World's first plastic gun, made with 3D printer, successfully fired in the United States

World's first plastic gun, made with 3D printer, successfully fired in the United States

news.nationalpost. com

The successful firing of the world’s first plastic gun made with 3D printing technology, has brought immediate calls for a ban on so-called “undetectable weapons.”

The gun, called “The Liberator”, was made and developed in Austin, Texas by a non-profit organization called Defense Distributed, which claims its purpose is to “produce and publish information related to the 3D printing of firearms.”

The weapon was made with a 3D printer brought on eBay for just $8,000, and constructed by assembling 15 printed components made from ABS plastic. According to the BBC, which witness

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****Author note******

(For readers and the mods)

This is a new story. It is part of an ongoing effort to create an ABS plastic gun from scratch by defence distributed. Yes, there has been coverage before, but that was merely for their printed upper, lower receivers and ammo clips. This is a new story where they have printed the very first fully functional gun, entirely from scratch, using a 3D printer.

Well, they finally did it.

I don't know how many of you have been following defence distributed and the Wiki Gun Project, but they have been aiming to make a 3d printed gun from ABS plastic. They did it finally. A firing pistol from ABS printed plastic.

The ramifications of this could be large. Although, in the past, a CNC machine or some simple ingenuity at the hardware store could make you a pen gun, so I dont know how excited people should be getting over this. (Politicians love getting excited though!)

Think of the children!

news.nationalpost. com
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Time to invest all your money into super glue.

Originally posted by fatpastyhead
Time to invest all your money into super glue.

It's melted ABS plastic actually.

www.protoparadigm.com...

1. Theres about 4 threads on this already.
2. He's not the first.
3. He's not printing a whole gun.

Ban printers!

Seriously, these 3D printers will completely change our way of life soon enough when there is one in every household!

Yay he made the perfect gun for terrorists and criminals where they dont have to go through background checks to get them and it cant be detected by metal detectors. Nice and easy to get into airports. Not to mention can be made by people of any age, smuggled into schools easily.

What an unbelievably stupid thing to do

Originally posted by alfa1


1. Theres about 4 threads on this already.
2. He's not the first.
3. He's not printing a gun. Just one part.

There are plenty of threads on his progress. Today they released the full specs, and downloads, on a fully created gun from scratch, made in ABS plastic, by a 3D printer.

Hmm...

Alfa, you are usually the type to go beyond the headline. I'm shocked in your laziness today.



It's a new story, just came out, don't get your panties in a bunch.

The red haring that will be the death nail for home manufacturing.

Can't have 3d printing because its dangerous.

Only one its dangerous to is intellectual property holders.

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
Yay he made the perfect gun for terrorists and criminals where they dont have to go through background checks to get them and it cant be detected by metal detectors. Not to mention can be made by people of any age, smuggled into schools easily.

What a total idiot

Like I said in the OP, with a little ingenuity, pen guns can be made from nearly anything. They have even made them to look exactly like cellphones. And, they have been made out of ceramic and high grade molded plastic before (which is why a 3d Printed version was really a matter of time.)

The only difference here is, that it doesn't take someone with the creativity to create the gun itself, it only needs a person who can operate a 3d printer now...

I am not that knowledgeable on the existing laws regarding manufacturing of firearms, so I look to the ATS community here to chime on on my following questions.

- Wouldn't this already be covered under existing firearm manufacturing laws?
One of the worries is no serial number is printed on it.

- So, if you are a firearms manufacturer, are you required by law to add a serial number (and record them) on every item?
So, if these CAD plans include adding a serial number, it would now be the obligation of the person printing it to follow the existing laws to record them, etc..., right?

(I also wonder why the serial number could not be printed internally in the ABS plastic, to void the ability to "scratch it off" as can be done on existing metal firearms)

reply to post by boncho


Yes where as before you would need a work shop and specialist tools , materials and knowledge and skill to make something like this now all you need is a 3d printer.

On the whole i'm not anti gun, i love to do a bit of target shooting when i visit the states.

But why even bother making an undetectable gun that is free? I cant see any good coming from designing something like this.

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
reply to post by boncho

 

Yes where as before you would need a work shop and specialist tools , materials and knowledge and skill to make something like this now all you need is a 3d printer.

Why even bother? I cant see any good coming of designing something like this.

Part of the "good" in this is that it shows what a farce it is to create new laws banning more weapons.

Originally posted by boncho

Originally posted by alfa1


1. Theres about 4 threads on this already.
2. He's not the first.
3. He's not printing a gun. Just one part.

There are plenty of threads on his progress. Today they released the full specs, and downloads, on a fully created gun from scratch, made in ABS plastic, by a 3D printer.

Hmm...

Alfa, you are usually the type to go beyond the headline. I'm shocked in your laziness today.

It's a new story, just came out, don't get your panties in a bunch.

Actually Alfa1 is right and there are other threads on this "complete" gun, which it is not. They cannot print a firing pin, and had to use a nail, which makes it completely detectable by metal detectors.

AboveTopSecret

reply to post by boncho


I personally do not view this as good news. There are just too many things that can and probably will go wrong; this technology will get into the wrong hands of some criminals and/or mentally unstable people who may use this technology to harm themselves or others.

Society already has enough problems with the guns that are out in society now. I do know that there are good people who are responsible gun owners and only use guns for hunting and self-defense and I do understand that; however I am just one of those people who does not like weapons of any kind and yes I do worry.

Originally posted by Krakatoa
I am not that knowledgeable on the existing laws regarding manufacturing of firearms, so I look to the ATS community here to chime on on my following questions.

- Wouldn't this already be covered under existing firearm manufacturing laws?
One of the worries is no serial number is printed on it.

- So, if you are a firearms manufacturer, are you required by law to add a serial number (and record them) on every item?
So, if these CAD plans include adding a serial number, it would now be the obligation of the person printing it to follow the existing laws to record them, etc..., right?

(I also wonder why the serial number could not be printed internally in the ABS plastic, to void the ability to "scratch it off" as can be done on existing metal firearms)

I would add that perhaps the laws be updated to force the manufacturers to ensure metal is incorporated within their firearm products so as to be detectable. Maybe an embedded serial number made of metal...something of that sort.

What a surprise. These printers were hailed as a medical advance etc. What do the Americans do? Print a gun. Yay! :/

Originally posted by GMan420

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
reply to post by boncho

 

Yes where as before you would need a work shop and specialist tools , materials and knowledge and skill to make something like this now all you need is a 3d printer.

Why even bother? I cant see any good coming of designing something like this.

Part of the "good" in this is that it shows what a farce it is to create new laws banning more weapons.

Great , 3d printers had so much potential to help mankind in so many ways and now they are probably going to be banned or so highly regulated they practically become unavailable just because someone wanted to use it as a pawn in the American gun debate.

Way to go America.

Originally posted by Krakatoa
I am not that knowledgeable on the existing laws regarding manufacturing of firearms, so I look to the ATS community here to chime on on my following questions.

- Wouldn't this already be covered under existing firearm manufacturing laws?
One of the worries is no serial number is printed on it.

- So, if you are a firearms manufacturer, are you required by law to add a serial number (and record them) on every item?
So, if these CAD plans include adding a serial number, it would now be the obligation of the person printing it to follow the existing laws to record them, etc..., right?

(I also wonder why the serial number could not be printed internally in the ABS plastic, to void the ability to "scratch it off" as can be done on existing metal firearms)

It is 100% legal in the US to manufacture a firearm for personal use. You do not have to serialize it, but it is recommended that you do. I made the point in another thread on the same topic that this is nothing new, because I can go down to my local hardware store right now and put together a zip gun which is exactly what this guy created, and I don't need a 3D printer to do it.

For your information, per provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968, 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44, an unlicensed individual may make a “firearm” as defined in the GCA for his own personal use, but not for sale or distribution.

The GCA, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3), defines the term “firearm” to include the following: …
(A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may be readily converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive:
(B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon;
(C) any firearm muffler or silencer; or
D) any destructive device. Such term does not include an antique firearm.

ATF

reply to post by PhoenixOD


If I could flag this post I would. But a solitary star that is all I can do. Well said my friend.