3D Printed Handgun finally built

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by lensman, May 6, 2013.

  1. lensman
    lensman Well-Known Member
    A company claims to have finally printed the world's first working 3D printed handgun with the only non-printed part being a nail for a firing pin. The writer doesn't talk about it being seen in use, but the person who sent me the link said they saw it being shown in action on TV...

    I make no editorial comment on this since there certainly has been enough of that in the news over the years...

     
  2. Youknowwho4eva
    Youknowwho4eva Well-Known Member
    According to the NY Post it was produced on a 3D Copier, so no worries of the effects on 3D printing.

    I'm kidding of course. Guns have been produced for hundreds of years now. There are more efficient, and less expensive ways to make a gun. But then again you don't make the front page of the paper using other methods.
     
  3. lensman
    lensman Well-Known Member
    Exactly, although another interesting aspect is the group that claims to have made it: Defence Distributed.
     
  4. I saw the piece on the BBC News today.

    Is it me or is this one of the dumbest uses of a wonderful technology.
    So someone can impress us with their skills and make a weapon that can go kill some more kids somewhere.
    Out of all the amazing things to go make they go figure a way to make a bloody gun.

    I wish there was an amendment that was about the right to not have stupid ideas.
    Nothing to do with freedom is it really.
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2013
  5. lensman
    lensman Well-Known Member
    You got it in a nutshell, Graham. Quite ridiculous, really...

    And of course as 3D Printing becomes even more mainstream there are going to be people complaining about the technology because "THEY CAN MAKE GUNS" !

     
  6. SportsBricks
    SportsBricks Member
    If you're so inclined you can make a gun with copper pipe, but I haven't seen news crews or anyone picketing outside the local plumbing supply store recently. Have you?

    This is sensationalist media at it worst. Remember kids the news is just another TV show hunting for ratings and sadly bad news does just that. Go find your own news instead of letting someone bring it to you. You'll be happier and the info you get will be less biased in any one direction too so we all win! :)

    Steve
     
  7. FreeRangeBrain
    FreeRangeBrain Active Member
    SportsBricks wrote:
    "If you're so inclined you can make a gun with copper pipe, but I haven't seen news crews or anyone picketing outside the local plumbing supply store recently. Have you?"

    And the WalMart sells bomb making materials; not that they label them as such.
     
  8. 59012_deleted
    59012_deleted Member
    Wonderful way to politicize a thread. The Internet has truly become a bastion of very vocal, passionate folks with a very narrow and intellectually deficient view.

    First; this thread (and this company) is about interesting developments in the evolution of this technology. In that, I'm impressed by the ability to produce a handgun. Or a car part. Or an articulated, wind-driven walking machine. Or a replacement hip.

    Second, to say that the production of a gun is for the purpose of killing a child somewhere is an expression of feeling and not of thought. To suggest so is to suggest that you fully know the intentions of the inventor. I have a friend who is alive today because he carried and discharged a .38 caliber handgun... at a charging bear. It was not a child. It was not a bear cub. It was just a ticked off animal that he and his fiancee happen to meet on a 3 day hike; an activity they were very well educated and practiced in.

    Last time, folks;

    A gun is an inanimate object (let's not get into AI controlled CWIS systems, okay? Stay on course here). PEOPLE elect to use inanimate objects to harm other people. Gun, knife, bat, pipe... beer mug. To a violent person all objects are potential weapons.



    Not a single bullet was shot at the Boston Marathon.
     
  9. barkingdigger
    barkingdigger Well-Known Member
    Lightly stepping over the yawning chasm of moral, political, and public-safety issues raised by this development, I'm just amazed that our revolutionary technology means a "gun-on-demand" can be knocked out for the measley investment of a nail, a bullet - and an $8,000 3d printer! Heck, for that kind of money they could buy a fistful of real, metal, durable weapons of tried&tested design, or even hire a bunch of henchmen to do the dirty-work for them! Wish my pockets were that deep...
     
  10. lensman
    lensman Well-Known Member
    Yes, and as I believe someone mentioned, zip guns and homemade guns have been around forever... nothing new here except the technology - technology, by the way, that I'm STILL not convinced has produced a handgun any better than a zip gun made in the 50's...

     
  11. 59012_deleted
    59012_deleted Member
    Ironically, there is also a thread about aiding in the researching of metal printing technology.

    NOW we're getting somewhere!

    Why am I actually encouraged by the marrying of the two? Because if you can print a design that can take the stresses of an operational handgun in plastic, and you can refine the technology to print in actual metal, you open up a world of printing in complex, durable metal parts... like small engines, motors, etc.