17
votes
Why are 3d printed guns just now an issue?
This has been around for a long time. Why just now after years are they cracking down? What new tech was invented? Sorry for being ignorant :(
This has been around for a long time. Why just now after years are they cracking down? What new tech was invented? Sorry for being ignorant :(
My guess is because 3D-printed gun blueprints given go-ahead by US government.
So, I haven't really been following this, but it looks like it was recently officially allowed/
I agree that was the catalyst that brought it into the media again.
The thing that is controversial is, most people in the gun world don't understand why this would ever be an issue and most people not privy to the gun world thinks it sounds nuts.
You have had the ability to legally buy kits (or simply build your own) to make a homemade non-serial numbered firearms forever. This is totally nothing new. It's also nothing that is going anywhere anytime soon, there is a massive hobbyist market making really cool stuff.
3D printing is just the modern equivalent of this. There are plenty of laws dictating what can and cannot be done when building a homemade firearm, as long as those laws are followed there is really no reason why 3D printing cannot be involved.
Obviously the general public is mostly ignorant of gun culture, so if they hear things like "3D printed gun", they freak out, regardless of whether or not the firearm has been legally developed. It's just an unnecessary hysteria created by ignorance of the situation and a spread of misinformation.
So the biggest reason it is in the news is because politicians are talking about it. The biggest shift in the industry is that they can now produce lowers that will withstand more than 1 shot (some claim even up to 400 shots) using tougher materials.
It's essentially opening a bigger loophole around the 80% lower situation, which is effectively a way someone could use to subvert the background check requirement for purchasing a firearm.
I submitted this separately (to ~misc), but this is a really good article that will probably help explain a lot of it: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/08/internet-publication-3d-printing-files-about-guns-facts-and-whats-stake
To me I don't see how they can restrict this under current law. It is already legal to manufacture your own non-serial numbered firearms as long as you don't sell them and you follow all the other rules, include the law about having enough metal embedded in the gun to set off a metal detector. The hysteria about untraceable, undetectable guns was dumb last time, and it is dumb again.
I'm very conflicted on this issue. I am against the government interfering with the internet, but I'm pro gun control.
There's no real need to be conflicted, so long as you don't go too far on the first issue. I think/would hope every sane person agrees that there are certain things that should be controlled on the internet - the obvious example being child porn, and many of the other darknet activities such as hiring hitmen or SWATting.
So long as the controls that are used are reasonable (i.e. require regular warrants, include safe harbour protections for websites that use a modicum of common sense) then there shouldn't be any issues.
There still will be issues, primarily because certain groups will use the addition of those controls to input their own agenda (looking at that fucking mouse) but there's a good option to be found if people have the will to choose it.