Caught this on the local news.
This is so stupid so stupid…LETS GIVE CRIMINALS MORE IDEAS…freakin stupid…
There was a thread on this a while back…they’re doing AR receivers too.
This isn’t “so stupid so stupid.” Magazines aren’t regulated anyway. And you’re already allowed to manufacture your own firearms. This will just make it easier. There’s a real potential beauty in making every single American household into their own manufacturers of small goods. Not just regarding firearms, but across the board. This technology is just getting going, and has the potential to revolutionize the way we do business.
Ahh, you’re correct. I only searched “printable magazines.” Sorry for the double post.
While I agree 100% with you…the government will not…they will find a way to regulate this and again we will be hurt…not the bad guys
Guys this isn’t “new” technology.
We’ve been able to make polymer lowers and mags for years (Magpul, Thermold, New Frontier Lowers etc). The difference is instead of machines that take up an entire building to do it, they miniaturized it. Think 1980’s cell phones vs today’s cell phones.
This tech is very cool and yes, as with everything, some will use it to do “bad/stupid/evil things”. What we need to do (as with the gun debate) is focus on the user not the tool that’s the problem.
then the govt should regulate lathes and milling machines as well
Unfortunately I think its only a matter of time before the 3D printer causes regulations that will also affect lathes and milling machines in terms of making guns.
I can see us losing our right to manufacture our own firearms, good by 80% receivers.
At some point it becomes… GOOD BYE to asking the goverment to do what you want.
Well it is and it isn’t. Guys have been knocking out prototypes with this sort of thing for a while, but the machines have cost as much as a house. It’s not the same as the polymer lowers and receivers. You don’t need a mold. You need the prints/CAD. You can own a machine, download a file, and make it. And it doesn’t have to be polymer…that just makes it easier and cheaper.
This will continue to grow beyond what any of us are thinking regarding magazines. It’s like hearing some dude in 1992 saying that the internet isn’t new technology and that we’ve used similar technology for years. True…but with no thought as to what was going to come.
Yep. The cat’s out of the bag already…there’s no effective way for them to regulate things like this. As the resolution and ability to use different materials improve, and the size and cost get reduced, this will be huge.
It’s like the internet. The government really wishes there was a way to effectively regulate it…but it’s impossible even if they were to try.
I can’t wait for selective laser sintering machines to come down to prices an individual can reasonably afford. Really similar to the plastic 3d printers except the end result can be a metallic part. With one of those you could feasibly produce every part of an AR aside from the barrel.
Exactly. At a certain point it becomes an excercise in futility for them to even attempt to regulate. Think about all the materials and equipment that COULD be used to manufacture a firearm and then imagine try to regulate and control it all. It’s simply not possible.
Given enough time anything can be regulated. Just keep on living, it’s happening as we type.
The Government already does this with high end laser printers (to prevent counterfeit money from being printed) don’t believe me check this https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2005/10/16 (this is 4+ years old…). This is not tin foil hattery since an acquaintance of mine got to meet the Secret Service while they performed the other task they have besides guarding the POTUS. I’m pretty damn sure high end CNC’s etc have some pretty interesting things in their code as well.
Point being if they can’t regulate it they’ll just buy off/strong arm/bankrupt anyone that doesn’t toe the line. There’s more then one way to skin a cat.
The difference between laser printers and these rapid prototyping systems is a lot of the RP systems are homebrew from the ground up. When the entire system is distributed from top to bottom, it becomes virtually impossible to control. Think about the issues controlling illegal drugs except imagine the materials and equipment is useful for more than just getting stoned. It makes it even worse.
Even toss out the RP machines, for someone with even minimal mechanical ability, it’s relatively easy to homebrew a multi-axis CNC mill that will turn out a metal part from a hunk of billet.
Granted it was a bunch of engineering students, but we cobbled one together from off the shelf parts and some open source software when I was in college to help with a extracurricular project. It was a little slow, due to the spindle speed but it worked pretty good for turning out small components…
“Defense Distributed is awaiting its manufacturing Federal Firearms License (FFL) and special occupational taxpayer stamp (SOT) before it begins testing Wiki Weapon concepts.”
http://defensedistributed.com/wikiwep-a/
So they need a FFL and SOT if they are doing this as a non profit…
MIT students just revealed a startup that allows you to buy a 3d printer for a reasonable amount. Pretty cool, and applicable for our kind of designs and tools.
Alex Jones interviews Cody Wilson (austin Tx)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XKAaO26FAvA
You are a handful of US Senators away from being that criminal…something to think about…
Once durable metals can be printed, this technology will be amazing.
A lot of discussion about the government and regulation, but what about the quality of a printable item such as a magazine? Can they be made with same materials that mags such as PMags are made of? I guess what I’m asking is this even worth it or are the printable mags going to be Tapco or worse quality.