Posted on 10/09/2012 7:07:02 AM PDT by marktwain
It has long been possible to make a gun at home. But what happens when it no longer takes knowledge and skill to build one?
It won't be long before a felon, unable to buy a gun legally, can print one at home. Teenagers could make them in their bedroom while their parents think they are "playing on their computer." I'm talking about a fully functional gun, where the schematic is downloaded free from the Internet and built on a 3-D printer, all with the click of a button.
Hit print, walk away, and a few hours later, you have a firearm. There are no background checks. No age limits. No serial numbers etched on the barrel or sales receipts to track the gun.
It might sound like science fiction, but 3-D printers are quickly becoming a consumer product. These printers, which now cost about $1,000, can print objects by spraying thin layers of plastic, metal or ceramics that are built up into shapes. Long used by industrial companies to make prototypes and parts, 3-D printers are becoming faster and less expensive almost weekly. One manufacturer, MakerBot, has set up a retail store in Manhattan. Chinese companies have started making them, and prices are falling to about $500.
Hobbyists have printed fairly rudimentary objects: prosthetics, iPhone cases, cat statues and missing luggage clasps.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
The author of this article has obviously never had first hand experience using a 3D printer and certainly has no idea how much one costs.
This is a piece of equipment that is costly for a small business; it would be prohibitive for a teenager in his bedroom.
When a part is printed, it is porous. It needs to have metal wicked into it. As for making a gun, that’s a pipedream for an idiot. First off, you could never make the barrel or chamber this way it would blow up. You could make other parts (trigger components, and some parts, but nothing that would experience the stresses needed to launch a bullet.
I agree with the "forged steel" part, but not the "utter nonsense" part.
If you are looking for a long-lasting, family heirloom firearm, then, by all means, buy Glock, S&W, Colt, etc.
If all you want to do is, well, let's just call it "remove a threat," then print a gun.
For proof of the concept, do a search on "45 caliber liberator."
There will always be demand for some improvement beyond what production equipment can produce with ease. “Well, now since THAT is available cheap, I want to spend my extra money on that plus something even more luxurious I’ve decided I can’t live without.”
Usable computer tablets are being produced for $40. We still spend upwards of $1000 on them for a reason.
I have only rudimentary machinist skills. They are not difficult to develop. I have no doubt that I can make functional guns with a little effort.
I have made multishot guns from plumbing supplies (legally) and they functioned just fine. The highest technology that I used was an electric hand drill. You do not need rifling or precision for functionality. Crimes are almost always committed at distances measured in feet, not tens of yards.
Yes, if you want to duplicate a .50 cal machine gun, an experienced machinist would be advisable. To make functional guns suitable for crime, they are not necessary.
Not surprisingly, this NY Times article claims that 40% of guns are now sold through the “gun show loophole.”
Funny the MSM doesn’t have a list of all these weapons as they are used day after day in crimes!
Maybe it slipped their collective mind.
Yeah, sure.
Whenever “one more rule” will solve a problem that is just due to the fallen nature of human beings, you’re drifting into utopianism.
Really, do we need anything more than “thou shall not murder”? No one tried to implement Rock Control after the first murder was committed, because they had enough sense to understand that it’s the criminal, not the object, that is the problem.
A 3D printer would be really cool for people who like miniatures and tabletop wargames. With different colored toners you might not even have to paint them. I could see a hobby shop buying one and charging to print a favorite model.
Excellent!
I'm printing your statement as a poster.
My understanding is that the capacity of 3D printing is increasing rapidly, and the price is coming down.
Still, it seems a fairly simple process to embed easily made high stress metal components in the printing process. It would not take much to embed a 3 inch steel tube and a bolt into the printing process. Add a nail shaped with a file and a couple of standard springs, and your concerns are overcome for a basic .22 pistol.
While most of the Liberator was stamped material, the "tube" or barrel/firing chamber was forged out of seamless pipe.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8201899/liberator-pistol-blueprints
“No one tried to implement Rock Control after the first murder was committed”
Progressives’ weren’t on the scene yet or they would have tried Rock control. And government consisted of the tribe who could kick the other tribe’s ass.
“A surprisingly factual article from the NYT. All the information about homemade guns .. .. “
Is a symptom of the delusional mindset of the NYT.
While some part of a weapon can be made of plastic, the barrel, chamber, etc, are metal, and, for any sort of remotely durable weapon have to be made of metal.
These printers deal in plastics and like materials.
Not metals. At least not yet.
Actually, all they would need to build is the receiver/frame, and many of those are already made of plastic. Every other part, steel barrels, trigger group, etc, can be ordered and delivered through the mail right to your door, no questions asked. The receiver/frame is the component with the serial number and is the component the govt monitors.
“polypragmatons”
Thanks for the new word!
A fully-functional paper gun? Are they really that stupid?
Very good..LMAO.
For the price of the printer, materials, and parts you would need to order to make a functional weapon, you could buy several weapons that are made of better material and have a warranty.
I was thinking of a single shot zip gun.
Any newsie that thinks a 3D “printed” gun would actually function has been watching too many sci-fi movies.
And at the cost of one of those things, you could buy several guns on the down low even at inflated prices.
Making a mountain out of a mole hill again.
Bunch of numb nuts with hothing better to write about.
Where’s the “gun pron?”
TTIUWP
The real headline here is being able to rapid prototype using a printer!!!!!!!
Go Go gadget MAKERBOT!
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