The First Fully 3D-Printed Gun Has Been Successfully Test-Fired 717
On Friday, we mentioned that Defense Distributed had created a (near-enough-to) fully 3-D printed pistol. Sparrowvsrevolution now writes that "Last week, the Liberator was fired for the first time at a firing range and successfully shot a .380 caliber bullet using a remote firing setup. Over the weekend, Defense Distributed's founder, the anarchist and radical libertarian Cody Wilson, was bold enough to try firing it by hand. The results of that test, witnessed by a reporter, indicate that the era of the 3D-printed firearm may be upon us, for better or for worse." Predictably, certain politicians are — so to speak — up in arms about it.
BBC has video - look like quite a recoil (Score:5, Informative)
Video here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185 [bbc.co.uk]
From the video, looks like despite the modest cartridge used, there's quite a kick. Guess the plastic is rather light.
So, no need to get excited folks; a one-shot weapon with really poor accuracy, which needs a 3D printer.
Thus more difficult and costly to produce, yet no more effective, than a 'saturday night special', 'zip gun' or 'bang stick', plans for which have been freely available for a long time.
Probably equally as likely to blow up in your face, too...
Re:Not really (Score:4, Informative)
really it's a non issue, most of these homemade guns are pretty useless, including this 3d printed one. With a lifetime measured in tens of rounds, it really isn't all that special.
and as always, you still get the same time in the federal pokey if you get caught doing something naughty with it.
Re:OT: Slashdot encoding problem (Score:2, Informative)
Yes. Somebody obviously copied and pasted, and in their rush to get that "oooh ooh, I got first post, now maybe the boys will admire me!!!" rush, they did not preview.
Re:Printing a gun is a crime.... (Score:5, Informative)
It's actually not a crime to print a gun (or otherwise manufacture one for personal use), which is why this guy did so openly and was not arrested.
Re: That's nice (Score:0, Informative)
Because he is the only one who is not talking about 3-D guns. There is the gun control debate and then there is this new development. We should be talking about this new development. It is new. It changes things. Things are different. They are changed. It is wondrous or awful. New thoughts need to be thunk. Maybe old thoughts are still valid. Maybe not. That is why should talk about it and not the same thing we have been talking about over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again for the previous 6 months. Get it?
Re:Ultimately we do need more government intervent (Score:1, Informative)
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state , the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
It's a short amendment, but if you quote the whole thing then you can't cherrypick and change it's meaning. The second amendment is not about keeping the state at an arbitrarily defined level of "free", it is about keeping the state safe from foreign conquerors.
While it does not speak of hunting, it does speak of "a well regulated militia", a point that is always overlooked and twisted by pro-gunners that are so quick to cling to the hunting defense.
The "R" in NRA is for rifle. The NRA is a sportsmen's organization that advocates for the rights of hunters. Historically the NRA has been for gun control, having helped draft the ban on fully automatic weapons in the 1980's. All this posturing to present themselves as patriots has exposed the gun lobby for what it is, an efficient scheme to separate fools from their money and make super wealthy people even richer. [tinypic.com]
Ammunition has tripled in price, most guns have doubled in value, and the gun-rights groups eat it up as signs to keep buying. They buy so much they create shortages which in turn fuel their paranoia causing them to feel compelled to buy even more as soon as it comes available. They did this when Obama was elected and they did it again when he won reelection. Guess what, the buying trend will happen again in 2016 when another Democrat wins the Whitehouse after Texas goes blue thanks to the Latino vote.
The worst part about it is that most of those guns will end up stolen and on the streets at some point in the very near future.
Re:It could be nicer (Score:1, Informative)
I would rather get killed by something i had a chance of defending myself against than something killing me instantly.
Two points -
1. Most people shot by pistols recover if given medical care.
2. Your comment comes to the heart of the difference on this issue: You would rather get killed than have a weapon to defend yourself.
So, yes, it is comforting knowing that punks in dark alleys are not carrying guns.
When you are old and infirm, they will still be there with clubs and knives, and you will be unarmed and at their "mercy." You won't have the chance that these people do, as things stand, and neither will your friends and loved ones. All the advantages accrue to the thugs. What a cruel thing.
80-year-old Flint man fires shots at five robbery suspects [mlive.com]
Elderly Woman Shoots at Intruder [youtube.com]
And this is probably why: Self-Defense: An Endangered Right [cato.org]
Re:That's nice (Score:4, Informative)
Try to legalize drugs and killing and see if the number of occurrences go up or down.
It has been tried with drugs in a couple of European countries. Hard drug (Cocaine, Heroin) use has decreased in all cases I know of (Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands). It has also been tried locally in a couple of European cities with the same effect. The results for soft drugs are inconclusive. What is your point?
Re: That's nice (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Ultimately we do need more government intervent (Score:4, Informative)