Print your own gun?

[none]

Just to add some additional fuel to the gun controversy.

[Richard]

What controversy?

[G. Ross]

Whether to outlaw 3D printers and pressure cookers.

[John Grossbohlin]

This is little more than noise... a goal oriented attacker will find a means to carry out their deed whether the means are legal or not.

[Richard]

Are you saying that someone who wants to commit a crime will do so even if it's illegal?

[Keith Nuttle]

An amazing idea isn't it!

[John Grossbohlin]

Yup... funny how that notion is lost on folks...

[Leon]

That is because those folks are used to being told what to think.

[passerby]

What exactly is the controversy? All you can do with this silly looking thing is to kill *yourself*. You can't hit any target with it but you definitely can put it in your mouth and pull the trigger. You can also accidentally kill yourself if it just blows up in your face due to printing or assembly defects, material quality and such. And there won't be a manufacturer that your widow can sue...

But people have been using firearms for killing themselves for a long time now

where is the controversy? A (properly working) 3D printer is nowhere near as available as a ready-to-kill hand gun is and costs *way* more. Plus the cost of the college education to use the printer and the software that runs it ... Reminds of Chris Rock's $5000 bullet:

" ...

And people would think before they killed somebody if a bullet cost five thousand dollars. ?Man I would blow your f*cking head off?if I could afford it.? ?I?m gonna get me another job, I?m going to start saving some money, and you?re a dead man. You?d better hope I can?t get no bullets on layaway.?

...

"

So, no, not a controversy. Probably the best thing that ever happened to both gun control and 3D printing industry which could use some cash infusion by 3D printing gun enthusiasts.

[nailshooter41]

There is no controversy except in the press. I haven't met anyone that thinks this is a topic of any value. Why? A few minutes of reading:

I can't see any criminal putting that much effort into an enterprise with such a small return. Real guns are just too cheap and easy to get from underground sources.

This is the second source I have read that says the gun is good for one shot. Again, since most drive-bys, street assassinations and gangster gunfights burn up a lot of rounds because the folks shooting the guns don't spend much time at the range, I can't imagine a one shot, completely inaccurate gun being of much interest.

This is just another hysterical offshoot topic of gun control nonsense.

Robert

[CW]

What exactly is the controversy? All you can do with this silly looking thing is to kill *yourself*. You can't hit any target with it but you definitely can put it in your mouth and pull the trigger. You can also accidentally kill yourself if it just blows up in your face due to printing or assembly defects, material quality and such. And there won't be a manufacturer that your widow can sue...

But people have been using firearms for killing themselves for a long time now

So, where is the controversy? A (properly working) 3D printer is nowhere near as available as a ready-to-kill hand gun is and costs *way* more. Plus the cost of the college education to use the printer and the software that runs it ... Reminds of Chris Rock's $5000 bullet:

" ..

And people would think before they killed somebody if a bullet cost five thousand dollars. ?Man I would blow your f*cking head off?if I could afford it.? ?I?m gonna get me another job, I?m going to start saving some money, and you?re a dead man. You?d better hope I can?t get no bullets on layaway.?

..

"

So, no, not a controversy. Probably the best thing that ever happened to both gun control and 3D printing industry which could use some cash infusion by 3D printing gun enthusiasts. =========================================================================== I hear this from time to time. Does everyone think that technology stands still? 3D printing is the hot up and commer of manufacturing. Making a fully functional gun is quite possible using existing technology. There is a company now that can 3D print metals such as titanium, stainless steel, cobalt chrome and tool steel. This technology has a ways to go but, eventually I believe that 3D printing, or an offshoot of it, will replace machining as a manufacturing process.

[passerby]

Did you see the size of the machine that prints with steel powder on Science Channel's How It's Made? It's about half the size of my house, costs in 100s of thousands and requires a team of skilled operators to run. I suppose you can print parts of a gun from metal with it (the fact that it will be porous notwithstanding) but it will cost you an arm, a leg, a kidney and a lung. This is definitely *not* what the guys at Defense Distributed had in mind.

You are absolutely right and technology does not stand still. But 3D printing is most certainly not an up and coming tech! 30 years ago all of the tech used in

3D printing today was already invented and machines (insanely expensive) were already available, too. It took 30 years or so for it to become somewhat accessible to the general public and will perhaps take just as long for there to be a way to print with metal at home. As for 3D printing completely replacing machining - that'll happen at about the same time we'll park flying cars in our garages.

I admire your belief in progress, I really do. But I just think that by the time the tech will catch up with the specs needed to print a gun, we might have different issues to worry about other than guns.

[Larry W]

Why would anyone want a plastic gun that takes hours to make on an expensive 3D printer, and will only fire 1 shot, when for about $10 worth of hardware from Lowe's or HD they can make a reliable shotgun that, though time consuming to reload, will last indefinitely?

[krw]

To get past the TSA?

[Swingman]

LMAO ...

[John Grossbohlin]

Another non-issue... Armored cockpit doors installed post-9/11 makes anything but bombs pretty much useless in commandeering airliners. That is what led to the changes recently that allows for small pocket knives, nail clippers, etc., to be carried on-board again...

[Larry]

passerby wrote in news:84a79$518975a1$45499b77$ [e-mail]:

Maybe so but a homebuilt CNC is very doable, right now. I have one in my garage.

Larry

[krw]

There are other places were such things would be "useful". Suicide assins, anyone?

...except they aren't.

[John Grossbohlin]

Seriously? The risk of being struck by lightening is way higher than the risk of this for all but a small number of people in the world... They have security details and technology on their side. On the other hand, while at an academic law conference in Phoenix I heard one participant remark that the most dangerous place in Washington, DC is between Chuck Schumer and a television camera. I chuckled at the time but from what I've seen since then I believe there is a lot of truth to that: It is no surprise that he is out talking of the fantasy evils of these guns...

The regs are changing...

and

[John Grossbohlin]

If you can teach it by running a stylus over it writing a program wouldn't be necessary... Lay your 1911 or AR frame on the bench and trace it. That would be cool!

... waiting for pics in ABPW ! ;~)