Click, print, fire: 3D printing and the Arms Trade Treaty

Abstract

On 3 June 2013, countries united to sign the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in an effort to combat illegal arms transfers and regulate legal arms transfers between countries. The ATT provides an unprecedented regulatory framework that encompasses previously unregulated military materiel such as combat aircraft and battle tanks. However, exactly one month earlier, a new threat emerged when shots were fired from the world’s first entirely 3D-printed plastic polymer firearm—the Liberator. On 12 May, two Daily Mail journalists printed a copy of the Liberator and smuggled it past airport-style security. Despite this threat, 3D-printed firearms are not mentioned in either the treaty negotiations or the final treaty text. This article analyses whether the legal architecture provided by the ATT can address the three main challenges posed by 3D printing: firearms, components and digital design files. This article reviews the ATT through the lens of international disarmament law and international institutional law, analysing commentary from superior international courts and eminent legal scholars. Ultimately, this article posits that while the ATT adequately addresses 3D-printed firearms, it creates a legal void in the space of 3D-printed components and digital design files, meaning that weapons can still be transferred by sending them component by component or by sharing the original design file online. A solution is possible within the current parameters of international law, but this will depend on states’ willingness to give proactive legal powers to the ATT’s primary organ—the Conference of States Parties.