Originally posted by macman
Oh good hell.
They printed the lower to an AR15.
What does that mean? They still had to have a METAL barrel, METAL bolt, METAL chamber and so on.
Guns,as of now, and in the future, will still need metal components, as the expansion of gases and expelling a round will not work within the plastics
realm.
Ammo will not be printed either. You still need a primer and smokeless gun powder.
A plastic or Printed projectile will not operate in the same manner as a lead/steel/mixture of round.
I guess I could just buy a cheap 3d printer, and print a high end 3d printer if operating under any of this stupid gun logic.
edit on 4-12-2012 by macman because: (no reason given)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This
The headline is very misleading.
THEY DID NOT PRINT A FULLY FUNCTIONAL RIFLE!
They printed the lower receiver of an AR-15. For those that don't know, you can think of this as the base or frame that all of the other parts of
the gun bolt to - The AR-15 is like the Erector set of rifles...
Now, the lower receiver that they printed is considered a "gun" by the ATF as it is the only part that requires a background check when purchasing
from a dealer. But for our purposes is just a chunk of metal that other things bolt to... see below
I suppose that someone who couldn't pass a background check could print one of these and assemble a rifle as all of the other parts can be ordered
off the internet and sent directly to your house. But they could also do the same with a lower made on a CNC (or manual) milling machine which have
been around since long before the AR-15 was created...
Many states allow private party sales of firearms with no background check required - this would be much easier and cheaper than building your own
receiver and then hoping that it works for more than a few shots...
All of this hype is over nothing...
If you think for a
second criminals are going to waste their time with 3D printing of guns, you give criminals way too much credit.
