The End of Gun Control - The Rise of 3-D Printed Guns at Home.

[GreenStormCloud]

With improvements in materials technology, and the lowering of the price of 3-D printers it will become possible to make an entire gun at home. Currently some parts still have to be machined steel.

You can already print (except for the spring) a high capacity magazine at home. The CAD file has been downloaded over 150,000 times.

And you can print a full-auto AR-15 lower. That is the part that the Feds regulate. The steel barrel is unregulated.

[Berserker]

1. This 3D technology

Is in it's infancy but it looks very exciting!

[KittyWampus]

3. I was browsing a website that offers 3d artwork/jewelry. Incredible stuff

[Berserker]

8. I just

Think in 10 years what 3D printing will be capable of doing. WOW

[safeinOhio]

2. are those printers

As cheap as flying cars yet?

[KittyWampus]

4. They are already being done. Not even in same category as flying cars.

[HappyMe]

5. lol!

Everyone will have one next week!

[Whisp]

7. it will be the next Swiffer!

[Posteritatis]

33. I probably am going to pick one up sometime this year

Relatively decent ones are in the same price range as a good desktop computer these days.

[Matariki]

6. They are surprisingly not that expensive actually

https://www.google.com/webhp?source=search_app#q=cost+of+a+3-d+printer&hl=en&tbo=u&source=univ&tbm=shop&sa=X&ei=UPj5UJCEMobgiAKUvoGoBg&ved=0CFEQsxg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41248874,d.cGE&fp=44e413ac730333ef&biw=1250&bih=926

[Berserker]

9. Cheaper

No flying car but how about a motorcycle full size.

[GreenStormCloud]

11. WOW !! N/T

[GreenStormCloud]

10. Your sarcasm is displaying your ignorance. N/T

[safeinOhio]

12. Sorry about my ignorance,

however I remember well reading in Popular Mechanics, back in the 50s, how we'd all be driving, or flying in cars by the 70s.

I see no problem with gun control. Strict regulation of salt peter and sulfur. Registration of 3d printers would not violate the Constitution and would protect patent laws.

Face it, gun regulation is about to change. Even in this forum, bans on the sale of mega mags looks like a done deal along with background checks on all sales. Of course there still remains some resistance from the radical ant-gun safety crowd. I'd guess that is where the real ignorance lies.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Too late on the printers

the technology has already spread to the open source movement. Too late to get the genie back in that bottle

US patent laws are far from progressive

[GreenStormCloud]

14. Is your computer registered too?

Registration of 3-D printers is a non-starter. The price will continue to fall until they are affordable to most households. I well remember my first computer, in 1988. It was a 286, 1Meg memory, 40Meg hard drive, one floppy drive, one color monitor, dot matrix printer, and it cost about $4,000.00 A 3-D printer can now be had for a little over $2K, and that's after 25 years of inflation.

With continuing increase in capability and falling prices of electronics they will soon be a common household item. And you want them all registered? Do you want the police to make weekly inspections to see what was printed?

You seem to be wanting a police state.

[hobbit709]

16. Strict regulation of salt peter and sulfur?

Yeah, if you're making black powder.

to get potassium nitrate all you need is a manure pile or cook down a barrel of piss.. Sulfur isn't that much harder to find. Charcoal is everywhere.

[Posteritatis]

32. "strict regulation of sulfur?" Okay, even by the standards people are getting silly. (nt)

[jpak]

23. Ignorant people think "they" can produce an operational assault rifle with a 3D printer

yup

[NickB79]

25. They did. See my post below, it has a video too. nt

[hobbit709]

15. I doubt very much the plastic would take the pressure of repeated firing.

[ellisonz]

17. I look forward to one day jailing these scumbags.

Also, please take the gun porn back to the Gungeon. Thank You.

[jpak]

18. Yeah - just try shooting one

[warrior1]

19. from what i've seen

they can only shoot twice, probably injuring the shooter him/her self.

[randome]

20. Not everything can be pushed off into the future.

But I think it's safe to say we'll worry about this one when we come to it.

[baldguy]

21. This should be treated the same as child pornography.

Software is software.

[Recursion]

26. Child pornography is illegal because its *production* hurts people

Last edited Sat Jan 19, 2013, 10:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Who is hurt in producing those CAD files?

[baldguy]

27. And the skeevy lowlifes looking to produce printable assault weapons just want to help people?

The only reason to produce these weapons in this manner is to circumvent laws which protect innocent people from harm.

They're on par with child pornographers. They should be treated the same.

[gulliver]

22. People can print kiddie porn on 2-D printers.

The problem the kiddie porn perverts have is that it is both illegal and everyone hates them. People are starting to feel the same way about weird gun perverts who have to have abnormal weapons with abnormal ammunition and in abnormal amounts. The tide has turned. Let someone see you with a kiddie porn picture or an AR-15, and you are likely to be out of a job or marriage fairly soon. Possibly in jail.

[NickB79]

24. Here's a video of the homemade AR-15 in action

For everyone here questioning whether plastic could handle the pressure, or for those saying this is still far out in the future. Note that the AR upper is what contains the pressure of the firing cartridge, not the polymer lower, and the upper (that's the barrel) is not registered as a firearm so no background check is required to purchase one.

It fails after 6 shots, so some work still needs to be done. However, the failure was with the polymer connecting the stock to the buffer, not in the receiver itself, which is impressive for the technology. A little metal reinforcement, or a different stock design (maybe a thumbhole stock with more material around the buffer) and it should work perfectly.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/3-d-printed-gun-fires-6-shots-then-falls-apart-1C7404226

[davidn3600]

28. It just shows you the government doesn't have the power or ability to ban anything

This government has never successfully banned anything.

[MightyMopar]

29. LSD

[dairydog91]

30. Well, I think the government has the power to effectively ban stuff...

...just not much. Some things, like chemical weapons, require expensive and elaborate facilities to produce to them. Such facilities are noticeable, and must operate with government sanction if they are to operate at all. If the item is small, and can be produced without drawing government attention, then you're probably right. If there is demand for the item, basic market forces pretty much guarantee that supply will arise to meet this demand.

3d printers probably have already made magazine bans obsolete, since they are low-stress items which don't require heavy-duty construction. They are, quite literally, a hollow box with a spring in them. Guns, not so much, since parts like barrels or bolts require precision construction out of very heavy-duty materials.

[Posteritatis]

31. panic! ban! panic! ban! panic! ban! panic! ban! (nt)

[theKed]

34. All sorts of things can be made in the home

Explosives, and drugs, for example. I suppose we ought to just not bother controlling those things, either?

Fuck it, right?

Speed and bombs for everyone. And have a gun, while you're at it. Why not, right? I can make it at home, so there's no point in controlling it legislatively.

What a fucking asinine statement.