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Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

techworld.com.au

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Re: Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

#21

Post by smokeyj »

reader5000 wrote: post #15
jgoewert wrote: post #2

I can understand the worry about 3d printed weapons, but I don't see much of a difference between this an a zipgun besides that a common zipgun uses a metal tube for a barrel so it would show up on a metal detector. I am completely disinterested in any of the fearmongering about this weapon. There is no way to hold back technology to prevent violence, we just need to accept that and deal with not being asshats to eac…

I'm not sure the theory that violence is caused by "people being asshats to each other" is accepted by anybody other than Wayne LaPierre. Gun violence is caused, first and foremost, by the presence of a gun. A sufficient cause? Often yes, given appropriate context. There are plenty of very successful ways to "hold back" this technology. It's called law. Anyway I don't think anybody is worried about this 3d printed de…

> Gun violence is caused, first and foremost, by the presence of a gun.

Gun violence is caused by people.

Re: Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

#22

Post by corresation »

ck2 wrote: post #7

I am not sure why we care about people making plastic guns when they can make full-auto AK47s that are not traceable in the slightest. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/ak-47-semi-autom...

Most people fail putting an Ikea cabinet together. You cannot compare a simple print job with custom construction (even a zip gun is beyond the skills or available tools of many people).

3D printers are currently rare and expensive, however they are bound to become mainstream and inexpensive very quickly. When every angsty teenager has the capability to print a gun simply by hitting "print" with the $69 3D printer in the corner, there is a legitimate concern, and many of the haughty, world-weary replies to this submission declaring this a non-issue and nothing new are not reasonable.

How will the world adapt? We'll see. I fully expect consumer 3D printers to be legally required to identify gun-capable parts and reject to print them, or intentionally print flaws (in the same way that your printer will watermark printed currency, and your scanner will corrupt scans of currency). There will likely be restrictions on the strength of the materials, etc.

Re: Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

#24

Post by epochwolf »

zackzackzack wrote: post #18
jevinskie wrote: post #4

"This is now becoming a problem the world over," Scipione said. According to whom? The police forces that are trying to drum up FUD about hobby-manufactured firearms?

Part of the social contract in most societies is that the police are the only members of society who can use enough force to kill or injure anyone critically. The governments of these societies create laws to ensure that it is only special well regulated instances when an ordinary citizen can use deadly force (hunting of lower animals and self defense being two examples in the United States). Anywhere these guns can…

This isn't part of the social contract in parts of the US. Guns are pretty common in rural areas and I've see people open carry in urban areas around Seattle.

Re: Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

#25

Post by RealGeek »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #20
RealGeek wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So is it perfectly acceptable to kill people with home made guns and bombs for the progression of technology? This is actually terrorism. I see someone creating guns and killing people to be no different than boston bombers.

I'm less laid back regarding this than most of the people in this thread (I think it is a problem) but your comment is ridiculous. First of all what has this got to do with bombs? It's a story about a home made gun. Also: Terrorism: The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. Until someone uses this to cause terror it isn't terrorism. >> "I see someone creating guns and killing people to be…

This gun is godsend for terrorists. It is a gun that you can easily create at home, and it can be carried on planes and other high risk places without detection.

This is even better than bombs for terrorism.

Additionally, mass murders with guns kill more people in US than terrorism. Why shouldn't we classify New Town and Aurora shooting as terrorism?

Terrorism is not only about politics. Moreover, guns are probably the most political thing in US. Thanks to NRA.

Re: Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

#26

Post by Sambdala »

reader5000 wrote: post #15
jgoewert wrote: post #2

I can understand the worry about 3d printed weapons, but I don't see much of a difference between this an a zipgun besides that a common zipgun uses a metal tube for a barrel so it would show up on a metal detector. I am completely disinterested in any of the fearmongering about this weapon. There is no way to hold back technology to prevent violence, we just need to accept that and deal with not being asshats to eac…

I'm not sure the theory that violence is caused by "people being asshats to each other" is accepted by anybody other than Wayne LaPierre. Gun violence is caused, first and foremost, by the presence of a gun. A sufficient cause? Often yes, given appropriate context. There are plenty of very successful ways to "hold back" this technology. It's called law. Anyway I don't think anybody is worried about this 3d printed de…

Violence is 100% caused by "people being asshats to each other" though.

There may be complicated motivations or factors involved, but without at least one person being an "asshat" in any interaction between multiple human beings, you don't get violence.

Re: Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

#27

Post by freehunter »

reader5000 wrote: post #15
jgoewert wrote: post #2

I can understand the worry about 3d printed weapons, but I don't see much of a difference between this an a zipgun besides that a common zipgun uses a metal tube for a barrel so it would show up on a metal detector. I am completely disinterested in any of the fearmongering about this weapon. There is no way to hold back technology to prevent violence, we just need to accept that and deal with not being asshats to eac…

I'm not sure the theory that violence is caused by "people being asshats to each other" is accepted by anybody other than Wayne LaPierre. Gun violence is caused, first and foremost, by the presence of a gun. A sufficient cause? Often yes, given appropriate context. There are plenty of very successful ways to "hold back" this technology. It's called law. Anyway I don't think anybody is worried about this 3d printed de…

>Gun violence is caused, first and foremost, by the presence of a gun.

But violence is caused, first and foremost, by people being asshats to each other. A gun is just a tool a violent person may use to be violent. In the absence of a gun, they may use a knife, a baseball bat, a crowbar, a fist, a pencil, a screwdriver, a laptop, a bucket full of sardines, etc.

Re: Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

#28

Post by angersock »

reader5000 wrote: post #17
orangekawi wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technology is not the criminal here. Direct the resources and the anger at the criminals. If we spent half the time on dealing with the real issues (Hate and Prejudice) that we spent on trying to get rid of items that can kill people we would be far more effective at dealing with this problem. I'm just saying.

Actually the real issue is the widely available capacity to put 15 bullet holes in a person in 10 seconds. Let's solve that issue first, then we can worry about "Hate and Prejudice".

That means you kill two people every magazine. That's not so bad. This isn't really an issue--a properly aimed revolver would be more dangerous.

Remember, gun control means hitting your target.

Re: Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

#29

Post by InclinedPlane »

reader5000 wrote: post #17
orangekawi wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technology is not the criminal here. Direct the resources and the anger at the criminals. If we spent half the time on dealing with the real issues (Hate and Prejudice) that we spent on trying to get rid of items that can kill people we would be far more effective at dealing with this problem. I'm just saying.

Actually the real issue is the widely available capacity to put 15 bullet holes in a person in 10 seconds. Let's solve that issue first, then we can worry about "Hate and Prejudice".

That's not "the real issue" here either. Such a capacity has a negligible impact on crime, let alone gun crime.

Re: Australian police issue warning on 3D printed guns

#30

Post by chiph »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #5
jgoewert wrote: post #2

I can understand the worry about 3d printed weapons, but I don't see much of a difference between this an a zipgun besides that a common zipgun uses a metal tube for a barrel so it would show up on a metal detector. I am completely disinterested in any of the fearmongering about this weapon. There is no way to hold back technology to prevent violence, we just need to accept that and deal with not being asshats to eac…

Indeed. It's a typical moral panic. The fact is that improvised guns have always been easy to manufacture from very cheap materials. Anyone could make a gun as capable as the 3d printed gun using less than $10 of parts from home depot and no more than a day's labor.

After seeing the gun and electro-glove that Tony Stark made in Iron Man 3 (spoiler, sorry), why isn't there more outrage over Home Depot sourced weapons? Personally, I wondered why Tony just didn't buy a fuel-cell powered nail gun, and tape the safety nose down.
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