I don't see why a CAD file would be any different than normal instructions for building firearms. For example, building a 12 gauge shotgun from 1" and 3/4" steel pipe is cheaper, easier, and probably safer/more effective than the plastic gun from the article. It seems to me the 3D printing part of this made the article popular for clickbait and thus it garnered more attention than the traditional approaches to homemade weapons. I guess my point is that making a CAD file illegal when a PDF instruction file is legal isn't very consistent or logical.
You can even legally buy copies of the U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook [1], which includes instructions on creating improvised firearms and other weaponry.
The moral panic about 3d printed weapons is complete nonsense. It's been trivial to make firearms out of hardware store and few practical skills. Back in high school we even made little black powder cannons in the metal shop, raiding fireworks for their powder and fuse and using ball bearings as the shot.
You don't even need steel pipe to make a shotgun, they're low enough pressure that for some types of shot you can even use copper pipe.
One concern is that it's now cheaper, easier, and faster to mass produce weapons which will evade metal detectors. I don't think any of this should be illegal, but the concerns should be considered.
> For example, building a 12 gauge shotgun from 1" and 3/4" steel pipe is cheaper, easier, and probably safer/more effective than the plastic gun from the article.
Guns made from metal stock will probably always be more reliable and cheaper than plastic ones.
The issue is that a disposable plastic handgun is less detectable and will leave no useful evidence behind as it can simply be discarded at the crime scene.
(Of course, that's probably hogwash as a plastic feedstock capable of being a gun is probably going to be equally as traceable.)
There's an entire industry in the Khyber Pass region in Afghanistan and Pakistan dedicated to making firearms with nothing more than simple hand tools and scrap steel [1]. Firearms are trivial to produce. It's producing ammunition that's the hard part. Specifically, producing propellant for your bullets.
The panic about 3d printed guns is baseless. Any panic about terrorists being able to use something to commit heinous acts is generally baseless panic. As we've seen, all they need is a car or a knife and they can go on a rampage. The only reason we don't have more terrorist attacks isn't because of increased gun control or aviation security or restricted access to fertiliser. The only reason we don't have more terrorist attacks is because there simply aren't many people in the western world who hate it enough to commit terrorist attacks.
But how would a technologically savvy first world person do it? These days you can buy a "gunsmithing" lathe for your garage workshop. Check out this video by Shiraz Balolia, CEO of Grizzly Industrial (they sell Chinese made industrial equipment to home shop machinists):
Guess what, if you go in your garage and make a can with even one baffle inside and a hole in each end big enough for a bullet you’ve built a silencer (however shitty). If you don’t have a class III license you just broke the law. Furthermore, I’m pretty sure 3D printing an impractical but illegal silencer is within the reach of most makers.
Technology is going to continue to make breaking all manner of laws easier for stupid people. I’m not sure what, if anything should be done about this (generally speaking).
Actually, you don't even have to do that. The ATF has ruled in the past that it the device is intended to reduce the report, it's a suppressor.
> Furthermore, I’m pretty sure 3D printing an impractical but illegal silencer is within the reach of most makers.
It's within reach of everyone with access to a soda bottle and a roll of duct tape.
---
Gun laws in the US are Byzantine. There are all kinds of things that fall under the same law as suppressors (National Firearms Act of 1934) that make no sense at all. For instance - installing a vertical grip on a pistol, or installing a barrel of less than 16" on a rifle.
Using any of the items on this page on an AR-15 lower receiver that is configured as a rifle _or was sold by a dealer in the past while configured as a rifle_ is a felony and carries the same penalty as possessing an unregistered machinegun: https://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-15/barreled-upper-assembl...
Right now, people are commenting this will enable 3D-printed plastics, but there are mildly expensive (about $1000-$3000) 3D metal printers, and with a bit of metal-working and gun-smithing skill it should be possible to mass manufacture good-enough, metal guns from those files.
So, this lowers a bit the money and skill needed for it, but it's not braindead easy or dirt cheap yet. A decently organized gang will print its own guns in the near future, or paramilitary groups, or insurrectionaries.
In the US it’s so ridiculously easy to obtain a firearm I don’t know why anyone would bother. A home made (3D printed) firearm is just as likely to kill its operator as anyone else.
The receiver for the AR series of rifles does not need to be that strong. It doesn't handle any of the pressure of firing the cartridge; it's really just a mount for the rest of the components. The other components are not considered the actual firearm -- in a legal sense -- so you can just buy those without running into licensing issues (well, maybe local ones). Just add a barrel, a trigger group and other stuff and you're good to go.
Printing something that handles chamber pressures is a lot more challenging.
It could be a good intimidation tool for stick ups. All it takes is one shot so most people will be scared enough to comply as they would when faced with any other gun or weapon.
On the flip side, the barrel doesn't last fore more than one or two shots if you're lucky. You can't reload fast and have a single shot. I can see it being a useful tool for an assassination. But that single shot better count otherwise you're either captured, dead or you lose the target.
Not at all fear mongering by this Gardiner person:
Gardiner fears it will make it easier for terrorists and people who are too dangerous to pass criminal background checks to get their hands on guns.
"I think everybody in America ought to be terrified about that."
The fact that high end 3-D printers are still too expensive for most people doesn't ease her concerns.
"The people who make them will be state actors or well financed criminal cartels who have the ability to execute well organized criminal attacks in the United States and elsewhere," she said.
FYI: It's really annoying to read quotes when you have to move the scrollbar left and right all the time. Please avoid using codeblocks for quotes. Just put a "> " at the start of each quoted paragraph.
[+] [-] dkoubsky|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] toomanybeersies|7 years ago|reply
The moral panic about 3d printed weapons is complete nonsense. It's been trivial to make firearms out of hardware store and few practical skills. Back in high school we even made little black powder cannons in the metal shop, raiding fireworks for their powder and fuse and using ball bearings as the shot.
You don't even need steel pipe to make a shotgun, they're low enough pressure that for some types of shot you can even use copper pipe.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Field-Manual-Survival-Evasion-Recover...
[+] [-] meowface|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bsder|7 years ago|reply
Guns made from metal stock will probably always be more reliable and cheaper than plastic ones.
The issue is that a disposable plastic handgun is less detectable and will leave no useful evidence behind as it can simply be discarded at the crime scene.
(Of course, that's probably hogwash as a plastic feedstock capable of being a gun is probably going to be equally as traceable.)
[+] [-] toomanybeersies|7 years ago|reply
The panic about 3d printed guns is baseless. Any panic about terrorists being able to use something to commit heinous acts is generally baseless panic. As we've seen, all they need is a car or a knife and they can go on a rampage. The only reason we don't have more terrorist attacks isn't because of increased gun control or aviation security or restricted access to fertiliser. The only reason we don't have more terrorist attacks is because there simply aren't many people in the western world who hate it enough to commit terrorist attacks.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khyber_Pass_copy
[+] [-] jhallenworld|7 years ago|reply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FinRqCocwGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRte65F_KRk
Of course firearms were made in pre-industrial times, and it's fascinating to see how: (just how do you chamber a gun accurately by hand?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTy3uQFsirk
But how would a technologically savvy first world person do it? These days you can buy a "gunsmithing" lathe for your garage workshop. Check out this video by Shiraz Balolia, CEO of Grizzly Industrial (they sell Chinese made industrial equipment to home shop machinists):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb-RvRe_9-g
I was going to link to Joe Pieczynski's excellent machining videos on how to make an AR-15, but it looks like there are new YouTube guidelines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZAYMzAMwEI
In any case, the information is widely available (and check out his other videos if you want improve your machining skills).
[+] [-] ryanmarsh|7 years ago|reply
Technology is going to continue to make breaking all manner of laws easier for stupid people. I’m not sure what, if anything should be done about this (generally speaking).
[+] [-] LyndsySimon|7 years ago|reply
Actually, you don't even have to do that. The ATF has ruled in the past that it the device is intended to reduce the report, it's a suppressor.
> Furthermore, I’m pretty sure 3D printing an impractical but illegal silencer is within the reach of most makers.
It's within reach of everyone with access to a soda bottle and a roll of duct tape.
---
Gun laws in the US are Byzantine. There are all kinds of things that fall under the same law as suppressors (National Firearms Act of 1934) that make no sense at all. For instance - installing a vertical grip on a pistol, or installing a barrel of less than 16" on a rifle.
Using any of the items on this page on an AR-15 lower receiver that is configured as a rifle _or was sold by a dealer in the past while configured as a rifle_ is a felony and carries the same penalty as possessing an unregistered machinegun: https://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-15/barreled-upper-assembl...
[+] [-] drasticmeasures|7 years ago|reply
So, this lowers a bit the money and skill needed for it, but it's not braindead easy or dirt cheap yet. A decently organized gang will print its own guns in the near future, or paramilitary groups, or insurrectionaries.
[+] [-] ryanmarsh|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sparky_|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kabdib|7 years ago|reply
Printing something that handles chamber pressures is a lot more challenging.
[+] [-] MisterTea|7 years ago|reply
On the flip side, the barrel doesn't last fore more than one or two shots if you're lucky. You can't reload fast and have a single shot. I can see it being a useful tool for an assassination. But that single shot better count otherwise you're either captured, dead or you lose the target.
[+] [-] fenwick67|7 years ago|reply
However, with printed metal (which exists today) it's very possible to print something more reliable, or mods for an existing gun, etc.
[+] [-] jessaustin|7 years ago|reply
Nice that TFA mentioned Cody Wilson's interesting politics, too. He certainly lives them...
[+] [-] drasticmeasures|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mesozoic|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] beaverbeats|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] sctb|7 years ago|reply
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
[+] [-] cheez|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] majewsky|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] matte_black|7 years ago|reply