3D printer can make firearms, the issue of safety caused controversy

2020-09-06 09:13:54

Cody Wilson, a student at the University of Texas Law School, is developing 3D printing of guns

Beijing, October 10, according to foreign media reports, guns can always be produced at home. But if gun knowledge and gun-making technology are no longer needed to make guns, what will this society become?

The days when felony criminals who cannot legally purchase guns can print a gun at home are not far off. When teenagers make guns in their bedrooms, their parents may think they are â€œplaying with computersâ€. Now talk about how to make a fully functional gun. Download the schematics for free from the Internet, and then make guns on the 3D printer, everything is done by clicking the button.

Click on print and then walk away, you will have a gun in a few hours. This does not require background checks, no age restrictions, and no serial number engraved on the gun or a sales receipt that needs to track the gun â€™s destination. This sounds like science fiction, but 3D printers are quickly becoming consumer products.

These printers, which cost about $ 1,000, can print objects of various shapes by spraying thin plastic, metal, or ceramic coatings. This printer has been used for a long time to produce prototype products and parts for industrial enterprises. The speed of 3D printers is getting faster every week, and prices are falling. Manufacturer MakerBot has opened a 3D printer retail store in Manhattan. Chinese companies have started to produce this product, and reduced the price to $ 500.

Amateurs have printed fairly simple objects: prosthetics, iPhone shells: sculptures of cats and lost luggage buckles. Some people have used 3D printers to make gun parts. The guns made with these parts have successfully fired bullets. Cody Wilson, a law student at Texas State University, is making a full-featured printed firearm.

Wilson, who manages the Defense Distributed website, said: "We hope to fully test this product and plan to publish the documents to the Internet in the next few months." He called the gun Wiki Weapon. In a video explaining the goal of the project, he described Wiki weapons as the world's first "3D printed personal defense system."

Wilson said in this video: "When only a fatal blow is needed, Wiki weapons are very useful. We will implement a weapon system that can be printed from the desktop. As long as you have a computer, you can make weapons." In most cases It is not legal to make guns yourself, and it is quite difficult. Ginger Colbrun, a spokeswoman for the American Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Authority (ATF), said that people have already made pen-shaped, book-shaped and belt-buckle-shaped guns. But the production of these devices and conventional weapons requires certain knowledge and skills.

Ms. Colebrun said that the agency is paying close attention to 3D printers, â€œalways pay attention to illegal activities and new gun smuggling activities, but will not violate personal rights.â€ However, to monitor whether people are using 3D printers to make guns It is impossible unless ATF has employees in every family. At the same time, it is impossible to implant a technology in these printers to prevent people from printing guns.

Wilson mentioned a project in the video: RepRap printer, this technology will be able to replicate itself with other 3D printers. After criminals use printed weapons to commit crimes, they can melt plastic and reprint them into sparse and ordinary Buddha statues. Guns made of plastic cannot be identified by metal detectors in airports, courts, or other government departments.

Daniel Gross, president of the Brady Gun Violence Campaign and Brady Gun Violence Center, said: "It's terrible considering the fact that people have the opportunity to evade background checks and get guns." The association did not respond to requests for comment.

In view of the many loopholes in the management of firearms in the United States, and it is easy for people to buy guns online, the problem of printing guns seems to be just adding a drop of water to the Olympic swimming pool. According to the annual report released by the ATF, the United States produces more than 5.5 million guns every year, not including the millions of guns imported.

Gross said: "40% of the guns are sold through the gun show management loopholes, people can already buy guns without a background check. And the Internet is a gun show that will never end." A lot of 3D printed guns were exclusively released online. Michael Guslick, an amateur gunner who makes technology, says that people have been trying to make guns for a while.

He said that the most famous example is the zip gun made of water pipe parts (not surprisingly, the production diagram and instructions can be downloaded online). He said: "This is just applying different techniques to what is already being done. But compared to hose guns, 3D printed guns are more difficult to make." So far, this task has not been as simple as printing, although some people have successfully made 3D printed guns. The main problem is not printing technology, but the lack of sufficiently strong plastics for the production of firearms.

But this year, Gusrick printed some parts of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle with a 3D printer. He used ABS plastic, which is "the same kind of plastic used to make LEGO toys."

5QT Ice bucket:

We have provided custom beer kegs for Coca-Cola, Corona, Carlsberg, etc. The sizes of the Ice Buckets are 5QT, 7.5QT, 10QT and 15QT and so on. The round ice buckets are small and portable, with various types of handles and bottle openers, and simple operation.

Description of the 5QT ice bucket:

Name:5Qt Ice Bucket

Spec:Î¦230/Î¦170Ã—180mm

Material: galvanized iron

Note: can hold 6 beer bottles of 355ml

Fields of applications: bar, party, hotel, home, outdoor activity

5QT Ice bucket round ice buckets