Posted on 11/23/2013 11:25:22 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Today, the Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously to ban the manufacturing of guns by 3-D printers, making Philly the first city to do so. Which is interesting, because the author of the bill, Kenyatta Johnson, isn’t aware of of any local gun-printing 3-D printers. ”It’s all pre-emptive,” says Johnson’s director of legislation Steve Cobb. “It’s just based upon internet stuff out there.” We would hereby like to claim credit for this legislation by pointing to Nick Vadala’s comprehensive May 10th piece on guns made by 3-D printers. It reads, in part:
People have been manufacturing their own guns for hundreds of years, and we’re not exactly at the point where a 3-D printed gun can replace a standard zip gun as a down-and-dirty, DIY instrument of crime. Think of it like this: Your average 3-D printer costs anywhere from $1,500 to $8,000 and up, plus the cost of printing materials. Your average handgun could go for as little as $300 or less, even on the black market. A zip gun is either free or nearly so, and anyone with any mechanical ability can make one. Bombs, like the ones used recently in Boston, are frequently entirely homemade and constructed of legal materials. So, really, a 3-D printed piece isn’t exactly a better option to do wrong right now.
OK, maybe Johnson’s office didn’t base their legislation on Nick’s post, considering his entire point was that 3-D gun regulation was just a bunch of political grandstanding. But as Nick also points out, we’re a tech-savvy city, and it’s not inconceivable that some bored, semi-employed entrepreneur in Kensington that doesn’t follow City Council hearings tries to make one of these himself.
How are they going to enforce this?
Problem solved.
Someone should use a regular old 2-D printer to print them out a copy of the bill of rights.
Just because The Law says No, wont always make it so. The technology is out there, and will become more inexpensive over time. I don’t know how one can limit this ability. Perhaps one can restrict the kind of plastic or molten material needed for this to work. The alloys would need to also be restricted. It will be easier to keep Google Glass out of certain areas vs this potential gun machine.
I don’t see how they have any power to do that.
So. It’s against the law to print guns in the City of Brotherly Love. Jeez, I’ll sleep better tonight.
Hang on... is it against the law for someone to make a gun?
I was wondering how quickly someone would get it.
Anyone with $10 and access to a hardware store can make a much more durable, safer and powerful gun and in far less time than someone with an expensive 3D printer.
I guessed you missed the post about someone printing up a 1911 made from Inconel and aluminum.
I just read that gun has successfully been fired with 600 being run through it.
Which is about 100 more than some of the original Colt Combat Commanders could do without their frame cracking.
Philly Becomes First City to Ban the Philadelphia City Council
Didn’t that start a major urban renewal of urban Philadelphia?
I’m glad they nipped that in the bud. The printer that made the successful gun cost $600k. Wouldn’t want that technology getting into the wrong hands.
Completely illegal. Anyone can build their own contraptions at home.
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