Printed! Plastic! Pistols! Oh My!

Cold Dead Hands Freespeechers 41 Comments

I’m sure you’ve heard all about them by now.

Defense Distributed’s controversial files are designed to 3D-print receivers. What comes out of the 3D printer isn’t a working weapon, but something that still must be mated to bolts, barrels, trigger groups, stocks, and other necessary parts before it ever fires a bullet. Defense Distributed’s Liberator pistol design is perhaps the closest thing to a complete printable firearm, but the enthusiast must still source key parts such as a metal tube for a barrel and a nail for a firing pin.

 

The U.S. government recognizes the right of citizens to build their own firearms, and all of these parts are readily available in gun shops or online, as they always have been. So all of this is perfectly legal. Where Defense Distributed and the government clashed is over the ability of people in foreign countries to download the files.

 

[…]

 

Building a gun this way from parts already on the market is much easier and cheaper than the new and controversial 3D printing method. I once did it in my own kitchen, and the result is a much more reliable, durable firearm than you’d get from 3D-printed parts. Frankly, 3D printing gun parts is the most complicated way for a criminal to get his hands on a firearm, after stealing a gun from a legal gun owner, buying a gun on the black market, and finishing an 80 percent receiver.

More from David French;

Let’s be clear about what has just happened. A federal court has issued a prior restraint on speech (it’s attempting to block the spread of information; it is not blocking the lawful home manufacture of firearms) that is already thoroughly and completely moot. The files are out. They’re all over the internet. They’ve been copied and reproduced. The judge’s order can’t change that fact.

Moreover, Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation are hardly the only sources for online files or blueprints that enable a home manufacturer with a 3D printer to make a gun. I’m honestly unclear what the court is trying to accomplish here, aside from targeting the Trump administration and/or targeting a disfavored private company.

 

Earlier today I published a lengthy explainer of the factual and legal issues surrounding the 3D-printed gun controversy. I’d urge you to read the whole thing, but the bottom line is easy to understand. First, home manufacture of weapons is clearly lawful, and it has been common practice in the United States since before the founding of the nation. Second, it is thus just as lawful to “print” a gun as it is to assemble one with parts in your garage. Third, the plans to print guns are widely-available on the internet — and have been for some time.

41 Replies to “Printed! Plastic! Pistols! Oh My!”

  1. The technology when actual full working guns become truly printable cannot come too soon. This will once and for all put a stake through the hart of gun control.

    1. Universal civilian disarmament is not a sine qua non for establishing a totalitarian society. Iraqis under Saddam Hussein were fairly well armed, yet Saddam imposed totalitarian rule over them for decades.

      1. I agree.

        It’s similar to that old canard that Hitler disarmed all the Germans when in fact Germans could legally own firearms throughout the Third Reich’s existence. The only people who were disarmed by the regime were known political opponents of the state (for the most part, communists) and Jews. Criminals, as is ever the case, weren’t affected by gun registration anyway.

        The Nazis actually encouraged the “right kind” of Germans to become proficient with firearms. Among the biggest attractions for boys to join the Hitler Youth were: camping (particularly the food), glider-flying and rifle-shooting.

        Of course, by early 1945, most every German male had been issued a firearm whether they wanted one or not.

      2. But it is for a pacified, cowed civilian and that’s what far too many Canadians have become and they don’t want any outliers. Not one.

      3. That is true, but it is a separate issue. Primary reason I advocate for firearm ownership is self defense. I like the idea of a citizen’s militia ready to challenge the state but it is secondary.

        As an aside while you can have a totalitarian society with or without guns, you cannot have a free society without them.

        1. Great comment.

          Let me add: firearm ownership by law abiding civilians is a necessary condition, though not a sufficient condition for having a free society.

  2. “This will once and for all put a stake through the hart of gun control.”
    Not really. Soon enough you’ll be required to have a license to own a 3-D printer.
    I suspect things will head that way very quickly. A guy who owns a 3-D shop will have more inspections than a rogue nation in pursuit of WMDs.

    1. – Which, considering most rogue nations seeking WMD’s are pretty good at turning-away inspectors at gunpoint, doesn’t say a lot! 😉

  3. Kids on You Tube can easily make homemade guns from scrap in dads garage, only mentally ill Liberal retards think they can ban guns any more successfully than banning Pot………

    1. – are you complaining about this? – RAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY – CIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSS!!!!!!
      /sarc

    1. I seem to recall a 12 year old boy back in the 1960s who made a gun from a car antenna. It fired .22 short rounds. The exceedingly intelligent and attractive young man never had the guts to hold it in his hand to fire it. Having a neighbor with half his face missing from an exploded rifle and another missing 2 fingers from playing with blasting caps, our young genius Adonis knew better.

    2. My thoughts exactly … and what manner of death devices are to be found on the www ? I suspect that it is quite easy to find bomb-making, firearm-making, how-to, DIY, alllllll over the web.

      PS … I won’t have any need for a crude, 3d printed gun … to defend myself against a gang banger with a tech-9, uzzi, or the average 9mm handgun on the streets. It would be like bringing a paper clip to a knife fight.

  6. A tremendous amount of disinformation about this from the media in Canada. (Surprise surpise). It is perfectly legal to manufacture a gun in Canada as long as you have the correct license to possess it, despite GlobalTV’s statements to the contrary. Also, these guns are not undetectable by airport scanners. They require firing pins, barrels and, most importantly, ammunition. All made of detectable metal. A plastic gun without ammo is just a piece of plastic.

    1. well if you know yer stuff, you can make a perfectly killing/shooting devise without metal

    2. – And BTW, for those of you with the metal (and the stones) to try this, please remember – if it does not exceed 500 fps, it’s not a firearm. “Somebody I don’t know and have never met”, has been mulling-over Saturday Night Special plans in “his” head for a very long time, based-on this…

  7. Plus, as seen on tv, they explode!
    Brings new meaning to the expression, “need a hand?”

  8. Compare the Canadian media and political angst, regarding this, to the studied indifference to the possible connection between the Danforth shooter, Islamist ideology, and 40 kg of weaponizable chemicals. The displayed ignorance of the media regarding the supposed dangers of “printed” guns is either laughable or an intentional ruse.

  9. The disarming of law abiding Americans all part of the New World Order the Open Borders the CFR and the UN as well

  10. Saskatchewan’s own Ralph Goodale, Minister of All That’s Right (Left) and Good” is certainly whipping up the hysteria on these weapons of fantasy, must be five articles on the subject at National newswatch.
    Problem is, a generation raised on starry trek with it’s replicators believes you can actually press a button and voila, you have a perfectly workable firearm which you can use to commit criminal acts.

    The media once again proves what liberal whores they are by helping Good Old Ralph deflect from the recent Toronto terrorist act committed by a Muslim. See how nicely THAT story has been replaced by this pile of bull$hit!?

    So, no one in the media,mainstream or otherwise, is asking about the family that immigrated here from Pakistan, and managed to own TWO sons, one a notorious drug dealers and possibly involved in a WMD plot with his 42 kilos of carfentanyl, and the other an ordinary terrorist who chose an illegal handgun to commit his mayhem.

    I’d like to know some background on how this family was carefully vetted,what they’ve done to earn a living since they arrived in Canada, and how in hell BOTH their sons were murderous scumbags. Parenting skill lacking,or were the lads simply a chip off the old block?

    We’ll never know,as investigative journalism is long dead,so in it’s place we have hysterical shrieking over a piece of plastic crap that no sensible person would every try to fire unless it was tied to a tree 25 feet away.

    2. Although Goodale is indeed a Saskatchewan MP the term “Saskatchewan’s own Ralph Goodale” gives me much the same feeling as that of stepping in fresh dog crap in the park. “Regina- Wascana’s Ralph Goodale” is more palatable. After all, they elected the spineless bobble-head. Good old Ralphie is as useless as a screen door on a submarine and really serves no purpose other than creating hysteria and collecting a fat salary for doing so. Trudeau is the most detestable Liberal out there but Goodale is running a close second.

    3. I would also like to point out that the FAMILY has to date not Said 1 Thing in relation to Faisal or his Brother.

      The Letter sent to MSM within hrs of this Terrorist Attack was penned by Mohammed Hashim, a known Islamic Activist…(Muslim Brotherhood Operative I’m betting). Of course all the MSM Leftards jumped on it as “proof” this was no Terror Attack…

      https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/furey-meet-the-spin-doctor-behind-the-hussain-family-statement

    5. Ah of course gotta weld in some lies about a jihadist attack substantiated by nothing. Thank God you people are dying off already.

      1. Yes with every jihadi terrorist attack our people are dying. And you celebrate their murder like a Paleosimian on 9-11.

    6. Well said.

      Ralph reminds me of the character Squealer in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Ottawa’s potentate to Saskatchewan.

  11. The first time round for Defence Distributed making their printable gun documents available, in 2013, they had more than 100,000 in the few hours before a judge nixed that idea.
    There wasn’t any restriction on who downloaded them, including Canada… Of course nobody would know how many were actually utilised and printed, but isn’t that Cody Wilson’s intent, to make this available to anyone. He said as much when first offered to the public, and still does.
    If knowledge is power, it’s easy to see why the gov’t would oppose this.

    The hysteria of those commenting on news sites from within Canada is something to behold. I can’t tell if it’s mostly from Ontario or Quebec but it’s certainly 90:10 against this.
    I think the groups associated with Toronto’s new gangland culture will have noted this, has anyone sought to register their laptops?

    https://www.defdist.org

  13. The Republicans on FOX had a round table on this subject… It was real easy to pick-out the Social Engineering Brits & low key Economist experts…. What does history teach us about Gun Control before the MUTT heads started their failed agenda… Dumber than a bag of Hammers… What happens when you scream Guns! Guns! to the impressionable individual Youth….Yep! more Guns with nothing to shoot… but people they don’t like….BTW: Shep Smith is Fox’s WAPO

    I am more concerned with Armed Police (community worker) who can’t pass the basic marksman Test… We all understand why it is necessary for kids to pass a swimming test before going on a Camping trip that involves water…But we allow Police who don’t know to load, or fire a GUN accurately to carry a gun & the ones that do have the talent may be psychological unfit….

  14. I made my first pipe gun and gun powder when I was in grade school and luckily didn’t maim or kill me or anyone in close proximity (close calls). If I wanted to make a safe gun, I would get a small lathe and milling machine but it would be much easier to get one on the black market and in Canada, it would be no more illegal either way.

  18. I was listening to a radio host and his guest breathlessly expanding on the ability of humans to make plastic guns using 3D printing. I was a bit bemused. Such a weapon would likely only stand up to a few rounds being fire before it became inoperative if it lasted past its first shot but what I found really interesting is this fixation we have with guns and the potential harm they can do. The Danforth shooter killed 2 people and injured a few more. Bad man bad action bad bad bad. His brother was caught with enough weapons grade poison to kill most of the population of Canada and no one even mentions it. (the cops called it street drugs) I often think the great gun ‘controversy’ is little more than a ‘SQUIRREL’ operation to keep people from focusing on things that pose a real threat to their existence ie imported terrorists with poison that can be turned into and aerosol and kill thousands of people at a time.

  19. if I knew how to hack the web site, I would change the digital blueprints to churn out a statuette of ponysocksturd with a handgun shaped dildo in his ear.

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