1. Short title This Act may be cited as the 3D Printed Gun Safety Act of 2018 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Three dimensional, or 3D printing, involves the programming of a 3D printing machine with a computer file that provides the schematics for the item to be printed. (2) Recent technological developments have allowed for the 3D printing of firearms and firearm parts, including parts made out of plastic, by unlicensed individuals in possession of relatively inexpensive 3D printers. (3) Because 3D printing allows individuals to make their own firearms out of plastic, they may be able to evade detection by metal detectors at security checkpoints, increasing the risk that a firearm will be used to perpetrate violence on an airplane or other area where people congregate. (4) The availability of online schematics for the 3D printing of firearms and firearm parts increases the risk that dangerous people, including felons, domestic abusers, and other people prohibited from possessing firearms under Federal law, will obtain a firearm through 3D printing. (5) On June 7, 2013, an assailant used a gun he had constructed by himself to kill his father, brother, and 3 other people at Santa Monica College in California. The person had failed a background check when he tried to purchase a gun from a licensed gun dealer. The gun he used was made from an unfinished AR–15-style receiver, similar to a receiver that can now be made with a 3D printer. (6) Firearms tracing is a powerful investigative tool. When law enforcement agencies recover firearms that have been used in crimes, the agencies work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to trace these firearms to their first retail purchaser. The agencies can use that information to investigate and solve the crimes. In 2017 alone, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted 408,000 traces. (7) Firearms tracing depends on the ability to identify firearms based on their serial number. Traditionally, when a firearm is