ATF Sends Mixed Message on 3D guns

Gun Watch ^ | 18 November, 2013 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

A dailymail.co.uk article shows the ATF sending two messages:

1.  The 3D printed guns work, so they must be banned!

2.  3D printed guns blow up, so do not make them or attempt to use them!

I do not think either message is effective.  Both just interest people in 3D printed guns.  From dailymail.co.uk:

The world's first printable gun has been deemed a serious safety and security concern after a gun printed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms exploded before it was even fired.

This danger is matched by the problem with fully-functioning 3-D printed guns - they work all too well.

In a way, the error by the dailymail is humorous:  How did the BATFE manage to get the printed liberator pistol to blow up before it was even fired?

It is amusing to see the BATFE taking propaganda cues from Australian police, as they were the first to produce video of 3D printed guns blowing up.

 Firearms have been produced in homes for nearly 500 years.  Perhaps because liberal writers are familiar with computers and printers, but unfamiliar with files and drills, they see 3D printed guns as much more of a danger than ordinary homemade guns.    As David Kopel noted,  a 1986 federal government study found that one-fifth of the guns seized by the police in Washington, D.C., were homemade.

Homemade guns are not new.   The awareness or perhaps willingness, of liberal writers to talk about it is.  And that is a good thing.

©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

Those who push for citizen disarmament are not really interested in reducing crime. They want the citizens to be disarmed for the important purposes of showing them who is in charge, and making their illegal activities safer.

[ClearCase_guy]

Years ago, when the world-wide web started up, my father said, "They will never get rid of pornography now. It will be everywhere, with no way to control it."

3D will get better and better and have an infinite number of uses. One of those uses will be making high-quality guns. Maybe not now, but eventually, anyone will be able to make any gun at home, at any time. The Second Amendment has been restored -- but the government doesn't quite realize it yet.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

AFAIK, it is totally legal to build your own gun/receiver, you just cannot sell them without being a licensed manufacturer.

The same rule would apply to printed guns.

[DakotaGator]

The standard Commonwealth mindset is that its subjects should be unarmed. That is because its aristocracy (the government) has always wanted the common man to be incapable of overthrowing the lords.

This is why we will always see such strange “arms” articles coming out of the UK. This is precisely why we have a Second Amendment.

[DakotaGator]

That is also my understanding.

As 3D printed guns become mainstream, oppressive governments will initially shift their concentration to restricting ammunition while scrambling to control 3D technology and materials.

Sort of sounds familiar.

[Still Thinking]

Not quite true if my understanding is correct. You can still sell your homemade firearm, you just can’t be in the business of making them for sale if you don’t have a license. Seems like you’d be going out on a limb liability wise though. You sell it, someone abuses it and it blows up, they sue you and claim it was defective.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

A 1911A1 CAD file will become a controlled substance and the FBI Hostage Roasting Team will have a license to burn your house to the ground with you in it if the BATFE says they suspect you of possessing one.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

You can still sell your homemade firearm, you just can’t be in the business of making them for sale if you don’t have a license.

It's a quagmire! :)

[DakotaGator]

Indeed!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The ingenuity of Americans on display.

Same thing with Obamacare. You're going to see underground markets or even people reading medical books and doing some procedures themselves.

We hate being told what to do and we hate busybodies.

[marktwain]

I believe the rule is that you have to possess it for a year before you sell it, in order to show that it was for personal use instead of as a business.

[SkyDancer]

Well this will work to get you a real gun.

Obviously these evil devices need to totally banned or licenced, registered and locked in a steel safe when not in use. Also, anyone caught with an unauthorised stapler should be given a 10 year jail sentence.

[bunkerhill7]

not far away at all:

The next step is to have someone invent a ROBOT that will operate your 3d printer.

The govt will ban all robots, including vacuum cleaning robots and robot bartenders

But a monkey can be trained to operate a 3d printer.

All monkeys will be banned.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

http://www.cncguns.com//downloads.html

[E. Pluribus Unum]

http://grabcad.com/library/1911a1-cnc-ready-cad-model

[factoryrat]

That’s good and all, with printing up a throwaway gun, but there is MUCH more out there that is way more effective for its intended purpose. A 3d printed gun is a weapon of last resort, and if it comes down to having to use one, I think the legality of it will be the least of your worries.

The idea is to always keep them guessing, doubting their capabilities, and underestimating their adversaries.

[Salgak]

And will be freely available on The Pirate Bay and other torrent sites, not to mention the Darknet over the TOR network.

Any “Firefly” fan could tell you: you can’t stop the signal. . .

[null and void]

Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.

[FreedomPoster]

As I’ve said before on 3D/2A threads, the 3D printer will be the Weapon Shops of Isher made real.

A recommended read for 2A fans.

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

[marktwain]

My FFL license was for Isher Enterprises.