This is not good…

That man is an idiot.
On a side note that presenter sounded like she had just learnt to read aloud and was reading an autocue.

Given that you can’t 3D print bullets I’m not too sure what all the fuss is about.

I love technology.

And the fact if you know the “right people” you could acquire a proper gun quite easily.

So a non story then? Or if someone has a box of bullets then they could download the program and they’re only an eBay purchase away from having a gun..
Yay!!! More guns, the NRA would be proud…

How many people have a “box of bullets”? I’d suggest **** all!

probably very few have a pocket full of bullets

That said it is hard to see how even wider spread gun ownership helps anyone anywhere tbh.

It’s even more of a non-story because I doubt it was a “world first”. Discussion of printable gun files have been doing the geek rounds (grabcad and the like) for a good few years. This is just the first person to get shouty about it on the tellybox for I’m guessing political reasons (given he is a law student, it’s in texas and gun control is a relatively hot topic in the states currently).

It’s a minging 3d model too. You could whittle up something as rustic as that with a milling machine and lathe almost as easily (both of which are far more readily available currently than a 3d printer and don’t seem to be causing much hand ringing). Not a good advert for the capabilities of the technology- it could have been so much more slick!

From a crime forensics point of view I assume the gun wont leave marks on the bullet. Might be harder to trace a bullet to the gun that fired it. If all else fails the gun could be easily melted away. Don’t know how much the ‘printer ink’ costs?

Don’t know how much the ‘printer ink’ costs?

circa 20p per cm cubed.

Home made anonymous easily disposable guns aren’t a good idea IMO,

You could whittle up something as rustic as that with a milling machine and lathe almost as easily (both of which are far more readily available currently than a 3d printer and don’t seem to be causing much hand ringing).

You clearly need less skill to get the plans from the internet and press print than to learn the engineering skills to make a gun.

The biggest issue with this type of gun is that it doesn’t have rifling in the barrel and won’t stand the force of much above a .22 cartridge.

Forensics wise it won’t leave a mark but even if it did, you could throw the gun away and make another one each time you fancied topping someone.

The more worrying thing about 3D printing and guns is that the yanks are using it to manufacture automatic receiver modules for rifles that were sold with Semi Automatic parts :s

8grand printer 🙂

to make a very chunky single shot .22 rimfire 🙂

Where’s my lightsaber and phaser, geeks should be trying to knock out a working light saber first 🙂

You clearly need less skill to get the plans from the internet and press print than to learn the engineering skills to make a gun.

Very true – but I think the difficulty in making a gun of this level of sophistication manualy are over rated. There is very little to it. If you had no skills at all I think I could probably get you up to the required standard in about 30mins. Most kids leaving school with a basic gcse level engineering qualification could do it; but they are not.

They had a printed gun on an episode of CSI the other week. They discovered it through plastic residue on the bullet and the shooter had an unfortunate reaction to the plastic…lucky coincidence for them…

pretty sure they had a printed gun on an episode of CSI the other week. They discovered it through plastic residue on the bullet and the shooter had an unfortunate reaction to the plastic…lucky coincidence for them…

Yep, that was a lucky clue for them!!

I doubt that gun would be able to use a large caliber bullet, in which case you could probably do more damage with a bow and arrow,

Any halfwit with a penknife and a length of string can make a bow and arrow capable of inflicting serious damage…..

Not that hard to get hold of bullets next time you pop out for a pint of milk?

Only in America!

I work with a great many guys from across the pond and generally they are great normal people. Unfortunatly, as is probably the case in this country, those that talk to the media generally come across poorly.

A law student anarchist! Printing guns and making it available on the tinterweb! Pretty sure his liberty will be a little more fun filled from now on if it wasn’t before.

Easier to obtain bullets in many places than guns though- cue Chris Rock sketch. Mostly controls are put on the weapon not the consumable. (this is very weak googling but it seems like there’s no restriction on target bullets and on non-expanding fmj in the UK and they can be bought by mail order? Doesn’t feel right but maybe). Presumably you could easily tweak that design for chamber size as well.

epicyclo – Member

I doubt that gun would be able to use a large caliber bullet, in which case you could probably do more damage with a bow and arrow,

Really? The danger/usefulness of guns isn’t the amount of damage they do, it’s the ease with which they do it. I couldn’t hit a barn door with a bow and arrow. Nor keep one in my pocket.

It’s possible to make a basic single-shot gun out of a bit of pipe and a nail – in fact guns not much more complicated have been a problem because of their pocketability.

It’s an interesting proof of concept, but not a serious issue really.

the people saying its not an issue are thinking about today and not >10 years >20years

It’s possible to make a basic single-shot gun out of a bit of pipe and a nail

A lad at school did just that, 3 fingers Andy we called him when he eventually came back to school. He probably shouldn’t have used thin wall ali tube but “it was the only tube I had that a shotgun cartridge would fit in”!

Not a drama, if someone wants to get hold of a gun, or in fact any weapon with intent to kill somebody, they will do. I personally don’t think that some geek playing around with a machine he learnt to use at university is going to create a rise in gun crime.

However, gun related injuries and NDs from muppets playing around in their sheds is another thing!

Many years ago, I learned framebuilding at Springburn College. The casting shop was often occupied by a big bloke with a bald head and a lovely scar down his face. He just seemed to spend all his time casting stuff. So I eventually plucked up my courage and went to ask him what he was doing.

“Making cannonballs”

“What for?”

“My cannon!”

He lived in the Red Road flats, and had set up a cannon on his balcony…

I fail to see why this is causing such a moral panic. Guns are already made in lathes and CAD machines, anyone with any reasonable engineering knowledge and access to such machinery could go and make a fully automatic M16 if they could be arsed.

Yet we’re not living in a society where criminals have easy access to military grade assault rifles….

But nevermind that….won’t someone think of the children…

Home made anonymous easily disposable guns aren’t a good idea IMO

I think there’s a possibility that you think the 3d printed gun is more hi-tech than it is. It’s a bit of plastic with a hole in it, with something like a sprung loaded drawing pin at the other end. Anyone at the moment can go down the local DIY store and make something equally capable.

I fail to see why this is causing such a moral panic. Guns are already made in lathes and CAD machines, anyone with any reasonable engineering knowledge and access to such machinery could go and make a fully automatic M16 if they could be arsed.

Therein lies the concern. Any good engineer could make a gun. In the process they would need some knowledge, some skills and some specialist equipment. They’d probably need trial and error, a bit of patience and some time to make something that was reasonably reliable, moderately safe (to the user) and could be aimed etc… …along that way most people would give up unless they were either really driven either by the engineering challenge or its end use.

However 3D printing means that someone with no skills, no patience and no real knowledge can produce parts very easily. Publicly available designs allow anyone with the machine to make the bits. Those machines are not cheap (but there are some for about £2k around). Prices are falling though, and these things are increasingly being found in school and university departments where students have relatively open access. Click print – comeback in an hour or two and get your parts.

It appears that this weapon would also be relatively easy to smuggle into places which rely on metal detectors – but presumably those in the know already can source specialist weapons for that.

Will we be overrun with homemade guns? No. Will it appeal to some nutter who shoots innocent people? Probably. Should people inventing things have some sort of responsibility for what happens with them? Certainly.

Poly cad designs are available on the internet and as others have mentioned you dont even need a 3d printer to make this kind of rudimentary firearm.

Metal detectors? All guns need some metal parts eg casings or firing pins, also where are children going to get ammunition from?

Whos going to go on a rampage with a .22lr singleshot pistol that wont hit a barn door. Crossbows are legal and far more effective.

How are we meant to prosecute people where these designs are legal?

If you’ve got a lathe and a milling machine you could knock up a gun. No 3d printer. If you’ve got the patience you can do it with hand tools. They’re simple things.

Given that you can’t 3D print bullets I’m not too sure what all the fuss is about.

Yes you can. But why would you? You can buy them openly across the counter.

You can’t print cartridges though, so that’s good. And the vast majority of cartridges are metallic, also good.

Edit:

Lets all try to pretend we’re older than 7 and can speak English.

Bullet = just the projectile. Most often just an inert lump of lead, perhaps with a copper jacket.

Cartridge Case (aka ‘brass) = case (most often brass) that bullet is loaded into

Cartridge/Live Round/Round/Ammo = what you load your gun with

Plastic bullets aren’t parasitically effective either, it’s pretty easy to mold lead and copper though. But again you need cartridges and propellant.

Both (the majority of) bullets and cartridge cases are unlicensed and can be bought across the counter (yes, even here in the UK at any gun shop).

I think the thing to worry about is it won’t be detected at airpots/ports. Scanners wont pick it up. Danger on the plane.

interfereswithbadgers – Member
Poly cad designs are available on the internet and as others have mentioned you dont even need a 3d printer to make this kind of rudimentary firearm.

No buy you would need more than to get a file and click “print” which is essentially what those behind this would have you believe is needed.

Metal detectors? All guns need some metal parts eg casings or firing pins,

I’m quite sloppy at removing various bits of weird work stuff from my bag. I’ve no doubt that firing pins could easily pass through security screens. A box of ammunition would probably get detected but I’m not sure a single round would?

also where are children going to get ammunition from?

a legitimate question, but given the guy in the videos stated aim to get guns into the hands of people where gun control laws don’t permit it I’m sure that ammunition is not that hard to get or possibly to make in a crude form.

Whos going to go on a rampage with a .22lr singleshot pistol that wont hit a barn door. Crossbows are legal and far more effective.

possibly – but I don’t hear of many people going crazy with crossbows…

How are we meant to prosecute people where these designs are legal?

who mentioned prosecuting someone? The designs are legal – but presumably making one it not?

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5thElefant – Member
If you’ve got a lathe and a milling machine you could knock up a gun. No 3d printer. If you’ve got the patience you can do it with hand tools. They’re simple things.

thats the fundamental difference though. If you follow the claims on the 3d printing world, everything is one click away, no patience, no skill, no workshop needed – you’ll be able to print anything with something the size of a microwave oven… …and its probably no crazier than if 20 yrs ago I have told you virtually everyone would have digital cameras in their phones, and would print photo quality pictures from them in their own homes for pennies.

a legitimate question, but given the guy in the videos stated aim to get guns into the hands of people where gun control laws don’t permit it I’m sure that ammunition is not that hard to get or possibly to make in a crude form.

Oh god if you know where to buy ammunition illegally you know where to purchase illegal weapons.

Ammunition is pretty difficult to make and you run the risk of blowing your fingers off in the process. You need to fashion metal cartridges that are capable of withstanding explosive pressure, primer, propellant and finally a bullet. Then you need to fix them together in a way that actually works. Kids are not going to make ammo, I guess they might be capable of fashioning a rudimentary flintlock but really…come on…when is that going to ever happen….you could make that with metal piping and a hack saw.

possibly – but I don’t hear of many people going crazy with crossbows…

Have you ever even used a firearm? You don’t ever here of anyone going crazy with a smooth bore single shot .22lr either. A big **** off gurkha kukri is a more useful weapon.

hats the fundamental difference though. If you follow the claims on the 3d printing world, everything is one click away, no patience, no skill, no workshop needed – you’ll be able to print anything with something the size of a microwave oven… .

Oh man…. you still have to put it together and use things like springs to get the firing mechanism to work, it’s no different from making a similar weapon out of a CAD design.

I think the thing to worry about is it won’t be detected at airpots/ports. Scanners wont pick it up. Danger on the plane.

Yeah they had the same scare with glocks, unfortunately stuff like gunpowder get’s noticed by dogs, the internals set off sensitive metal detectors and big plastic guns tend to get noticed in x-ray machines or pat downs.

Even if someone managed to get onto a plane with one how long do you think it would be before the person got battered by passengers after loosing off the first round? Personally I think it would be counted in milliseconds.

if you were really that desperate for the same money buy a secondhand cnc machine and using a deactivated weapon as the base engineer yourself a fully automatic weapon.