Why Restricting Guns & Magazines in NOT the Answer

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The future is here, whether you like it or not. Defense Distributed has produced a printed AR-15 lower that has lasted 600 rounds. If they've gotten 20 times more in a few months, just think where they will be in a few years. Remember, the lower receiver is the only part that is traceable in "legal" semi-automatic rifles.

Gun control in the future is a figment of your imagination.

 

Injection molding is a completely different beast than simply printing a lower in a few hours from your kitchen table. I know, I've tried prototyping in the past with injection molding. How do you get the original mold? You have to carve it by hand which is a craft skill, and far from perfect and extremely cost and time consuming. Even if you use 3D printers to create your molds for injection molding you are shaving hundreds of hours, if not thousands in during the R&D process.

Also, "polymer lowers" do not generally have plastic or polymer mechanics inside. The beauty of the AR-15 platform is that the firing mechanisms are so simple, they will eventually be 3D printable in their entirety... if not with plastic, it will probably be nylon or carbon fiber, both of which will be low cost alternatives to ABS/PLA plastic.

My 3D printer when it arrives will have heads to print in both ABS and PLA, and in the near future 3D printers will have swappable heads for countless materials and/or multiple heads on it like the old school CAD Pen Plotters.

I need to point out, that the trigger wasn't broken, it was purposefully cut to fit into the assembly due to a miscalculation in their (Defense Distributed) proportions. It wasn't broken during use. They'll have a video up soon I'm sure. More info here.

 

You have to think on the grander scale when it comes to traceability. There is a reason we register new hand guns, rifles and shotguns - because the FBI and ATF keep track of all of those purchases. Even if those guns change hands 20 times, that initial inception trace is there. That is where the gun shows up "on the grid," and most of the the time retracing its steps can be performed in one way or another.

However, 3D printed guns aren't going to have that initial blip on the grid. People will not know how long a 3D printed gun has been around or even in use. Add that on to the fact that just printing the tracked "components" of weapons like an AR-15 lower which must be legally purchased and tracked via an FFL and you have a powder keg. Print an AR-15 lower and purchase all over the other machined and "legit" components legally and you still have an untraceable firearm.

Look at it from this perspective. Drug cartels have hundreds of millions of dollars to throw at technologies like this. They've built their own cell phone networks and real-working submarines for Pete's sake, so I have no doubt that they'll have some wizkids working for them printing untraceable weapons or components at some point in the near future. You know other large organized crime syndicates will also follow.

So what is the answer? There isn't a single answer, but one thing is certain. Guns simply aren't going anywhere... the technology is going to make sure of that. So don't waste time and capital investing in a failed tactic that are simply "feel good measures." Re-shift focus to measures that can actually make a difference.

In my opinion, the answers to cutting down the vast majority of gun violence is simple even though the dangerous technology will remain.

1. End the war on drugs. Decriminalize and treat rather than incarcerate and punish. The vast majority of gun violence is drug related. Make the drug trade obsolete, and the violence that follows all of the money will disappear.
2. Revolutionize our education system. Start training kids in specialties long before they get to high school, teaching them valuable real-world crafts and skills. Poverty is a huge driver of violent crimes (and the crime statistics back this up completely), and today's technology can and needs to revolutionize how our kids learn.
3. Make mental health a primary topic for discussion and research across the board.
4. Crack down on America's fascination with pharmaceutical drugs. With a CVS on every corner, lazy parents tend to medicate rather than work with troubled kids.

 

Of course it isn't "ideal" to build it with plastic, and I never said it was. As I said, there WILL be alternative printing materials other than plastic on the market for the average consumer sooner rather than later. I encourage you to look in to nylon, carbon fiber, talmaun 645 and graphite. That's the point, you CAN print metal parts with 3D printers, just not ones affordable to the average consumer... YET.

3D printing is a platform, the materials are irrelevant because you can and will be able to literally print any material in the not so distant future... even organic material including internal organs, meat and leather, which are covered by several videos and posts throughout this thread.

 

I'm just pointing out the facts with others interested in this technology. In January I showed a video of how a large capacity mag was 3D printed, and people responded "You'll never have a 3D printed gun." Well just months later the same people have 3D printed an AR-15 lower that withstood 600 rounds. They then created a zip-like gun made entirely of plastic and a common nail.

If that is the progress people have made in four months, where the hell do you think it'll be in four years? Moore's law is in full effect with this new technology, just like with most others. Quality and speed of 3D printers will grow exponentially in the near future while costs will continue to drop.

3D printers are going to completely change our perception of not only weapons, but of patent and copyright laws and personal freedoms. The internet made it so that anyone can freely distribute digital files including books, music, movies, information and software for free... The internet will now make it possible for people to trade schematics of real life, tangible items that they can print in their dining rooms and dens.

You're the one clearly living with your head in the sand. 3D printers and other low cost automated manufacturing tools will revolutionize the world like steam power and the industrial revolution. They'll empower the everyday man to accomplish extraordinary tasks and obtain once unattainable objects.

Also, the holodeck is nearly here my friend.

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/illumiroom/

and...

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All from the first page...

called it - http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=238492

 

Plenty have said that or equivalent.... if not in this thread than one of the many sandy hook threads. I'm sure one of the 17 other pages have it too, or complaints about "barrels" or other aspects of the gun not being printable. Search away, I'm at work.

 

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=7538852

There are several more of those types, just in this thread. And countless more in the MANY gun related threads where I brought up 3D printing.

I admit, "dealing with scottie" isn't exactly "you won't have 3D printed guns," but it is pretty damn close considering this was a few months ago.

 

and another...