
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