Althouse: "This Is The World's First Entirely 3D-Printed Gun."

May 3, 2013

"This Is The World's First Entirely 3D-Printed Gun."

"Early next week, [Cody] Wilson, a 25-year University of Texas law student and founder of the non-profit group Defense Distributed, plans to release the 3D-printable CAD files for a gun he calls 'the Liberator'...."

25 comments:

Expat(ish) said...: Funny, I've been waiting for a knockoff of the "liberator" we dropped in France.

By the way, still purchasable on GunBroker if you have a CCR license, via mail.

-XC; 5/3/13, 4:41 PM
edutcher said...: Can you set it on stun?; 5/3/13, 4:42 PM
Patrick said...: “Security checkpoints, background checks, and gun regulations will do little good if criminals can print plastic firearms at home and bring those firearms through metal detectors with no one the wiser,” his statement reads. “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.”

More laws. Yeah, that will work. Criminals never break 'em.; 5/3/13, 4:48 PM
Emil Blatz said...: If the security systems miss the plastic weapon, they'll no doubt pick up on the ammunition. I suspect that the most dangerous thing about these weapons is firing it, or standing next to someone who is firing it. I'll stick with my .357.; 5/3/13, 4:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Still waiting to see you post the employment figures for April (and revised figures for February and March)...; 5/3/13, 5:06 PM
Sigivald said...: The other point to the thing Patrick quoted from Rep. Israel is that - as the parent article says - it's already illegal to make a gun that "can't be detected by a metal detector" and has been since 1986.

"Extending" that ban seems ... pointless. How much more double-secret illegal can it be made?

(Frankly, he should be more concerned with the laxness of security checkpoints in general, and how much they're pure security theater.

Because he cannot stop criminals from making a plastic gun, even if he could somehow ban 3d printing.

Which he can't.)

It has been amusing to watch people freak out about "zomg you can make a gun at home", without realizing that anyone with some handiness and common tools could make a gun at home already.

And that if there was a serious black market set up because of Big Gun Bans, well... its' a lot easier to make a sub-machinegun than a revolver, if you're a criminal entity with machine tools.; 5/3/13, 5:16 PM
KCFleming said...: I hope it holds together better than our entirely 3D printed Constitution.; 5/3/13, 5:16 PM
kcom said...: "we need to act now to extend the ban [on] plastic firearms."

More laws. Yeah, that will work. Criminals never break 'em

Next, they're going to act to extend the ban on murder. So that will be one more problem solved.; 5/3/13, 5:17 PM
William said...: The gun only works on Avatars, but that's enough to get their blue asses off your lawn.; 5/3/13, 5:37 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: And that if there was a serious black market set up because of Big Gun Bans, well... its' a lot easier to make a sub-machinegun than a revolver, if you're a criminal entity with machine tools.

I think that this is what must be remembered is that the train has already left the station, in terms of gun control. There is really no feasible way to prevent the manufacture of guns, or at least gun parts, with 3D printing. I think that his printing of a working AR-15 lower receiver was maybe even more significant, since there are parts that probably should be made from metal (i.e. the barrel), and the AR-15 lower receiver is the part that has the serial number on it. Of course, it has been possible to complete 70% (or is it 80%) complete metal receivers for awhile now, with the proper routing tools and available jigs. The basic problem with that weapon system is that it is so modular - once you have the receiver, you just have to mail order the desired parts - barrel from here, upper receiver from there, dreaded pistol grip from a third location, butt from another, etc. Indeed, that is one of the big problems with the "assault weapon" ban proposed by DiFi and implemented in several states - that you can buy a perfectly legal version, then easily convert it to an offending version in the privacy of your home in short order with mail order parts. (This, BTW, does not apply, at least at present, to converting them to fully automatic fire, as there are intentional differences between the designs of the AR-15 semiautomatic and M16/M4 select fire lower receivers).

President Obama was just apologizing in Mexico that American weapons were fueling their drug wars. Of course, that is ridiculous, since the fully automatic weapons being utilized are being smuggled in from all over the world, except, of course, from the U.S. (where they have been heavily regulated since 1934). Nevertheless, he seems to be doubling down on his attempts to implement gun control in this country, despite his recent Senate loss. It cannot work, even if passed, thanks to this 3D printing technology, if for no other reason. Better if they would address the root causes of the inner-city gang violence, instead of futilely attempting to disarm the rest of America.; 5/3/13, 6:22 PM
Revenant said...: Cool!; 5/3/13, 6:26 PM
Big Mike said...: Better if they would address the root causes of the inner-city gang violence, instead of futilely attempting to disarm the rest of America.

But addressing the root causes of inner-city gang violence is hard. Way harder than trying to defeat the evil NRA.; 5/3/13, 6:28 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: An all plastic gun? Another name for that is "grenade". The absolute ignorance of liberals is truly stunning. Remember the "all plastic" gun of the '90's that "couldn't be detected by airport metal detectors" and would become a favorite of terrorists? Never happened because it wasn't even close to all plastic. It did however become a favorite of law enforcement, Gabby Giffords, and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of other Americans.; 5/3/13, 6:29 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/3/13, 6:31 PM
rhhardin said...: Car radio antennas have become hard to get, so zip guns are disappearing.; 5/3/13, 6:59 PM
machine said...: Perfect for the children!; 5/3/13, 7:15 PM
Synova said...: And machine says "what?"

Don't got an argument in there anywhere? Can't explain how to put a genie back in a bottle "for the children"? Got a plan to walk-back technology?

Make an illegal gun more magically illegal?

Or is it simply enough to have the right, worthless, powerless, opinions because in the end it's all about you?; 5/3/13, 9:01 PM
CWJ said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/3/13, 9:42 PM
Richard Dolan said...: "We need to act now ...."

Most of the software for printing a gun has already been published on the web. But the more striking fact is that a small group, led by a law student, has completed the entire project of making a printable gun in less than a year. They have shown what should have been obvious -- it is easy to get around security systems. In a rational world, this development would result in a rethinking of the current approach to security issues. But we live in a bureaucratic world, the first and most important law of which is to protect and expand the bureaucracy. Rep. Israel may not understand the effect that his own proposal would have, but that's what it would amount to.; 5/3/13, 10:45 PM
Æthelflæd said...: The most awesome thing about this is that it is a U of Texas law student behind it. And you all thought lawyers were useless.; 5/3/13, 11:47 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Expat(ish),

You meant "C&R" License, but a CCR license sounds pretty good too. :-); 5/4/13, 12:54 AM
SCOTTtheBADGER said...: In WWII, the British STEN submachine gun was designed so any roadside garage with a good lathe could make one.

As to the plastic gun, I would be very leery of a plastic barrel.; 5/4/13, 2:45 AM
stlcdr said...: An all plastic-gun is a limited use device. Plastics are not a good material for the barrel.

I think the whole point here is not that 'it's possible to make a plastic gun', but,in today's prohibition era, to 'ban something because it can be [mis]used by a criminal (sic)'. It's much easier to - using the governments words - regulate a product before it gets out the starting gate, rather than control something in widespread use.

The 3D printing technology is in its infancy: expensive, cumbersome, and really cannot be done at home. But that can change. With regulation, though, as with the firearm, the government can 'regulate' some crucial component that, without said component, will make the technology almost unusable.

But why would this potentially happen today? Indeed, we have milling machines which can be made at home, and using a chunk of aluminum, a lot of firearm receivers/frames (the part which is regulated) can be personally manufactured. But these machines are not regulated.

Perhaps the ability to make ones own plastic weapon will simply remain too cumbersome for the average (aka. lazy and stupid) proletarian.; 5/4/13, 4:53 AM
Rusty said...: But why would this potentially happen today? Indeed, we have milling machines which can be made at home, and using a chunk of aluminum, a lot of firearm receivers/frames (the part which is regulated) can be personally manufactured. But these machines are not regulated.

Ixnay on the omehay hopsay.; 5/4/13, 8:38 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: A plastic barrel isn't a limited use thing, it's a batshit-crazy-to-try-and-use-thing. Even the lowly .22 generates very powerful pressures that will rupture that little block of plastic in a jiffy. I'm guessing the plastic is just to model an actual aluminum/plastic frame with a steel chamber/barrel. Hilarious how the politician is either too stupid to understand this or is just the usual slimy liberal opportunist taking advantage of the crushing stupidity of his liberal constituents.; 5/4/13, 12:22 PM