3D Gun Printing: The End of Gun Control in the United States?

The recent shootings at the University of California, Santa Barbara and in Las Vegas have brought about the age-old question of gun control in the United States.  While the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution has its supporters and critics, the federal government has enacted regulations intent on securing the safety of society by requiring citizens who purchase firearms to register them and hold the necessary licensure.  However, recent events are changing how we obtain weapons.  What if citizens did not need a license to purchase a firearm at a store, but could instead acquire them with just a computer, a block of plastic, and a 3D printer?

PREA in Action: Eliminating Prison Rape

Despite the prevalence of jokes about it in the media and society at large, prison rape is no laughing matter.  As many as 4% of state and federal prison inmates, 3.2% of jail inmates, and 1.8% of juveniles ages 16 to 17 have reported sexual victimization by another inmate or facility staff in recent reports.  From the assaults, the inmates have reported not only physical abuse but also mental abuse, often at the hands of prison guards who took advantage of their positions of power to engage in sexual activity with inmates.  As a result, with millions currently incarcerated, hundreds of thousands of American citizens have entered the criminal justice system to serve their time, only to become victims themselves.  Often a population that is overlooked, a large portion of the population believes that a prisoner is just a prisoner, and there is almost a tacit consent to sexual misconduct in prisons where people view prison rape as inherent to jail time.  Fortunately, in the interest of preserving human rights, civil liberties, and a constitutional commitment to preventing cruel and unusual punishment, in 2003 the United States passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) to address the rights of a population often overlooked. With this effort on behalf of the government, one question remains:  is it enough?