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Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

theguardian.com

71–80 of 125 posts

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#71
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A CNC is something that is pitifully easy for a regulatory agency to track, as far as large numbers of purchases go. See: that fellow who was milling AR-15 lowers and just got busted. We're talking about the difference between machining metal, and downloading and printing a schematic. I hope that you do see the difference.

It is easier to track distributing a sold product. It is very difficult to track what a person makes in the comfort of their home. I dont think the federal government keeps a registry for the purchase of milling machines.

If everyone who wants to own (to keep using this one example) an AR-15 had to buy a CNC, that would be quite the commitment. If the current model of people buying many milling machines and selling their services is the only viable way to avoid that, then you've already seen the feds start to take notice. After all, if you can get word of mouth around enough to make money, you're making enough noise to be heard.

3D printing is presumably going to become ubiquitous, and require no skill or experience to operate and maintain.

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#72
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A CNC is something that is pitifully easy for a regulatory agency to track, as far as large numbers of purchases go. See: that fellow who was milling AR-15 lowers and just got busted. We're talking about the difference between machining metal, and downloading and printing a schematic. I hope that you do see the difference.

Easier than 3D printers? how so?

I'm saying the exact opposite.

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#73
post #45
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In case of unbearable government tyranny, the civilians are going to have an insurgency against their own fathers, sons, and brothers?

You may be interested in the Korean movie, "Tae Guk Gi," which illustrates exactly what you're talking about and occurred during your parents' or grandparents' lives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taegukgi_(film)

Err... the movie shows what happens when the government forces people to shoot the bad guys. When there are two governments (The Korean War), brothers end up shooting at each other.

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#74
post #41

To be honest, though Cody Wilson was responsible for the initial organization of the movement, he is largely irrelevant now, and the DIY gun community has pretty much disavowed him and moved over to FOSSCAD.org // https://twitter.com/fosscad and IRC. To show the difference in the developments, compare the single-shot Liberator featured in this article to the revolving Washbear designs by FOSSCAD: https://imgur.com/a/…

Thanks for those links. Fantastic!

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#75
post #2

With the advancement of technology it's harder and harder to sympathize with the idea that firearms in the US could effectively combat governmental tyranny. Situations such as Ruby Ridge and Waco could be handled by drones now. It's hard to believe that there is a principle at play here deeper than a simple love of guns.

Yeah, you're right. See, for instance, the way that the West totally put down the Taliban in Afghanistan and pacified the entire country, which is now peaceful to this day. The Taliban were just a bunch of illiterate goat herders with AKs, so there's no way they could stand up to the America's more technologically advanced army, plus the drones. And then look at Iraq, and Syria, and all of the other insurgencies invo…

In other words, "American civilians with guns" makes perfect sense if you predict (1) America will become like Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria in the near future, or (2) civilians with guns can somehow stop America from becoming like Afghanistan, Iraq, or Syria.

Considering that all those armed insurgents in those countries didn't stop governments (domestic or foreign) from killing them, I'm skeptical on (2). Regarding (1), well, if you want to believe that... (shrug)

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#76
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The existence of an armed, trained civilian population prevents the current government from going completely insane with the vast power they've thus far been allowed to take and selectively abuse." Yes, that's why basically all Europe lives in a dictatorship now-a-days due to our gun control laws.

Hey, you never know. Also, I'll bet the American government is a lot more afraid of the people than most European governments are of their people. I suppose that could be argued either way to be a good or a bad thing.

I disagree.

I bet the French government is more afraid of their people than the American government is.

The French people shut down their economy and raise holy hell when the government starts acting contrary to their interests.

The Americans mumble some crap about 2nd Amendment rights online, and then fire up steam or crack a beer.

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#77

It's really interesting when I tell people that I'm in the 3D printing industry and their first reaction is to tell me someone 3D printed a gun. So many people know about it now, and I don't think it's a bad thing either. It gets people thinking about what complex things can be created with this technology. I believe the story has been an overall positive educational tool for the industry and the mainstream's underst…

I run a small Makerspace, I see a teenage boy come in the door every month or so, eye the printers, and ask if they can print a gun .... that gives me a good chance to explain that making your own hand gun is illegal and that using a printer doesn't change that.

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#78
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can start with an 80% lower and a $20 router from Harbor Freight and get something pretty good depending on how you set up a jig. It ain't rocket science.

No it isn't, but look at the instructions on a pack of ketchup some time and bask in the glory of the LCD. "Set up a jig" is alien babble to a huge number of people, for whom, "Press print" would not be.

That's what the internet is for.

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#79
> The theory is that for the first time ever, publication to the internet, apart from generating data, amounts to an export of technical data related to defense services.”

wasn't this the case with crypto 2 decades ago?

> “No,” says Wilson. “It does not register on my meter. Whatsoever.”

Seems like this could be phrased better at least.

Re: Cody Wilson, the man who wants Americans to 3D print their own guns

#80
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The existence of an armed, trained civilian population prevents the current government from going completely insane with the vast power they've thus far been allowed to take and selectively abuse." Yes, that's why basically all Europe lives in a dictatorship now-a-days due to our gun control laws.

Hey, you never know. Also, I'll bet the American government is a lot more afraid of the people than most European governments are of their people. I suppose that could be argued either way to be a good or a bad thing.

I don't see people going on general strike, boycotting entire state agencies or even going out to protest massively
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