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3D printing is no doubt awesome, but this video is a scary reminder of how dangerous cool toys could be in the hands of wrong people. If you can print a magazin

3D printing is no doubt awesome, but this video is a scary reminder of how dangerous cool toys could be in the hands of wrong people. If you can print a magazine, I assume eventually you'd be able to print a weapon that can withstand at least one-time use. That means no one needs to buy guns anymore, they just need to print them. Not the most comforting thought.

sachingulaya 14y ago
Printing a magazine is entirely different from printing a barrel. Either way you'd be better off with a CNC mill from China and already available plans. Personally, I would not be willing to fire a gun made of plastic. High pressure + weak material -> fragmentation.
yial 14y ago
I don't really see the issue- you can already make weapons relatively easily, look at this guy who made an AK out of an old shovel. http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/179192-diy-shovel-ak-photo-tsunami-warning.html http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/17... Heres a basic concept of a .410 shotgun in a flashlight. (something that could be made at home with drill press and a few other things.) http://hackedgadgets.com/2007/03/09/shotgun-flashlight/ http://hackedgadgets.com/2007/03/09/shotgun-flashlight/ --- Honestly, a hi capacity magazine is the least of your worries...
- agpen 14y ago
  The obsession with 3d printing vs more practical methods has everything to do with privileged white nerds and their obsession with the "information economy" over actual knowledge and skills (and physical effort, which they reject as blue-collar). Lathes and machining require refinement of individual workmanship, while refining 3d printing resides entirely in the realm of the printer manufacturers with the end-users reduced to the role of consumers.
jared314 14y ago
The last attempt, from the same group, to print the regulated parts of a AR-15, that are under mechanical stress, lasted 6 shots [0]. [0] http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/12/03/heres-what-it-looks-like-to-fire-a-partly-3d-printed-gun-video/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/12/03/heres-w...
dmm 14y ago
You are probably within 10 miles of a machine shop full of machinery that can, in the hands of a skilled person, make guns. I know people who make guns as a hobby. This is moral, legal, and fun.
- hahainternet 14y ago
  I feel this is pretty misleading. Yes, you probably are within 10 miles, however the required skills are perhaps 1 in 10,000 or worse. Not to mention that the proportion that will break the law to manufacture a firearm is going to be a very small subset of those. On the other hand, if 3d printed weaponry were feasible, it would require a small purchase, a file download and a button click. That is a significant and notable change.
  - waps 14y ago
    And an inevitable one.
fnordfnordfnord 14y ago
You can't nerf the whole world.
gabrielrotbart 14y ago
Humanity will always find a way to use the newest technologies for violence. In fact, violence is one of the biggest drivers of technology. IMHO, limiting and fearing technology because it will be used for violence is futile. The only way (if there is any) to curtail the use of technology for weaponry is to win the war over ignorance / lack of education and poverty.

sachingulaya 14y ago

Printing a magazine is entirely different from printing a barrel. Either way you'd be better off with a CNC mill from China and already available plans. Personally, I would not be willing to fire a gun made of plastic. High pressure + weak material -> fragmentation.

yial 14y ago

I don't really see the issue- you can already make weapons relatively easily, look at this guy who made an AK out of an old shovel. http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/179192-diy-shovel-ak-photo-tsunami-warning.html http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/17... Heres a basic concept of a .410 shotgun in a flashlight. (something that could be made at home with drill press and a few other things.) http://hackedgadgets.com/2007/03/09/shotgun-flashlight/ http://hackedgadgets.com/2007/03/09/shotgun-flashlight/ --- Honestly, a hi capacity magazine is the least of your worries...

agpen 14y ago
The obsession with 3d printing vs more practical methods has everything to do with privileged white nerds and their obsession with the "information economy" over actual knowledge and skills (and physical effort, which they reject as blue-collar). Lathes and machining require refinement of individual workmanship, while refining 3d printing resides entirely in the realm of the printer manufacturers with the end-users reduced to the role of consumers.

jared314 14y ago

The last attempt, from the same group, to print the regulated parts of a AR-15, that are under mechanical stress, lasted 6 shots [0]. [0] http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/12/03/heres-what-it-looks-like-to-fire-a-partly-3d-printed-gun-video/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/12/03/heres-w...

dmm 14y ago

You are probably within 10 miles of a machine shop full of machinery that can, in the hands of a skilled person, make guns. I know people who make guns as a hobby. This is moral, legal, and fun.

hahainternet 14y ago
I feel this is pretty misleading. Yes, you probably are within 10 miles, however the required skills are perhaps 1 in 10,000 or worse. Not to mention that the proportion that will break the law to manufacture a firearm is going to be a very small subset of those. On the other hand, if 3d printed weaponry were feasible, it would require a small purchase, a file download and a button click. That is a significant and notable change.
- waps 14y ago
  And an inevitable one.

fnordfnordfnord 14y ago

You can't nerf the whole world.

gabrielrotbart 14y ago

Humanity will always find a way to use the newest technologies for violence. In fact, violence is one of the biggest drivers of technology. IMHO, limiting and fearing technology because it will be used for violence is futile. The only way (if there is any) to curtail the use of technology for weaponry is to win the war over ignorance / lack of education and poverty.