"3D printing" of guns project gaining support...and raising gov't eyebrows

[Murray N Rothbard]

Have to admit...I was skeptical when I heard about this. But technology is advancing exponentially. The only thing in its way is the State.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/12...printers-not-as-farfetched-idea-as-it-sounds/

Downloading a gun's design plans to your computer, building it on a three-dimensional printer and firing it minutes later. No background checks, no questions asked.

Sound far-fetched? It's not. And that is disquieting for gun control advocates.

Rep. Steven Israel, D-NY, said the prospect of such guns becoming reality is reason enough for the renewal of the Undetectable Firearms Act, which makes illegal the building of guns that can't be detected by X-ray or metallic scanners. That law expires at the end of 2013.

At least one group, called Defense Distributed, is claiming to have created downloadable weapon parts that can be built using the increasingly popular new-generation of printer that utilizes plastics and other materials to create 3D objects with moving parts. University of Texas law student Cody Wilson, the 24-year-old "Wiki Weapons" project leader, says the group last month test fired a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle -- one of the weapon types used in the Connecticut elementary school massacre -- which was built with some key parts created on a 3D printer. The gun was fired six times before it broke.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/12...s-farfetched-idea-as-it-sounds/#ixzz2GSlb6ZfY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ6Q3BfbVBU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNXNopodS6E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFhIxey5AXM

 

[Machiavelli]

3D printing at its full potential will render so many laws and regulations obsolete.

 

[belian78]

What is all this I'm hearing about 3D printing? I have to admit, I'm a severe layman when it comes to things like this. I know you can't 'print' a gun right out of a printer, so is this part of like, a high-tech lathe sorta thing?

 

[Philosophy_of_Politics]

What is all this I'm hearing about 3D printing? I have to admit, I'm a severe layman when it comes to things like this. I know you can't 'print' a gun right out of a printer, so is this part of like, a high-tech lathe sorta thing?

It's essentially a printing press that works in a series of layers. Until a fully "sculpted" model is complete.

 

[Cleaner44]

I love that technology is destroying the illusion of control by central planners!

 

[AGRP]

The article reads like it was published by msnbc.

 

[belian78]

It's essentially a printing press that works in a series of layers. Until a fully "sculpted" model is complete.

That I can make sense of, thanks. LOL

 

[kahless]

You can see what is coming. 1 year jail time for having an unregistered 3d printing device. It will be illegal to possess or import this technology without a government license, background check and an expensive surety bond in NY.

 

[Bohner]

Come talk to me when they can print an upper receiver that can come anywhere close to withstanding the strength and heat requirements of an actual gun.

 

[pdavis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFhIxey5AXM

http://defensedistributed.com/

 

[Anti Federalist]

You can see what is coming. 1 year jail time for having an unregistered 3d printing device. It will be illegal to possess or import this technology without a government license, background check and an expensive surety bond in NY.

10 year.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Come talk to me when they can print an upper receiver that can come anywhere close to withstanding the strength and heat requirements of an actual gun.

Or a rifled barrel or springs or heat treated shims and fasteners.

Not that big of a deal though really, a good CNC machine can do all that.

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

Or a rifled barrel or springs or heat treated shims and fasteners.

Not that big of a deal though really, a good CNC machine can do all that.

Yeah, it's not like these things are currently built on a single machine at one time. There may come a time when that is possible, but someone else will be building ass kicking robots on several machines. The idea that one machine could or should do everything, kinda goes against basic economic concepts.

 

[VIDEODROME]

maybe do a crossbow?

 

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

you won't see me any time soon firing a plastic pistol. I want to live lol

 

[ChristianAnarchist]

Last spring we bought a Makerbot Replicator which I got mainly to stimulate our son's creativity. Of course when I saw the plastic lower receiver I had to try it. Mine I tried 3 times with finally a marginal success. My last part did split between layers and I find this to be a problem with larger builds on this machine using ABS. I understand that PLA will not warp and de-laminate as bad so I will be getting some of that soon.

As a machinist, I was thinking that it could be possible to adapt this technology for a wire-feed welder head instead of plastic extruder type head. In this way, crude stainless or steel parts could be built with some minor finish work to complete the parts. I'm sure this or something even better is just around the corner...

 

[Pericles]

Come talk to me when they can print an upper receiver that can come anywhere close to withstanding the strength and heat requirements of an actual gun.

That will be the point at which gun laws die. More so in countries that have total bans.