The world’s first entirely 3D-printed gun has been made

There are a couple issues with the article that I'd love to address.<p><i>While DD was making progress with its 3D-printed gun experiment, the company managed to get a license to become a legal manufacturer and vendor of guns, somewhat muddling the legal status of the 3D-printed gun, a weapon anyone with a 3D-printer could make at home.</i><p>There's absolutely no "muddling" here. You can do any amount of gunsmithing you want, at home, and it's legal without a manufacturer's license up to a very specific point. You can feel free to make a stock, a trigger, a pistol grip, etc., but just don't make a receiver. On some guns there's a lower and upper receiver, in which case you can make the lower without the license. Make the upper without a license and you're in trouble.<p>Side note: don't make a silencer either. They are easy enough to make and you don't need the license to make it, but you do need the license to own it.<p><i>The Liberator still has some more testing to go through</i><p>It's probably damn close to a 1-shot gun and then replace the barrel. It also won't have rifling so it won't be accurate. The cartridge next to the gun in the picture appears to be a .22 short which is probably the maximum the plastic can handle. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near this thing when a .38 or 9mm cartridge is fired. The plastic won't contain the significant force.<p><i>but the lack of requiring a license — and the gun’s lack of a serial number — are unsettling thoughts.</i><p>Much like you don't technically need a license to make a gun, you don't need a license to drive a car. Simple guns have been made by machinists for a long, long time. And you don't need a serial number on a gun either but if you are found with a gun sans serial number it's a felony with huge prison time. But cops see guns with serial numbers shaved off all the time.<p>I understand the threat of plastic guns getting on a plane or through security but you'd still need to get a bullet through as well which wouldn't be so easy.

I don't quite get the big concern about 3D printed guns, although printing the barrel is impressive. It's been possible to make a gun (as defined by US firearms law) at home for a long time with cnc equipment:<p><a href="http://cncguns.com/" rel="nofollow">http://cncguns.com/</a><p>In fact, it's possible to buy an "80% lower receiver" for an AR-15 and some jigs that will let you finish it on a drill press. 80% is the magic number at which it's no longer considered a firearm. Even with advances in 3D printing I'd much rather shoot a metal firearm than a printed one. I'd also assume that they're using a fairly pricey 3D printer, or doing a lot of finishing work, and not using a stock reprap or the like.<p>If AK-47s are more interesting, they can be made out of sheet metal.<p>Also, I'm pretty sure the name is a reference to the FP-45 liberator, which was designed to be used by the resistance during WWII.<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator</a>

Based on the name Liberator and the shape, it's probably an homage to the FP-45 Liberator: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator</a><p>The FP-45 was created to basically be good for one shot. You would use it at close range to incapacitate someone with a better weapon (e.g. an occupying soldier) and take theirs.

Correct me if I'm wrong: But anything you make with a 3d printer, ignoring super-high-precision work, you can make out of a block of wood and time, correct?<p>The only real benefit to a 3d printer is it idiot-proofs the task and provides for greater precision. It'll be easier to create 10,000 cheap plastic guns but if you only need 1 because you're in the middle of a Tom Clancy novel then you may as well assemble it from pvc and other store-bought stuff.<p>3D printed guns will make great fodder for spy novels, but I don't really see them as a threat.

Scott Locklin had a weblog post giving background information on past attempts to use 3D printers to make guns. Note that this was published in August of last year.<p><a href="https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2012/08/11/bad-engineering-journalism-reporting-on-3-d-printing-of-guns/" rel="nofollow">https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2012/08/11/bad-engineerin...</a>

I remember back in the days around columbine when zero tolerance became a thing. It was huge news when kids would bring plastic toy guns to school and get expelled.<p>At least now there's some credible reasons to be afraid of that gun that looks like a toy ;)

Remember that a hammer and a pair of pliers is also a "gun" if you happen to have a bullet. Its dangerous to fire, hard to aim, and has a very low muzzle velocity, but it does meet the criteria.

The analogous technological situation is with color printers and counterfeiting money. The color printer did not bring about a "counterfeiting revolution" or "distributed currency" or anything like that. Simply manufacturers of the printers have software preventing printing of realistic currency.<p>When the 3d printing industry reaches some sort of maturity, IF it ever goes mainstream, similar measures will be instituted.<p>Hell, I haven't read the relevant law but quite possibly he's already in violation of the Undetectable Firearms Act. Any federal prosecutors keeping up with this story? Ortiz?<p>Basically all you have here is a privileged middle class kid who enjoys media attention and getting reactions from people.

In 1822, Charles Babbage wrote about a plan to print mathematical tables using a machine. Yet not until 1979, 157 years later, did Epson's competitively priced printer hit homes, establishing a market for such trinkets. The burgeoning realm of computer printers was launched. Today, mass-produced printers flourish, present in nearly every North American home, owing to a visionary mathematician.<p>In 1984, Charles Hull invented stereo-lithography: the ability to print tangible 3D objects. By 2002, scientists had engineered a functioning kidney, demonstrating the idea of printable organs. In 2008, the first printer capable of printing most of its own parts was created. The year 2012 saw the first 3D-printed prosthetic implant. Printing 3D objects is a technology poised to bloom.<p>In 1901, Ransom Olds invented the modern assembly line, ushering an era of mass production. His idea allowed manufacturers to make everything from horseless carriages to automatic weapons on an unprecedented scale, but not with free rein. Factory owners, distributors, and stores must abide by certain regulations, including strict gun controls. In a world of mass-produced, manufactured goods, drafting laws that restrict who can buy or produce guns makes sense.<p>Hardly will it take 157 years for 3D printers to go from hobbyist tinker-toy to standard home appliance. The technology is advancing faster than a speeding bullet. A decade hence will dawn the age of 3D printers, wounding the mass production industry and killing certain government controls.<p>Once people can print plastic cups and assorted nicknacks from their couch, the proliferation of untraceable guns could be... explosive.

Has anyone 3D-printed a guillotine yet?

What is the cost of printing vs. CNC milling a gun?

Any bets on how long before they get some sort of printed plastic projectile to fire from this gun?

They couldn't believe this had happened. Not because they couldn't imagine it... even though it took some great amount of imagination to develop such a cleverly devious plot, but because it has happened <i></i><i>now</i><i></i>.<p>The thought of this happening in 2014 was much earlier than many would have predicted. Any average team would have thought this scenario to be a reality in the much more distopian cyber-punk fantasy of 2020... but 2014.<p>It's still amazing that the device didn't raise red flags. The fact that she was able to get it through security is surprising and understandable at the same time.<p>There was no way the average security agent would have any clue what he was looking at, but even then, her demonstration would fool even the most skeptical security officer.<p>Witnesses and video show how her demonstration of the device marvelled all that saw it. While painted nicely, looking sleek and high tech - it's output seemed innocent enough. The device is an engineering masterpiece. Hard to believe that this much thought and innovation went into a plot so vile and base.<p>It's unclear if this is the only device - but given the age we live in, surely the plans are already in the hands of every major organized crime group on the planet... At least that is how we should operate.<p>The demonstration, using the touch screen on the side of the device to select from a vast list of printable toys and do-dads was impressive. The speed with which it output the objects was unreal. The quality unmatched.<p>Nobody would have suspected what was to happen next. She got into the conference, past both the physical and electronic scrutiny and quelled any suspicion of her intent.<p>What exactly happened next is still be investigated, but as best as we know, she was able to take the device into the storage room, complete her print and return to the conference floor to carry out the assassination. The gun printed was a marvel. A multi-shot, 100% printed mini rail-gun. The full body printed from the very machine that would then provide its power and ammunition.<p>At first, there was so much confusion, the rail-gun was relatively silent, and even though the PM was shot in front of nearly a thousand spectators, the deadly near-silence of the railgun prevented immediate involuntary reactions the crowed would have to any other gun.<p>This was different, a new era, one of those events where you know the world has changed and will never go back.<p>The device's ability to print out a fully working, multi-shot railgun in a matter of minutes and for that weapon to then be able to be used within minutes of being produced to assassinate one of the most prominent leaders in the world amidst the most advanced security governments can provide is truly a game changing event.<p>The assassin, while an unassuming, yet beautiful woman in her early 30s is believed to come from the Balkans. A region with a long history of controversial relations with Russia. While plots against Putin may have been considered in the past - it was not thought that there would actually be any credible threat coming from this region, and certainly never any threat as technologically advanced or innovative as this successful plot against him.<p>It's only been hours now since Putin was assassinated - but the repurcussions from this event will be massive, swift and likely extreme.<p>3D printing of conventional guns has been hotly debated in the last two years - but this, this is on a whole new level. There are already talks of licensure and control of designs, supplies and media. There is no way to track plastic and no way to regulate it. Governments are in a panic as to how to deal with this now.

This is just sad. We don't need more guns in this world.

If we can make guns entirely out of plastic, why haven't we seen plastic guns before?<p>For decades we've been able to do everything that's possible with a 3d printer with older technology injection molds, cnc mills, ect.

I have the feeling this will end up like the electric car.<p>It will be built, proven/sold, squashed, replaced by something inferior from outside the country, then slowly reappear over the next decade.

can you imagine the ramfications of this getting into the wrong hands?

Metal detectors obsolete?

Why shouldn't we be afraid of 3D printed guns? I don't like guns and I think the fewer people have them, the safer we are, but what can anyone do about this when you can simply buy a 3D printer and download a CAD file and begin mass producing an arsenal in secret?

How about 3d-printing something actually useful? Something which mankind actually really needs. Something which helps creating energy, making clean water, ...?<p>Cool, you can print guns. Next you can print bombs and all kinds of weapons.<p>How about using a new technology for something useful?<p>Sure you can make a statement by 3d printing a weapon. But with a little brain one should actually understand that there are a few other things which would be much more helpful. Just 'because you can' is fine. But this has been demonstrated already. Now it would be nice if people would demonstrate that they have a brain.