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Brick Shooting Shotgun Built From Lego By 15-Year-Old

Lanxon writes "A mildly terrifying young Brit named Jack Streat has managed to build a series of working guns, including a Lee Enfield bolt-action sniper rifle, entirely out of Lego and rubber bands, reports Wired. Streat, who lists himself as 15 years old on his profile, has constructed an enormous and diverse armory of weaponry that fire either rubber bands or Lego bricks. Most are based on real-life guns, including a Steyr AUG, a Tommygun, an AK-47, a belt-fed M429 PARA, an Arctic Warfare sniper rifle, a Glock 17, a pair of semi-automatic TEC-9s, a SPAS 12 pump-action shotgun and a minigun that he calls the Obliterator."

40 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. This is the heart of engineering by Umuri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This kid rocks and is putting his brain to good use, doing things he finds interesting and fun.
    Pity the sensationalist article makes it sound bad.

    How many of you built cool things out of legos when you were kids just to see if you could make it work.

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    1. Re:This is the heart of engineering by Calinous · · Score: 1

      He made objects that look as guns and use rubber bands to propel lego objects.
            I used PVC tubing to shoot cones of paper (and even experimented with using needles in the paper cones). I've also used rubber band slings and I've also thrown pebbles.
            I'm no better than he is at this shooting things, just that I didn't make them as toys (and I admire him for the desire to and the results).

    2. Re:This is the heart of engineering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      How many of you built cool things out of lego when you were kids just to see if you could make it work.

      Fixed that for you.

    3. Re:This is the heart of engineering by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

      That guy is only building guns. When I was younger I was building spaceships with laser canons!

    4. Re:This is the heart of engineering by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      This kid's got a future. Good design engineering there.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    5. Re:This is the heart of engineering by fishexe · · Score: 1

      How many of you built cool things out of legos when you were kids just to see if you could make it work.

      Well, I'm not sure any of the things I built were cool...even if I thought so when I was 10...

      --
      "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
    6. Re:This is the heart of engineering by sheph · · Score: 1

      You might want to rethink your sig.

      In that segment, the Judge responded by talking about what the Constitution says, and O'Reilly said jocularly, approximately: "I don't care what the Constitution says. The Constitution is not HERE. I want to hear what YOU have to say about the issue. He was trying to force the judge to stop hiding behind the law.

      --
      I don't believe in karma, I just call it like I see it.
    7. Re:This is the heart of engineering by fishexe · · Score: 1

      You might want to rethink your sig.

      No, thanks. I like it fine.

      In that segment, the Judge responded by talking about what the Constitution says,

      I am perfectly familiar with the segment. The thrust of O'Reilly's entire argument, not just that one line, was that the Constitution doesn't matter. Judge Napolitano was making the perfectly valid point that the Constitution guarantees people certain rights, and that the Constitution is a higher authority than his own say-so.

      and O'Reilly said jocularly, approximately: "I don't care what the Constitution says. The Constitution is not HERE. I want to hear what YOU have to say about the issue.

      I assume this is where you meant to terminate your quote. But you left out the line "You're here. Don't be a pinhead." which immediately follows "The Constitution isn't here." He also did NOT say "I want to hear what YOU have to say about the issue," or anything approximating that. If you're going around correcting people, you might do well to get your facts straight, not to mention your context. Lest any onlookers doubt me, it's all right here. I also think you would have to have an unprecedentedly broad definition of jocular for it to apply to O'Reilly in this context. Most of us don't define "jocularly" to include "angrily".

      He was trying to force the judge to stop hiding behind the law.

      Yeah, because following the law and insisting people have rights is totally "hiding behind" the law.

      --
      "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
    8. Re:This is the heart of engineering by sheph · · Score: 1

      Well I'm familiar with the segment too, in fact I watched it at the time it aired. And I watched it again just now. I didn't see anger, it seemed like he was dismissive to me, as if to say "you know that's not the issue, so quit being stupid". That the constitution does not matter was not even close to the thrust of his argument. They're talking about a foriegn enemy combatant being given the same rights as a US Citizen. The constitution does not apply to him (hence why it isn't germain to the argument, or if you prefer does not matter in this particular case), and it should not in my opinion. This asshole should have been shot on sight, and instead we're going to bring him here to make a mockery of our justice system. It's total BS.

      Do you honestly believe that trying him as a US Citizen will somehow cause the terrorists to pick up their guitars and start singing kumbiaya? These guys hate us. Not because of how we treat them, but because of what we believe. In fact we spent many years training and helping Osama Bin Ladin and look how thankful he was. It is an idealogical war, and anyone who says it's not is either deluded or lying. Even if we were to leave Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow these guys would continue to attack us until we're all dead, or they are. Given those options I'm going to come down on the side of self preservation every time. Quite frankly I'd rather we fight with them over there than over here. Trying this moron here in civilian court does nothing to help further that cause, and I would argue hurts us and our soldiers in the long run.

      --
      I don't believe in karma, I just call it like I see it.
    9. Re:This is the heart of engineering by fishexe · · Score: 1

      Well I'm familiar with the segment too, in fact I watched it at the time it aired. And I watched it again just now. I didn't see anger, it seemed like he was dismissive to me, as if to say "you know that's not the issue, so quit being stupid".

      Actually, the issue was whether the 9/11 attacks were an act of war or a criminal act, and O'Reilly was dodging the issue by trying to force Napolitano to talk about whether it was a terrorist act, which is REALLY not the issue because "terrorist act" is not a separate legal category but can fall under either, depending on the circumstances. O'Reilly knew he couldn't win the argument unless he bullied the guy into changing the subject, and that's exactly what he did.

      That the constitution does not matter was not even close to the thrust of his argument.

      And yet you proceed to argue in the following sentence that the Constitution doesn't matter.

      They're talking about a foriegn enemy combatant being given the same rights as a US Citizen. The constitution does not apply to him...

      Slow down there, con law scholar. Article three, section two of the Constitution (the one Napolitano was referring to here) starts with "Trial of all Crimes..." and there's nothing about that which restricts it to citizens. The rights of a US citizen are things like running for public office, voting, and holding a US passport. The phrase "tried as a US citizen" has been thrown around a lot in the media but it's a misnomer, since there aren't two different types of trials, one for citizens and one for non-citizens, under US law. There are military trials and civilian trials, which was why Judge Napolitano was trying to discuss the difference between war and crime.

      Do you honestly believe that trying him as a US Citizen will somehow cause the terrorists to pick up their guitars and start singing kumbiaya?

      Do you honestly believe anyone in the world believes or claims this? This is the problem with letting meatheads like you, O'Reilly, and GWB run the country. You think of everything as though it were a UFC fight rather than a historical process with complex relationships between its parts. Anyone who isn't "kill, kill, kill" all the time must want us to just up and surrender, right? Those are clearly the only two alternatives. No, I don't think giving him a civilian trial (your phrase "trying him as a US citizen" is once again flat out wrong here) will make any terrorists stop being terrorists. I think it will guarantee that in the future if I am arrested for some capital offense I will get the fair hearing and chance to prove my innocence that I deserve, and well should it be so. If the rights guaranteed in the Constitution only apply when we as a society don't hate the accused, they are no rights at all, and we might as well have no Constitution at all.

      Even if we were to leave Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow these guys would continue to attack us until we're all dead, or they are. Given those options I'm going to come down on the side of self preservation every time.

      Good thing that has nothing to do with the argument. Giving people the fair trials defined in the Constitution is in no way contrary to self-preservation.

      --
      "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
    10. Re:This is the heart of engineering by Cryacin · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but this guy does it with style! Man! I wonder when Frabrique Nationale will contact this kid.

      You sir, are a genius!

      --
      Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
  2. Soo... by frosty_tsm · · Score: 3, Funny

    including a Steyr AUG, a Tommygun, an AK-47, a belt-fed M429 PARA, an Arctic Warfare sniper rifle, a Glock 17, a pair of semi-automatic TEC-9s, a SPAS 12 pump-action shotgun

    So... I take it he plays counter strike.

  3. Ha... by stms · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And they say "kids are getten' stupider."

    1. Re:Ha... by couchslug · · Score: 1

      Most kids, like most people, were and are stupid.
      The kid building mock firearms out of Legos is clearly not stupid, and has a wonderful grasp of how to construct mechanisms.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  4. Superb! by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That young man has a great mechanical engineering career ahead of him :)

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    1. Re:Superb! by Rod+Beauvex · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Or a nice cell for being a terrorist.

    2. Re:Superb! by couchslug · · Score: 1

      Or a nice military career, or a nice and profitable civilian career designing firearms.
      If he gets machine shop skills he can produce legal dummy weapons to hone his ability, or move to a (somewhat) freer country like the US where he can build actual weapons. If he gets citizenship and chooses to live in the right State, he can get licensed to build most anything he likes.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  5. Oh! by Cyberllama · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It shoots *lego* bricks. That makes more sense then.

  6. When you see it... by qubezz · · Score: 2, Funny

    You will shoot bricks...

  7. Agreed by DaMattster · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you look at the kid's youtube channel, he states pretty clearly that he will not sell his instructions or any of the models. He even states that he breaks down the guns to reuse legos in other models. The press, as usual, is trying to whip up a fear storm.

    1. Re:Agreed by TerranFury · · Score: 1

      WTF?! (agreeing with you.)

      These aren't even guns! They shoot rubber bands, not bullets!! They're basically this -- a toy that's existed for ages -- except the kid built them out of legos! There's not even anything "responsible" (or irresponsible) about him "breaking down the 'guns;'" what on earth is an (oh no!) terrorist cell supposed to do with such a thing, play cops and robbers?!

      I really don't get it. As sensationalist headlines go, this one is pretty goddamn ridiculous. I'm pretty sure Barbie does more real harm every year in dead anorexic girls than all the lego slingshots in the world...

      *ugh*

    2. Re:Agreed by TerranFury · · Score: 1

      He shouldn't have to bow to the sensibilities of anti-gun cowards.

      I hate the newsmedia. God do I hate them. How the hell can a story about some kid's lego rubber band shooter turn into a divisive gun-politics issue?! Bloody hell...

  8. Should have been in the A-Team by VShael · · Score: 1

    If someone gives this kid a Meccano set, I think he might take over the planet.

  9. Re:A Lego gun that works! by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    I built a few guns from k-nex as well, some of which worked better than others... of course, I wasn’t limiting my design constraints to mimicry of actual guns, so whatever worked was good enough for me. I don’t remember all that well but I think I did have some sort of triggering mechanism on one of them.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  10. That shotgun holds quite a few rounds... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    Does he need a special license for that?

    The video also should’ve read “Fire it” rather than “Shoot it”...

    Pedantry aside, that was extremely cool.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  11. great stuff by Lazy+Jones · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I take it after the great war he'll build us guns to kill the mutants with and ensure the survival of the human race!

    --
    "I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
  12. Nice by OrangeMonkey11 · · Score: 1

    Hope Lego give this kid a life time of free Legos

    1. Re:Nice by denis-The-menace · · Score: 1

      probably not.
      I think they have something against weapons like Apple has against nudy bits and iApps

      --
      Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
    2. Re:Nice by Njoyda+Sauce · · Score: 1

      Even if they did give him a free lifetime supply, it might not be that long with this much gun fascination.

      --

      You can only be young once, but you can be immature forever.
  13. Well so much for legos by xmousex · · Score: 1

    Yeah so pretty much legos are in trouble. I'm sure this is reason for panic at corporate.

    I notice there were alot of lego things in there that i never seen before, not that i played with them much growing up. Perhaps they will look into the key pieces that made these guns work and consider altering or ending production. Like starting with banning black pieces completely. They also need to add a warning label to every package sold: "Product could be used to build weapons."

    If this had been done in america it would have made more sense, everyone would point to it as another american cowboy violence blah blah thing but this kid is in uk. Shouldnt he be building a nice tea set or something?

    1. Re:Well so much for legos by frostfreek · · Score: 1

      That should be, "Product could be used to build toy weapons".

    2. Re:Well so much for legos by losfromla · · Score: 1

      Perhaps they will look into the key pieces that made these guns work and consider altering or ending production. Like starting with banning black pieces completely.

      what? Are you retarded? I know that RTFA is badly looked upon, but you could have learned a tad just by reading comments and not made such an asinine comment. Or do lego guns that shoot lego bricks really scare you? Gawd, I hope if you ever reproduce, that your male (male-ish if you have your way) will give you a fatal heart attack by shooting you with his barbie doll that he'll use as a pretend gun. Please at the very least be female.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    3. Re:Well so much for legos by xmousex · · Score: 1

      Extreme failure to comprehend cynical comments.

      Bonus points for the over reaction.

    4. Re:Well so much for legos by losfromla · · Score: 1

      sorry, my bad, I guess. You were way too subtle for me and your (faked) reaction is unfortunately not entirely unexpected in certain segments of the population. As I posted though, your comment was a little late given all the previous comments clarifying what the kid had done. More blatant sarcasm was called for imho.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    5. Re:Well so much for legos by denis-The-menace · · Score: 1

      Good thing I never made a video of the Lego Guns I built as a kid.
      They were not elastic-propelled like this guy.
      You had to blow into a hole to blast the "bullets" out.
      I made semi-automatic, 3-round burst, and full-auto that looked like an Uzi.
      Me and my friends had "Lego wars" in the basement.
      My sister would come down for something and we greeted her with a hail of Lego bullets as she screamed back up the stairs.
      Afterwards we had a few cuts here and there but the walls had dents all over!
      We even smashed a light bulb, once.

      Today, I'd use my air compressor to propel those Lego bullets.
      I wasn't called Denis-the-menace for nothing.

      --
      Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
  14. How can it be called a shotgun? by fishexe · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It fires a single projectile (basically a Lego bullet) with each discharge, whereas a shotgun, by definition, discharges several projectiles which spread after leaving the barrel.

    Still wicked cool, though.

    --
    "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
    1. Re:How can it be called a shotgun? by vxice · · Score: 1

      "is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, OR A SOLID PROJECTILE CALLED A SLUG." If you read the rest of the first sentence from your reference you would notice that shotguns can fire single projectile.

      --
      every anarchist is a baffled dictator. Benito_Mussolini
    2. Re:How can it be called a shotgun? by fishexe · · Score: 1

      If you read the rest of the first sentence from your reference you would notice...

      Oh yeah. Heh. Good thing there's no reading test to post on /.

      --
      "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
    3. Re:How can it be called a shotgun? by fishexe · · Score: 1

      Gun Knowledge Fail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_slug

      And yet, despite all your replies to correct me, the original is still modded "Insightful". Suck it, knowledgeable people!

      --
      "I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
  15. Whatever Buck Rogers by abbynormal+brain · · Score: 1

    Until you link your YouTube videos, sit down, shut up, and bow to the Lego Shotgun. [single-barrel-POW]

    --
    L'esperienza de questa dolce vita (The experience of this sweet life) - Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy