Comment Re:Why? (Score 2) 133
Currently it's much easier and cheaper to build a zipgun/saturdaynight special/junkgun with parts from the hardware store and regular shop tools than it is to make 3D printed gun. And that's not even mentioning that the non-printed one will probably be more accurate and durable. What the fuss is really about is idiots panicking and trying to make a scene.
If someone wants to bring up the supposed skill gap, it's pretty much an illusion. Anyone that has the most basic tool use skills could make a zip gun of one form or another. Heck, my mom could make one if she wanted to. As to knowledge of guns, it's not exactly an industrial secret, and besides, at it's most basic, it's a tube with a round inserted in one end with the bullet facing the other, and held steady while a firing pin forcefully smacks the middle of the round, and some kind of grip so it's easy to hold and not get burned. For that matter, the basic principles of guns along with basic descriptive drawings or photos of it's workings are easily attainable on the internet or any dead tree format library. Heck, even the Japanese could get that info, and I'm sure you've heard how anti-gun their government is.
I merely see the 3d printed guns as a representative of the fantastic and wide ranging possibilities for 3d printing in the future. Someday they may be a near virtual Aladdins Lamp. (Combine an ability to use many different materials simultaneously with a recycling/material bank restocking ability, and the sky's the limit.)
If someone wants to bring up the supposed skill gap, it's pretty much an illusion. Anyone that has the most basic tool use skills could make a zip gun of one form or another. Heck, my mom could make one if she wanted to. As to knowledge of guns, it's not exactly an industrial secret, and besides, at it's most basic, it's a tube with a round inserted in one end with the bullet facing the other, and held steady while a firing pin forcefully smacks the middle of the round, and some kind of grip so it's easy to hold and not get burned. For that matter, the basic principles of guns along with basic descriptive drawings or photos of it's workings are easily attainable on the internet or any dead tree format library. Heck, even the Japanese could get that info, and I'm sure you've heard how anti-gun their government is.
I merely see the 3d printed guns as a representative of the fantastic and wide ranging possibilities for 3d printing in the future. Someday they may be a near virtual Aladdins Lamp. (Combine an ability to use many different materials simultaneously with a recycling/material bank restocking ability, and the sky's the limit.)