Saturday, May 11, 2013

Outrage Grows Over 3D-Printed Plastic Guns

OFF THE WIRE

Controversy has erupted over a plastic gun created from a design fed into a 3D printer — a weapon that could conceivably be smuggled past weapons detectors and create a major security breach at airports, courthouses and schools.
The so-called "3D gun'' was created by a group called Defense Distributed, which fed digital blueprints of a working firearm into a 3D printer to cast a hard polymer mold. It said its initial firing tests of the first gun — created for about $8,000 — were successful.
The only nonplastic part of the weapon is a nail which serves as the firing pin — allowing the gun to escape federal restrictions on undetectable firearms.
Defense Distributed, headed by gun advocates, is reportedly planning on releasing blueprints of the 3D gun online this week — a plan New York Sen. Chuck Schumer slammed as "stomach-churning."
“Now anyone — a terrorist, someone who is mentally ill, a spousal abuser, a felon — can essentially open a gun factory in their garage,” Schumer said. “It must be stopped.”
Rep. Steve Israel, a Long Island Democrat, announced he has drafted a bill to outlaw the technology for the use of creating weapons.

According to Forbes magazine, Defense Distributed’s goal is to adapt its method to work on cheaper printers.

Cody Wilson, a Texas law student who founded Defense Distributed, told Forbes, "You can print a lethal device. It's kind of scary, but that's what we're aiming to show. (See video below.)

"Anywhere there's a computer and an Internet connection, there would be the promise of a gun."

The National Rifle Association hasn't weighed in on the matter of 3D guns yet. A message to the group's press office was not immediately returned.