4 ms·
I doubt it would be soon. It's pretty simple to get an illegal [standard] firearm. A 3D printed gun, on the other hand, implies capability beyond your average
by polemic 13y ago
I doubt it would be soon. It's pretty simple to get an illegal [standard] firearm.
A 3D printed gun, on the other hand, implies capability beyond your average criminal, and higher traceability (for a time) for a more sophisticated one. Perhaps we'll see a 'cottage industry' for cheap blackmarket 3D printed firearms, but again, that implies an infrastructure that IMHO doesn't offer any benefits over the standard blackmarket firearms trade.
I also doubt that a sophisticated criminal will be willing to rely on relatively untested 3D printed weapons over exceedingly reliable standard ones.
So, I'd put it at least 20 years away, at the point where 3D printing could perhaps be used for military or covert purposes in a limited capacity. But then, would you hear about it, if (for example) it happened that way?
- gilrain 13y agoHowever, a not insignificant number of murders are committed by mentally ill people obsessed with becoming famous, or rather infamous. For such a person, to be the first to murder someone with a printed gun could be a powerful draw.
- polemic 13y agoIf the question was 'murder or suicide' than I'd say it was likely to be sooner, but I think the combination of "megalomaniac + homicidal + access to printer and plans + access to ammunition + following through" is pretty low. It doesn't really ring true for me either: "first to murder someone with a 3D printed weapon" is only going to appeal to some tiny fraction of the above. Not that it couldn't happen, I just find it too unlikely to really be plausible.