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I think "commoditization" might be a better word for it. In the past, the general citizenry was restricted to use weapons provided through very specific channel

I think "commoditization" might be a better word for it. In the past, the general citizenry was restricted to use weapons provided through very specific channels, and if they wanted to build their own weapons they would either be rather primitive, like bows or slings, or one would need special knowledge, tools, and/or materials. Sure someone might have had the ability to make their own gun at home, but today there are far more people who are able to build lethal weaponry from consumer-grade materials. It's a frightening development.

ermir 5y ago
Making stuff like this still requires specialized software, but software development is far more readily available and accessible. The proliferation of software is also essentially effortless, so a terrorist group or similar could have a single team supplying standardized designs worldwide. Consider the hobby of FPV drone racing. The designs and plans are widely available, and you can get a top-notch drone for about $2000 for a first-time purchase (less for the subsequent ones, since you'll already have goggles/radios). These drones are regularly built by teenagers and it's not difficult at all to add capabilities to the drones, such as target tracking, autonomous operation, software-defined radios for jamming resistance, etc.