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Should We Print Guns? Cody R. Wilson Says "Yes" (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the freedom-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder dept.

The Wiki Weapon Project and its idea of making guns with 3D printers has already been mentioned on Slashdot. It has also been written up on Forbes.com and a lot of other geek and non-geek sites. Note that when some Wiki Weapon proponents talk about making "guns" with 3D printers, they may be talking only about lower receivers or other static parts, not barrels, firing pins or other parts that must be machined to close tolerances and are subjected to a lot of stress when the gun fires. But low-cost 3D printing and low-cost CNC machining technologies are both advancing at a rapid rate, so thinking about the intersection of firearm manufacturing and open source is both worthwhile and timely. There's been a strong debate about this topic on Eric S. Raymond's Armed and Dangerous blog that's worth reading. Also recommended: The Home Gunsmith.com and CNC Gunsmithing. Astute Slashdot readers will, no doubt, recommend many more. Meanwhile, this video is about licensing, distribution, and legal matters, not the actual manufacture of firearms. There's a transcript (we're finally doing transcripts of selected videos) below the video for those who prefer to read instead of watch.

3 of 444 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Technology by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Chinese were so ignorant they thought gunpowder was useful for making delightful colors in the sky to amuse people.

    On the contrary, they started making weapons out of it in fairly short order.

    It took a genius to see the killer app, making round metal balls that fly through people. I guess that's literally a killer app. Go technology.

    This, on the other hand, is true. Guns and cannon were not an obvious application. The Chinese used it for flamethrowers, rockets and bombs. The first guns *were* produced by Chinese, about three or four centuries after gunpowder was invented.

  2. Re:Criminal Investigation by smooth+wombat · · Score: 1, Informative

    Considering the Colonial government required people to register their firearms, it's a good bet the Constitution they were using is the same one we're using (with minor adjustments). After all, if you're going to call up the militia, you need to know who has a gun and who doesn't so those who don't have a gun can be supplied with one.

    Which is exactly what happened when militia drills were held.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  3. Re:There are already ample laws available... by rcuhljr · · Score: 4, Informative

    Thank you for your post full of stereotypical and uninformed derp. .223 is for the military? No .223 is the civilian chambering of the 5.56 military round (they operate at different pressures). The .223 is a common hunting round and I own a pistol chambered in it as well. However the 5.56 is for most purposes functionally identical and I'd bet it's used for hunting to a large extent as well. It's also one of the most inexpensive mid range rifle calibers for target shooting, far cheaper to target shoot with than the custom wildcat calibers many target shooters use.

    Also please stop talking about about high velocity rounds and walls before you actually read something on the subject.

    http://how-i-did-it.org/drywall/ammunition.html