Sci Tech
3d printer gun made, blue prints available for free
Defense Distributed held a successful test firing of a 3D printed gun on Saturday. (Defense Distributed)
A gun created using a 3-D printer was used for the first time at a firing range in Austin, Texas. Gun control advocates and law enforcement agencies expressed their concerns over the construction of the weapon and plans to distribute the blueprints online by the gun’s creator’s, known as Defense Distributed.
The group responsible for constructing the gun from plastic claim they are attempting to break down borders by allowing people to make their own gun’s from the comfort of their own home; the group’s leader Cody Wilson said politicians would now not be able to ban weapons in states around the world.
In order to manufacture the gun Defense Distributed purchased a 3-D printer online for around $8,000 and spent around one year perfecting the plans for the weapon.
Before manufacturing could be completed a license to manufacture firearms was obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
3-D printing is regarded by many as the future of manufacturing with people creating their own products after buying plans and directions online for a variety of plastic products. The 3-D gun was created from ABS plastic apart from the firing pin, which was manufactured from metal.
At a news conference Sunday, New York Senator Charles Schumer called for a law to ban making guns using a 3D printer.
Illegal In Canada And Many Other Countries
According the RCMP, in Canada it is illegal to manufacture or possess a firearm without appropriate licences and applicable registrations, reports the CBC.
“If law enforcement found an individual in possession of a 3D printer-manufactured firearm or parts of a firearm (e.g., magazines, barrels), without appropriate licences and registration, the firearm could be seized and the individual charged,” said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Greg Cox in an email to CBC News.
He added that the RCMP is monitoring developments related to the 3D printer technology for making guns.
Meanwhile, the Liberator gun has drawn concern from some U.S. politicians. On Friday, following a media demonstration, New York Congressman Steve Israel issued a statement calling for the extension of a U.S. ban on all-plastic firearms, which expires this year.
“Security checkpoints, background checks, and gun regulations will do little good if criminals can print plastic firearms at home and bring those firearms through metal detectors with no one the wiser,” the statement said. “When I started talking about the issue of plastic firearms months ago, I was told the idea of a plastic gun is science fiction. Now that this technology appears to be upon us, we need to act now.”
Individual components of the gun are made of plastic by depositing the material layer by layer using a 3D printer, according to downloadable blueprints. (Defense Distributed)
On The Web:
Working gun made with 3D printer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185
Working gun can be made by anyone using a 3D printer
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/working-gun-can-be-made-by-anyone-using-a-3d-printer-8605206.html
3D printed gun shoots real bullets
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/05/06/technology-3d-printed-gun-liberator.html
The First 3D-Printed Gun Has Been Fired (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/06/3d-printed-gun-fired_n_3222669.html
