Worlds first 3-D printed gun

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The ramifications are being in violation of the Undetectable Firearms Act. Just printing one would be illegal. Defense Distributed might be targeted with a "Conspiracy to make an undetectable firearm" charge. Even though their model has a hunk of metal inserted into it, it's an entirely removable piece.
 
The ramifications are being in violation of the law against undetectable firearms. Just printing one would be illegal. Defense Distributed might be targeted with a "Conspiracy to make" charge.
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The article says that the one they made has a chunk of steel in it to keep within the law. Does 3-D printing only use plastic? I kind of assumed that it was a high-tech sheet metal machine.
 
They added a steel block to comply Undetectable Firearms Law. They're being careful. They've also got an FFL license now.
 
There is no way that plastic is going to contain the pressures of the real centerfire pistol round. Even the very best plastics are not up to the job, and the materials used in 3D printing are weaker still.
 
monotonous_iterancy said:
The article says that the one they made has a chunk of steel in it to keep within the law. Does 3-D printing only use plastic? I kind of assumed that it was a high-tech sheet metal machine.
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"Conspiracy to produce" means intent or plan to produce. You don't have to have actually DONE it yet. I fully expect their office will be raided or an injunction made to prevent them from distributing those plans.
 
Technically, Defense Distributed’s gun has one other non-printed component: the group added a six ounce chunk of steel into the body to make it detectable by metal detectors in order to comply with the Undetectable Firearms Act. In March, the group also obtained a federal firearms license, making it a legal gun manufacturer.


And yes, you can 3D print in metal. There are already companies "printing" high-end bicycle components using titanium powder.
 
Raided? I could see that happening if this is the guy i'm thinking of, college kid in law school, "self proclaimed anarchist"...
 
I don't know this figures in to the whole undetectable firearms thing but reading through the comments of that article I kept hearing people talk about sneaking these through metal detectors. I guess nowhere in there did anybody consider that the bullets are still made out of metal? I'm not sure if the sensitivity on metal detectors is typically set high enough to pick up a small number of bullets but they certainly could be.
 
It is the same guy. I predict the ACLU and NRA would have his back in court. He has done nothing illegal. Also, the whole "intent to do bad" stuff is a bunch of crap. (You have more than 4 rolls of toilet paper. MUST be planning to decorate somebody's yard. Better arrest you for "intent to vandalize." Rubbish!) All the press does is give more publicity to his projects. The great thing about his work IMHO is not what it does for the second amendment but the first amendment. It proves that you can't censor ideas and technology. The Internet puts it out there for the world. It can never be fully erased or controlled.
 
These politicians will never get it. They can pass all the laws they want banning homemade plastic firearms. The people that they are afraid of the most (supposedly) are the terrorists. The terrorists wont give a damn about the laws, they are taking a one way trip. We can reasonably surmise by the actions of the left that they don't like these printed guns because it removes the government s control. Every time they squeeze the people will find a way to circumvent the law.
BTW I read a story ( the Blaze)where in Florida they are offering large rewards if you turn in people for being anti government. It seems to be self fulfilling. I don't like this new policy, does that make me anti government? This reeks of 1930's Nazi Germany.
 
I think these things are being developed as more of a statement than for any practical purpose. I would have to see it to believe it could fire and contain the forces of an actual off the shell cartridge of any kind.
 
Bruno2 said:
I wonder why it has to look so queer?
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Because style isn't important on a gun that is meant to fire 1-2 shots maximum. Look up the history behind the original liberator pistols, the irony at play is very entertaining.

The intention of the original "liberator" was to fire one shot at point blank range towards nazi troops and take their weapons. This gun is intended to be used for similar purposes towards government troops should they be deployed into US territory for purposes that were not in our best interests.

Just to voice my opinion, I'm 100% behind this project. People should have weapons whether the government says it is okay or not.
 
Obviously the design is being mandated by laws to make it easily detectable, but what if one wanted a non detectable weapon?

Thinking of a real Red Dawn scenario we should all have the capability to make at home undetectable weapons so invading enemy police forces cannot detect them at checkpoints.
 
Barrel inserts for that still have to be metal to take standard handgun cartridge pressure.

Since other plastic-framed metal-parted guns such the Glock use a polymer with enough barium added to show up on X-ray, a detectable plastic could be marketed for making 3-D printed frames at home, satisfying both a desire for anonymous gunownership and fears over undetectable firearms.

I have home made muzzleloading guns from improvised non-gun parts (in other words, classic zip guns except powder and ball in stead of cartridge) mostly about 40 years ago. One had a frame that was shaped from board, drilled out with a section of brass antenna tube for barrel liner, matchlock firing mechanism. Hand tools on a kitchen table with scrap. And not as bulky as that thing in the photo above.

Oh, too: you can make whisky with a home distillery and beer with a homebrew kit.

ADDED Cinema Historical Note: A plastic gun was used in the Clint Eastwood movie In the Line of Fire 1993.

Internet Movie Firearms Database has an article on guns used in the movie and an article on the prop gun itself. The blank firing version was cut up after the film was completed. The inert prop double was used in No Way Back 1995 and the "Tempus Fugit" and "Max" episodes of X-Files, also according to IMFDb.

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/"In_The_Line_of_Fires'_"_Composite_Pistol
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/In_The_Line_of_Fire#Composite_Pistol
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/No_Way_Back_(1995)#Composite_Pistol
 
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