[hackerspaces] printablegun.com has it's 3d printer siezed

[Yves Quemener]

With a lathe, it still requires some skill. With a 3d printer it is as easy
as a download. Don't you remember the time when playing a video on a
computer became a mainstream thing as opposed to a geeky thing that
required so many experimental software to be installed? There is a
threshold there that makes a technology easy enough to become mainstream.

It may not be a big deal in USA, where firearms are (almost) sold at
Walmart but I know that in France it would cause a lot of shock. Someone
being killed by an automated weapon makes national news here. I can only
imagine the crackdown the day it is "homicide caused by 3d printed weapon".
Suddenly all the French fablabs would become potential arms smuggler.

Please people, don't make the news with printed guns, we all know that it
is possible. It does not make sense yet as you can not have a higher
quality that one can be bought off the shelf today.

On 02/10/12 11:19, Matt Joyce wrote:
> Honestly, making a fire arm with a lathe is farely easy.  It's been
> done many times before "AKA zip guns".
> 
> People constructed them.  Sold them.  Killed with them.  No one has
> ever put limits on a lathe.  Or a CNC which are used often in milling
> gun components.
> 
> The reality is, the guy most likely to sell a gun illegally or use one
> illegally doesn't have access to a machine shop.  And the off chance
> some lunatic does, well shit.  Sometimes people do bad things.  it
> happens.
> 
> I don't think this is nearly as big a deal as people make it out to
> be.  It's like "Cyberwar".  The only reason people care is that it
> sounds so magical and futuristic.  It's not.
> 
> -Matt
> 
> On Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 6:12 PM, Yves Quemener <quemener.yves at free.fr> wrote:
>> It is pretty obvious for anyone who has given 3D printing a bit of thought
>> that people would print weapons at one moment. While we knew this was
>> inevitable, I hoped it to happen as late as possible. We all know what will
>> happen once the first crime will be done with a 3d printed weapon : the
>> legalosaurus will look out way and will try to shoot random legislation at
>> a field that is, for now, relatively unencumbered.
>>
>> I am not even sure that I have a moral opinion on the availability of gun
>> CAD files, but I have a pragmatic advice : don't do it now, the current
>> state of the tech makes it useless and it will slow the whole field.
>>
>> I also have the feeling that the person behind printablegun.com was less
>> about making a working firearm than making buzz around the project. I
>> suspect that this event is exactly what was supposed to happen.
>>
>> On 02/10/12 10:50, Bryce Tugwell wrote:
>>> For better or for worse, Printablegun.com who was/is working on creating a
>>> (hand)gun printable on a 3d printer, has had its printer (which evidently
>>> was leased(?)) confiscated "before they even got it out of the box" by the
>>> company that made the printer (Stratasys). Evidently printablegun.com
>>> <http://printablegun.com> did a kickstarter style fundraiser, raised
>>> $20,000 and "leased" the printer (would love to know if they actually
>>> leased it, or if this is the action of a company that is moving on a end
>>> user licence agreement...) In any case they showed up at the guys house and
>>> took the printer away before it was ever plugged in. (i won't insert my
>>> opinion on this right away, I am interested in hearing yours!)
>>>
>>> Discuss?
>>>
>>> I am sure there are some lively opinions on this, and I am all ears, I
>>> would love to hear thoughs.
>>>
>>>
>>> Also, I am about to post a huge load of photos (well over a thousand) of
>>> the Iron pour I attended and participated in this weekend to flickr, I will
>>> send out a link when the upload is complete. I made a nice cast iron paella
>>> pan that turned out great! I can't wait to do another casting. Interested
>>> parties are welcome to join in, but in the future will need to let me know
>>> well enough in advance to go over some fairly important safety information
>>> in advance.
>>>
>>> Also, those interested in making a cast iron piece should let me know - I
>>> can arrange it if far enough in advance.
>>>
>>>
>>> FYI bronze and aluminium castings opportunities coming in the future as well.
>>>
>>> Bryce
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
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