Live data from Hacker News

US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

on3dprinting.com

101–110 of 183 posts

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#101
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you been to any US airport recently? These guys grab my freaking nuts and touch me in places that usually only myself and my wife are allowed to access. And you say it'd be easy to get through them a piece of a size of a large brick without them noticing? Do you know what mayhem an explosive of a similar volume could create? Something does not add up here with your theory.

You put it in a bag, obviously. As a bonus, you redesign it into larger number of smaller pieces and spread them over several bags. You can stick your head in a sand as much as you want, but this is a game-changing development. If one can print a working gun, one can conceivably print other interesting things that to date were assumed to only exist in metal, the assumption that was the foundation of respective detect…

How many other things would it be possible to print? I do think you are right about it being a game-changing development, but at this moment I don't think there is a lot of threat from it. I think for the next couple of years, we can assume that respective detection technology will be fine.

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#102
post #94

From here it looks like in two years it will be completely possible to arm thousands of people on a large demonstration without law enforcement being able to step in. It might add some weight to peoples' opinion on CISPA, INDECT and other fascist inventions as they walk towards the parliament. And that's talking about first world. Remember Athens, Egypt? Try imagining it a few years from now. People will have afforda…

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I just upvote the first line of your reply?

Surely you can appreciate that most of the world considers the American obsession with guns absurd :) Most countries have strict gun laws and the people are fine with that. Banning 3D gun models is still stupid though, especially in a country with such high gun availability.

But there is a record. A printed 3D gun has no serial number or identification. Someone gets shot and killed with one, and there is no trace.

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#104
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not. Nobody was threatened with this, nobody will ever be threatened with this. This thing is un-concealable and unusable as a real-life weapon in any public safety scenario. If you think anybody with this prototype can threaten public safety you are badly mistaken. The idea that any time anything new happens the government should jump in and prohibit it until it is proven safe is exactly why politicians like t…

> This thing is un-concealable and unusable as a real-life weapon in any public safety scenario True. My worry is that this is just the v0.1 and it is the shape of things to come. Desktop CNC milling machines are also getting better rapidly and can make metal parts. ( http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/otherfab/the-othermill-c... ). Designing this gun was clearly an asshole move, but how do you prohibit it now? Cory…

Designing this gun was clearly an asshole move

I, for one, welcome any asshole moves that make governments afraid of their citizens.

DefDist's Bitcoin: 1Gb5GNxrVGMT8e9uoJ8CmamrdVz9o8fAEa ( http://defdist.org/bitcoin/ )

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#105
post #84

Unless I'm missing something, you will still need to purchase ammo to use in your 3D-printed gun, or else it will be useless. Are the sales of ammunition in the US completely unregulated?

When I worked at a place that sold ammo as far as I can remember we didn't have to track anything special. Guns had all kinds of tracking and restrictions, magazine sizes had restriction (for at least 5 states) but ammo seemed to be just fine. Since it was an internet store most of the orders were CC but even then we'd have the address we shipped to but it isn't like the ATF came in and asked about ammo. They would ask about the guns and make sure we were compliant there.

I get the nagging feeling that I had heard of some sort of tracking before but I can't recall any detail to search on. For all I know it might have just been a rumor and that increased our sales and that's what I heard.

Wal-Mart limits sales per customer per day[1].

[1]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732329370457833...

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I don't understand from you (and most anti-3D-printed-guns) is why you think it should be controlled in the first place? Even if you somehow found a compelling argument, the kind of control you're asking for is impossible . It's like trying to stop piracy with DRM: you're gonna piss off users and someone is just going to break your "controlled environment" in the end.

I think that 3D-printed-guns should be controlled because, even when I'd like to think that everybody is responsible and there isn't need for control, I know there are dumb or bad people who can harm themselves and others using this. I think that every gun (3D printed or not) should be controlled because of that same reason. Now, how can we control it? I don't really know. I'm not for DRM. I'm not for controlling 3D…

>The fact that 3D printed guns control is infeasible doesn't mean that leaving them uncontrolled is a good idea.

Actually, that is exactly what it means. Infeasibility is a good place to stop, as it means that what you are doing is not reasonably possible.

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#107
post #92
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you transport the bullets?

That's a different issue. Smuggling a small bullet past any security has got to be way easier than an entire gun.

Apart from the fact they're metal. I don't think (but I could be wrong) that a design for a plastic bullet has been perfected.

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#108
post #81

The government's stated reason for taking it down is that making weapons technology available for international download via the internet requires an ITAR license [1]. If he had simply blocked international IP addresses from downloading it, it would not have fallen under the powers of the State Department. I've had to even do ITAR licensing on portable half-racks of off the shelf Dell servers. It's a pain, but it is…

First admentment triumphs ITAR, that is why you can export crypto programs.

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#109

There seems to be a lot of assumption that the govt is somehow misunderstanding technology or the internet. I doubt they expect to prevent the distribution of those files, or that they even care about the printed gun - as others have said, it's not really anything new as there are existing ways to make one. What they probably do care about is Cody Wilson trying to build up some sort of cult around 3d weapon printing.…

while I think cody is a repulsive regressive snot, I would risk my life to defend his words. I feel his files are his words.

As for cults, the USG just played directly into Cody's hands... the files have now spread father and wider than if the USG had just ignored them in the first place.

Re: US Government Takes Down 3D Printed Gun Plans

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that 3D-printed-guns should be controlled because, even when I'd like to think that everybody is responsible and there isn't need for control, I know there are dumb or bad people who can harm themselves and others using this. I think that every gun (3D printed or not) should be controlled because of that same reason. Now, how can we control it? I don't really know. I'm not for DRM. I'm not for controlling 3D…

>The fact that 3D printed guns control is infeasible doesn't mean that leaving them uncontrolled is a good idea. Actually, that is exactly what it means. Infeasibility is a good place to stop, as it means that what you are doing is not reasonably possible.

I don't agree. Something impossible can be a good idea, i.e.

"The fact that inmortality is infeasible doesn't mean that dying is a good idea".

Post reply on HN