“Did he make money”
True. The article talks about the revenue but the only expenses mentioned are the $200 3D printer and a 12 hour driving round trip. It takes lots of consumables to print things.
I presume his printed guns were not operable. Why would they buy them back?
I sold an inoperable handgun to the Baltimore Police Dept for $200. It was a pretty good deal. I bought it for $110
The government did not make them, nor did the government in any way provide them to him, therefore the government cannot buy them "back".
"Buy back" is a leftist propaganda term.