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The ATF Not Concerned About 3D Printed Guns... Yet

derekmead writes "3D-printing gun parts has taken off, thanks to the likes of Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed. While the technology adds a rather interesting wrinkle to the gun control debate, the ATF currently is pretty hands-off, ... 'We are aware of all the 3D printing of firearms and have been tracking it for quite a while,' Earl Woodham, spokesperson for the ATF field office in Charlotte, said. 'Our firearms technology people have looked at it, and we have not yet seen a consistently reliable firearm made with 3D printing.' A reporter called the ATF's Washington headquarters to get a better idea of what it took to make a gun 'consistently reliable,' and program manager George Semonick said the guns should be 'made to last years or generations.' In other words, because 3D-printed guns aren't yet as durable as their metal counterparts, the ATF doesn't yet consider them as much of a concern."

2 of 344 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Your right to a handheld explosive-powered projectile launcher is not natural.

    But it is.

    You have the natural right to life. We agree on that.

    If you have a right, then by extension you have the right to protect that right from those who would violate it. In other words, your right to life inherently provides a right to self-defense.

    If you have a right, then by extension you have the right to possess the means to exercise that right. For example, having the right to free speech means you have the right to own a printing press or an Internet connection. Applied to the right to self-defense that follows from the right to life, this means you have the right to possess an effective means of self-defense.

    All people, therefore, do in fact have the right to a handheld explosive-powered projectile launcher.

  2. worlds apart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    " The difference is that today we have a bunch of wussy girlie men " - I agree 100% with your statement yet arrive at different conclusion: a bunch of paranoid people who need a gun to prop their self esteem.