A United States ban on any guns that can evade detection by metal detectors will expire in December, Reuters reported on Friday.
Government officials have also told police to keep an eye on a possible upsurge of the production of plastic guns made with 3D printers.
Attorney General Eric Holder told Reuters on Friday that if the 25-year-old Undetectable Firearms Act comes to an end, plastic firearms created by rapidly developing, high-tech 3D printing methods might be more easily smuggled into the country.
"This is a very worrisome threat to law enforcement and to people who fly every day," Holder wrote in a statement. "We can't have guns legally in circulation that are not detectable by metal detectors."
The legislation is slated to run out on December 9, the Justice Department informed Reuters. Senate Democrats and members of the House of Representatives proposed to renew the law months ago, but their bids have not received votes.
Holder told Reuters that the legislation's renewal "should enjoy broad, bipartisan support."
3D printer technology has recently been used to create live arms, along with medical instruments, furniture and other devices.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported that most Americans largely use the guns for personal protection, but the 1988 law bars any citizen from creating a firearm that can't be discovered by metal detectors once the grips, stocks and magazines are removed.
