Politicians aren’t too crazy about this whole 3D printed gun thing.

At a press conference on Sunday, New York senator Charles Schumer said he would support legislation to ban 3D printed guns like the one Defense Distributed announced on Friday (and has been teasing for quite some time).

“A terrorist, someone who’s mentally ill, a spousal abuser, a felon can essentially open a gun factory in their garage,” Schumer said.

Schumer joins fellow New York  politician Steve Israel, who has been one of the most vocal critics of what Defense Distributed is working on.

“When I started talking about the issue of plastic firearms months ago, I was told the idea of a plastic gun is science-fiction. Now that this technology is proven, we need to act now to extend the ban [on] plastic firearms,” he said.

While Israel and other politicians have been on the 3D printed gun case for months now, the situation has gotten a lot more dire now that Defense Distributed has created a completely plastic gun that fires real bullets.

Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson understands the dangers that could come of his controversial project. ”I recognize that this tool might be used to harm people. That’s what it is — it’s a gun,” he told both Forbes and the BBC.

The design files for Wilson’s firearm, dubbed the “Liberator”, are freely available online, which means anyone — yes, including you — can download it. For Wilson, it’s a dream fulfilled, but for gun control advocates, it’s a nightmare realized.

In case you haven’t seen what everyone’s so upset about, take a look at the video below.

DEFCAD is a website for 3D printing of guns. It’s bathed in controversy, but that’s not preventing it from growing.

Since launching in December, DEFCAD has become home to nearly 90 components, including bullet casings, pistol suppressors, and even grenades.

More significant, however, are the traffic numbers. Visitors to DEFCAD have to date downloaded over 250,000 files from the site, creator Defense Distributed announced via Twitter today.

One of the two grenade models hosted by DEFCAD.

DEFCAD gets an average of 3,000 visitors per hour, representing roughly 2TB of traffic since launch, Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson said by phone today.

What all this means should be pretty clear: A whole lot of people are interested in downloading (and perhaps printing) guns.

“Obviously, there’s an interest in what we’re doing. Enthusiasts want these files,” Wilson said.

Interest in 3D printed guns isn’t limited to the United States. Wilson said he often gets emails from foreign gun enthusiasts, telling him how much they appreciate what Defense Distributed is trying to do.

“I think a lot of people understand the idea that we’re a bastion of freedom and that we have something in common with information anarchists like Aaron Swartz and WikiLeaks. The bits must be free,” Wilson said.

For others, the interest in DEFCAD stems from a desire to ensure that 3D printed guns becomes a reality.

“DEFCAD is an essential step in advancing the state of the art [of 3D-printed guns]. I know that scares a lot of people, but it’s true,” Wilson said. “We’ve essentially become the go-to gun file site.”