My cousin made a zip gun in 1976 with a piece of brass tube and a clothespin. A friend of mine made a better zip gun in 1992 with a piece of chrome moly and a lathe. Guns are easy. 3d printing only serves to open them up to the schlubs that failed metal shop.I'm not going to address the issue of gun control directly, but I think an interesting point that will be relevant in the near future is the ability to easily build your own guns with relatively cheap and accessible technology.
Right I understand that, but it's still a difficult task to build a reliable and functional semi-automatic weapon from scratch. Most gun legislation happens due to mass shootings, and in these mass shootings it's usually a semi-automatic rifle being used, which is usually what is being regulated. A 12 year old kid can order an upper receiver for an ar-15 off the internet or from a store with no restrictions and then buy a 3d printer for a couple hundred bucks, and in the future may have access to it already as some predict they will become a household item, and have a fully functional and reliable AR-15 in a matter of a few days. At least with homemade weapons there is some skill involved, and to build a reliable piece capable of being useful in a mass shooting would take at least a couple years for some random kid to hone the skill to build it, assuming he didn't have previous knowledge on metal working. If the problem with gun regulation being addressed is the ease of access to the firearms, then legislation for 3d-printing should definitely be considered, at least a background check for whomever purchases the 3d-printer, or changing the definition of what is a gun to include upper receivers as well.
No doubt. That's why we bought them at gun shows. While my buddy was machining himself a 9mm smoothbore, we were passing on Finnish anti-tank cannons for $1500. My uncle didn't like guns in the house, so my cousin experimented. My buddy Matt's parents didn't like guns in the house, so Matt experimented. Meanwhile, I could go plinkin' any time I wanted with 3 SKS, an AK-47, 2 AR-15s, an M1 garand, an M1 springfield, an AR-7, a .357, a .45 and my personal favorite, the 12-gage/30.30 over-under "bear gun." The thing that has changed the most since then is the cost of ammo. I used to get Chinese steel-core for 2 cents a round - then that asshole who makes the Thomson Contender decided 7.62x39 was a great pistol caliber so suddenly it became import-banned. Then all the crazy 'wingers decided Obama was going to take their guns so the ammo industry started gouging. Frickin' 5.56 - the Prepper round of choice - is now over a buck a bullet. Trust me, I know - I bought the limit (10 boxes of 20) for a buddy at Stockpile Defense. The 3d printer thing is a red herring, same as the "glock panic" back in the '80s.Right I understand that, but it's still a difficult task to build a reliable and functional semi-automatic weapon from scratch.
Yeah, the price of ammo is getting crazy expensive. Now our 5.45x39 surplus is getting banned too. It's a good thing I haven't bought an AK74 yet or I would be pissed. You still can't even find .22, which makes shooting for cheap pretty much impossible these days. I should mention I am against the semi-auto bans, but it's always being considered by some politicians, and if it does ever come back I wouldn't doubt if a few politicians would want to go after 3d printers too. I think you're right it's a red herring, but that doesn't mean it won't be all over tv with people pushing for regulation.