4 ms·

Not true. Even here in the UK I can walk into an antique shop and buy a gun that can be put back into service in minutes. Guns aren't, and never have been, the

Not true. Even here in the UK I can walk into an antique shop and buy a gun that can be put back into service in minutes. Guns aren't, and never have been, the thing that you need to regulate to keep down gun crime. Bullets are. If you have a gun, you have a gun for life. But if you don't have a never-ending supply of bullets, you might as well have a paperweight. Bullets are harder to get and harder to make than guns will ever be. Being able to make your own gun means nothing unless you have something to put in it.

evan_ 13y ago
you're gonna have to ban lead and saltpeter and basic tools then, too.
D_Alex 13y ago
Bullets are very easy. All you need is a mold, some lead and a fire. https://www.google.com/search?q=bullet+mold&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=GYKHUemCJIaTigfCl4GAAQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1310&bih=648 https://www.google.com/search?q=bullet+mold&rls=com.micr... You might have meant "cartridges". But they are not hard either, or even necessary. Black powder is pretty easy too. Primers are a bit harder (still easier than a gun, just need to know how), but you can make rifles that fire without primers (google "matchlock" or "flintlock").
roel_v 13y ago
You're going to rob a store with a flintlock pistol? With a 3d printed gun you can. Furthermore, bullets are much harder to regulate than guns. Plenty of people have access to bullets and can make 50 of them disappear, claiming they shot them. "But if you don't have a never-ending supply of bullets," Why a never-ending supply? You only need 5 bullets at most for each robbery or murder you commit. A box of 50 can last a criminal career.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  > "rob a store ... With a 3d printed gun you can." Can you? The reason guns work so well for robbing is because they work really well at threatening. This is why you can rob a store with an airsoft gun or with children's toys with the orange bit removed. Toys that look like guns work great, but guns that look like toys? Not so much The fact that it seems incredibly unlikely that they will become more than single-shot anytime soon basically means that even firing the gun during the robbery isn't going to be a very good way to rob a store. The best you could manage is to fire your single round into the ceiling to demonstrate that what you had was a gun, and then hope the clerk doesn't realize that you can't fire any more shots. Meanwhile if you do that then you have just blown any chance at your robbery being uneventful and unnoticed. You would honestly have better luck trying to rob a store with a jacket and your index finger. Considering the availability of jackets and index fingers, you would have to be a complete idiot to choose the printed gun instead of your index finger.
  - evan_ 13y ago
    You don't think it's ever going to be possible to make a 3d-printed gun that looks like a gun?
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      Out of plastic? No. It will either look like a gun, or it will be a gun. Not both. For robberies "looks like a gun" is what is important, unless your goal is to actually murder as well. "looks like a gun" has been something you could always print and it has yet to become a problem for society.
- oneandoneis2 13y ago
  > You're going to rob a store with a flintlock pistol? No, I'd be more tempted by a good old service revolver, actually.

evan_ 13y ago

you're gonna have to ban lead and saltpeter and basic tools then, too.

D_Alex 13y ago

Bullets are very easy. All you need is a mold, some lead and a fire. https://www.google.com/search?q=bullet+mold&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=GYKHUemCJIaTigfCl4GAAQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1310&bih=648 https://www.google.com/search?q=bullet+mold&rls=com.micr... You might have meant "cartridges". But they are not hard either, or even necessary. Black powder is pretty easy too. Primers are a bit harder (still easier than a gun, just need to know how), but you can make rifles that fire without primers (google "matchlock" or "flintlock").

roel_v 13y ago

You're going to rob a store with a flintlock pistol? With a 3d printed gun you can. Furthermore, bullets are much harder to regulate than guns. Plenty of people have access to bullets and can make 50 of them disappear, claiming they shot them. "But if you don't have a never-ending supply of bullets," Why a never-ending supply? You only need 5 bullets at most for each robbery or murder you commit. A box of 50 can last a criminal career.

jlgreco 13y ago
> "rob a store ... With a 3d printed gun you can." Can you? The reason guns work so well for robbing is because they work really well at threatening. This is why you can rob a store with an airsoft gun or with children's toys with the orange bit removed. Toys that look like guns work great, but guns that look like toys? Not so much The fact that it seems incredibly unlikely that they will become more than single-shot anytime soon basically means that even firing the gun during the robbery isn't going to be a very good way to rob a store. The best you could manage is to fire your single round into the ceiling to demonstrate that what you had was a gun, and then hope the clerk doesn't realize that you can't fire any more shots. Meanwhile if you do that then you have just blown any chance at your robbery being uneventful and unnoticed. You would honestly have better luck trying to rob a store with a jacket and your index finger. Considering the availability of jackets and index fingers, you would have to be a complete idiot to choose the printed gun instead of your index finger.
- evan_ 13y ago
  You don't think it's ever going to be possible to make a 3d-printed gun that looks like a gun?
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    Out of plastic? No. It will either look like a gun, or it will be a gun. Not both. For robberies "looks like a gun" is what is important, unless your goal is to actually murder as well. "looks like a gun" has been something you could always print and it has yet to become a problem for society.
oneandoneis2 13y ago
> You're going to rob a store with a flintlock pistol? No, I'd be more tempted by a good old service revolver, actually.