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Letter: Don’t make it easy for at-risk students to print their own guns

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) TJ Ferrill, head of creative spaces, works at a 3D printing station in the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library in Salt Lake City on Friday Aug. 3, 2018.

I am a high school teacher. Our school, like all secondary schools in Utah, is experiencing the effects of an increasing prevalence of student mental health issues.

Our state cannot accept an easy way for students to 3D print a gun.

A fear expressed by many teachers at our school is that one of our students who are struggling mentally or emotionally may consider gun violence against themselves or others in our building. Online blueprints for 3D printed guns make this devastating scenario more likely.

Sen. Mike Lee’s decision to block a bill to ban publication of such blueprints is unfortunate. It needlessly decreases safety and increases fear.

James D. Lloyd, Eagle Mountain