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Houston Gun Turn in Nets 800, Includes Box Full of 3D Printed Pistols
AmmoLand ^ | August 2, 2022 | Dean Weingarten

Posted on 08/05/2022 5:48:17 AM PDT by marktwain

On July 30, 2022, Houston, Texas, organized a gun “buyback” event. It was the first such event held in Houston.  “Buyback” is an Orwellian term because the guns were never owned by the government, so it cannot “buy” them “back.” More appropriately, it was a gun turn-in event.

According to people on Twitter, at least sixty-two 3D-printed pistols were turned in at $150 each. That would be a total of $9,300 for the box of mostly plastic pistols.  The 3D-printed pistols are “ghost guns” because they do not have a government-approved serial number on them.

Mayor Turner confirmed that “ghost guns” were taken in at the event. From abc13.com:

“I’ve heard it all. ‘Oh it’s just going to be junk guns, this and that.’ You
don’t have a solution to problems, please just sit down and let us step
up, the people who are going to do the work,” Finner said.

“We’ve taken in ghost guns. We’ve taken in rifles. Automatics have been taken in, and so the program is working,” Turner said.

The rules, as published by the Houston government, were fairly clear. The turn-in was “no questions asked”. There was no limit on how many guns could be turned in. There were no limits on how much one person could receive. From houstontx.gov:

The prices offered at the event were fairly low:

Filament for making simple 3D printed pistols is much less. Some estimated less than $5 worth of materials were used for the 3D printed pistols turned in.

Materials: $300. Labor: unknown. Return: $9,300. Message sent: priceless


(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 3d; banglist; chat; houston; localnews; texas; turnin; tx
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To: rigelkentaurus
From what I understand about 3-D printers, the pistols would have the "form" of a gun (just a plastic exterior, like a toy) but not the function.

The government is really stupid to buy such things. But nothing ever stops them from foolishly spending taxpayer's money.

21 posted on 08/05/2022 7:12:27 AM PDT by Jess Kitting
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To: marktwain

> Some estimated less than $5 worth of materials were used for the 3D printed pistols turned in.

Sounds like an outstanding opportunity for some arbitrage. Best to find out first if there aren’t some side laws about “manufacturing” firearms so that legal fees don’t eat up the profits.


22 posted on 08/05/2022 7:52:09 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: Jess Kitting
From what I understand about 3-D printers, the pistols would have the "form" of a gun (just a plastic exterior, like a toy) but not the function.

The pistols were very simple single shot designs. They have been shown to be able to fire a few shots before they become non-functional.

23 posted on 08/05/2022 8:03:47 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

Wow. The technology has improved quite a bit.


24 posted on 08/05/2022 8:34:08 AM PDT by Jess Kitting
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To: SecondAmendment

Yep, all of the above issues but know how to avoid them now. I am designing and building a 3d printer with multi color capabily now, so add 2 destroyed main boards to that list.

To others, there are several catagories of ghost guns. The best are ar15 and glock style where you simply print the frame and add the parts. M&P Shield is the best at this. Print frame, clean up and fit parts. Print takes a day and the rest takes about 2 hours, full functioning ghost gun. The other style is full plastic, a couple of shots and done. Then there is the fgc9. All plastic but barrel hammer and some bits. All metal parts can be bought at hardware store and there are full directions on making the barrel using edm.


25 posted on 08/05/2022 8:35:51 AM PDT by DevonD
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To: mad_as_he$$

Who knew these miscreants could master a 3-d printer...


26 posted on 08/05/2022 9:08:20 AM PDT by scottiemom (As a retired Texas public school teacher, I highly recommend private school. Written in 2015.)
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To: Jess Kitting
From what I understand about 3-D printers, the pistols would have the "form" of a gun (just a plastic exterior, like a toy) but not the function.

Some just look like guns. Some are fully functional. The idea is like the 'Liberator' guns that were dropped into Europe during WWII. You use the Liberator to get a real gun.

27 posted on 08/05/2022 9:12:03 AM PDT by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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To: marktwain

I dutifully turned in a handgun I found as a young kid. It netted me $50.cash, which I turned around and used to buy a Ruger MkII from a buddy.
The pistol I turned in was a Hopkins & Allen .32, that I found when digging a hole in my folk’s back yard. Totally rusted, and inoperable, but cleaned up good enough to convince the “buyback experts”.


28 posted on 08/05/2022 9:40:38 AM PDT by Fireone (When they pry them from my cold, dead, unvaccinated hands.)
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To: mad_as_he$$

I know of people printing all sorts of modern stuff that will hold up (glock, Hk, AR/AK etc clones) on $200 Creality Ender printers

Here’s a goo intro into this tech

https://twitter.com/printingguns


29 posted on 08/05/2022 10:02:26 AM PDT by Manuel OKelley
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To: Fireone
Totally rusted, and inoperable, but cleaned up good enough to convince the “buyback experts”.

Great story.

30 posted on 08/05/2022 10:13:37 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

Houston Democrats Hosted a Gun Buyback Event and One Clever Man Took Full Advantage

08/02/2022 11:42:45 AM PDT · by rktman · 72 replies
townhall.com ^ | 8/2/2022 1215 hrs edt | Spencer Brown

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4082706/posts


31 posted on 08/05/2022 10:44:19 AM PDT by Paal Gulli
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To: SecondAmendment; DevonD
Ha ha ha !
Sounds like you have had your share of "spaghetti prints", clogged nozzles, uneven beds, and broken filaments as well.

We all go through that. Walk away from a print in progress, come back a couple hours later to see a mass of filament spaghetti. Warping of the item because of uneven heat on the platform bed. Nozzles bumping into half-printed structures and knocking them over. Worst is clogged nozzles. Even after printing is done, having the item split and break and trying it all over in a different orientation.

These 3D guns are not safe! If you build one, do it with high-strength nylon filament, and assemble with metal components for structural integrity and heat. And wear goggles if firing one.

32 posted on 08/05/2022 11:31:12 AM PDT by roadcat
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To: Old Yeller
Why isn’t the mother being charged? She chose to have a baby, she chose to accept responsibility and the food stamps that came with it. She chose to neglect her responsibility as a parent.

It would still be a money losing proposition

You could make more money selling a stolen gun to another criminal than selling it at a gun buy back.

The only advantage is that you don’t have to worry about your fellow felon shooting you if you take it to the buy back.

33 posted on 08/05/2022 12:35:11 PM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spiritI)
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To: marktwain

Hooray!
Now that Houston got rid of the guns, it should get rid of the New Orleans migrants...

I remember a good friend from the 1950s, who used to brag, constantly, about being from Houston...


34 posted on 08/05/2022 12:58:21 PM PDT by SuperLuminal
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