______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ PACKING PLASTIC: HOW A FEDERAL BAN ON 3D PRINTED FIREARMS MAY PROTECT THE PUBLIC WHILE RETAINING CONSTITUTIONALITY William A. Raven* I. Introduction “No online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way the government works” exclaimed Clifford Stoll in a 1995 editorial belittling a newfangled device called the internet.1 Today, more than twenty years removed from Stoll’s ill-fated prophecy where the internet permeates seemingly every aspect of daily life, it is easy to scoff at the idea of the internet’s subjugation, labelling the oracle hailing from that seemingly primitive age of 1995 as ill-informed or even crazy.2 Another * J.D. Candidate, Suffolk University Law School, 2021; B.A. in English, College of the Holy Cross, 2017. William can be reached at
[email protected]. 1 See Martin Snapp, How a Berkeley Eccentric Beat the Russians–and Then Made Useless, Wondrous Objects, CAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (Spring 2016), archived at https://perma.cc/SH75-JGVZ (introducing Clifford Stoll as a former astronomer turned computer systems manager who became disenchanted with the “false religion” of the internet); Clifford Stoll, Why The Web Won’t Be Nirvana, NEWSWEEK (Feb. 26, 1995), archived at https://perma.cc/WC5L-KFT5 (categorizing the internet as a fad that will not result in major changes to education, business, or recreation). 2 See Jamie Condliffe, The Average American Spends 24 Hours a Week Online, MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW (Jan. 23, 2018), archived at https://perma.cc/7UK6- HWLQ (showcasing the vast use of the internet in America); Chris Dunne, Amazon Has 1,029,528 New Sellers This Year (Plus Other Stats), FEEDBACKEXPRESS (Feb.