Topic: 3D Printed guns....future problem?

[Steve]

Sure be a scary thought if this comes to fruition. I'm against anything like this because it poses a huge threat to the firearms industry if it was ever taken to a precision level, which is only a matter of time with determined minds. Secondly it will throw gasoline on the anti-gun front which is never a good thing.

http://news.yahoo.com/you-don-t-bring-a-3d-printer-to-a-gun-fight----yet.html

Why would a 3D-printed gun be appealing? For one, it could potentially be cheap. You can buy a preassembled 3D printer for about $500. A spool of ABS plastic to print with goes for $50. Depending on where you shop, you can buy .38 Special ammunition for 30 cents a round. The plans will undoubted be distributed free like so many MP3s.

In fact, plans for working gun parts already exist. They can be found on a site called Thingiverse and on similar sites, alongside thousands of free plans for toys, jewelry, tools, and design equipment.

Thingiverse is a creation of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based MakerBot and its CEO, Bre Pettis. Pettis and his company have become the de facto faces of 3D printing thanks to regular appearances in mainstream and tech media talking about how 3D printers democratize manufacturing. Pettis usually demonstrates this idea with brightly colored remote-control cars, robots, and other toys made with MakerBot printers. MakerBot and Pettis don't really talk about files related to gun parts.

That doesn't mean the issue has gone unnoticed, with the intersection of 3D printing and firearms having made the news a few times this year. In June, Michael "HaveBlue" Guslick reported on his blog about successfully test-firing a homemade gun whose key component, the lower receiver, he made from ABS plastic on a '90s-era Stratasys FDM 1600 3D printer.

[ober]

This is only the beginning.  3D printers are becoming cheaper, easier to use, and available to the average joe.  If there is a plan, you can print it yourself.  People can even buy small 3D printers and print a bigger one!  I think the options (and therefore the scary shit) are endless with these things.

[Steve]

Economically it's a disaster for everyone except the printing business. Some advances in technology are not good.

[Betazep]

One thing I don't understand is how an all plastic gun would work.  Wouldn't you need some metal parts?

[ober]

So you'll pirate media, but not material objects. Great set of ethics you got there

... who said anything about pirating here?

One thing I don't understand is how an all plastic gun would work.  Wouldn't you need some metal parts?

I'm not entirely sure myself.  I assume you would need some parts that couldn't be printed, but I'm not sure.

[Steve]

One thing I don't understand is how an all plastic gun would work.  Wouldn't you need some metal parts?

Nothing you cannot get cheap and easy. The most likely candidate for this would be Glock replicas (and the gun models that copy Glock currently) because the entire frame is already polymer. The internal parts like the striker are cheap and really easy to get. The slides would still need to be metal, or possibly a strong plastic with a small cartridge like a .22.

Out of opportunity comes ingenuity so sit back and watch the problem get resolved.

[Steve]

RoD pirates media, but seems to worry about the "economic"
consequence of this.

Please find the last time I pirated something. I quit that a long time ago and it has been made pretty clear. The only thing I download "illegally" is TV shows, but that is hardly an issue.

[Mike]

Please find the last time I pirated something. I quit that a long time ago and it has been made pretty clear. The only thing I download "illegally" is TV shows, but that is hardly an issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contradiction

[Rob]

Sure be a scary thought if this comes to fruition. I'm against anything like this because it poses a huge threat to the firearms industry if it was ever taken to a precision level, which is only a matter of time with determined minds. Secondly it will throw gasoline on the anti-gun front which is never a good thing.

http://news.yahoo.com/you-don-t-bring-a-3d-printer-to-a-gun-fight----yet.html

Why would a 3D-printed gun be appealing? For one, it could potentially be cheap. You can buy a preassembled 3D printer for about $500. A spool of ABS plastic to print with goes for $50. Depending on where you shop, you can buy .38 Special ammunition for 30 cents a round. The plans will undoubted be distributed free like so many MP3s.

In fact, plans for working gun parts already exist. They can be found on a site called Thingiverse and on similar sites, alongside thousands of free plans for toys, jewelry, tools, and design equipment.

Thingiverse is a creation of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based MakerBot and its CEO, Bre Pettis. Pettis and his company have become the de facto faces of 3D printing thanks to regular appearances in mainstream and tech media talking about how 3D printers democratize manufacturing. Pettis usually demonstrates this idea with brightly colored remote-control cars, robots, and other toys made with MakerBot printers. MakerBot and Pettis don't really talk about files related to gun parts.

That doesn't mean the issue has gone unnoticed, with the intersection of 3D printing and firearms having made the news a few times this year. In June, Michael "HaveBlue" Guslick reported on his blog about successfully test-firing a homemade gun whose key component, the lower receiver, he made from ABS plastic on a '90s-era Stratasys FDM 1600 3D printer.

But surely every American has the right to bear arms? I'm genuinely confused.

[Steve]

They do. My issue is that this could have a negative impact on the industry.

[Rob]

That's like saying home brewing will bring Budweiser to their knees.


I'm not sure what point you're making here. Do you want 3D printers banned?

3D printers don't make guns, people do.

[KnuckleBuckett]

That's like saying home brewing will bring Budweiser to their knees.


I'm not sure what point you're making here. Do you want 3D printers banned?

3D printers don't make guns, people do.

Nah.. he just wants a million fragmented and useless laws that nobody will enforce until too late.

[Mike]

One thing I don't understand is how an all plastic gun would work.  Wouldn't you need some metal parts?

If MythBusters can make a functional cannon out of duct tape I wouldn't be surprised to see a functional hand gun made out of plastics.

[Steve]

Ill explain my position later im at soccer on my phone

[Mike]

Did you take the minivan after waiting an hour to pick the kid up?  And did you remember the freshly baked brownies?