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Printable Gun Downloads Top 100k In 2 Days, Thanks to Kim Dotcom
Sparrowvsrevolution writes "The promise of a fully 3D-printable gun is that it can spread via the Internet and entirely circumvent gun control laws. Two days after that digital weapon's blueprint first appeared online, it seems to be fulfilling that promise. Files for the printable gun known as that 'Liberator' have been downloaded more than 100,000 times in two days, according to Defense Distributed, the group that created it. Those downloads were facilitated by Kim Dotcom's startup Mega, which Defense Distributed is using to host the Liberator's CAD files. And it's also been uploaded to the Pirate Bay, where it's one of the most popular files in the filesharing site's uncensorable 3D printing category."
The way this is promoted in the news you'd think that zip guns never existed, and until "just hours ago" there was no way to come up with an improvised weapon.
Not when somebody can drop an anchor on your cable...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Give gun nuts a tool to blow themselves up with.
100,000 sounds like a lot of downloads, but I would bet that less than 10% will actually go through the process of printing one. Of those printed, many hobbyists will just do it to see if it's possible. How many people are going to be willing to fire one?
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
Exactly which gun control law does this circumvent? AFAIK, exchanging blueprints isn't illegal.
So long as you're not a felon or selling guns you've printed, no laws have been broken.
Not to say that DIY'ers can't get around this, but all them fancy guns need fancy bullets. Home made guns will also need decent bullets. So, why not tighten up bullet control:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZrFVtmRXrw
(It's Chris Rock)
I realize lots of hunters, etc reload their own, but I'm not aware of too many DIY'ers who are able to make reliable primers (might be wrong) - so maybe just control the sale and distribution of primers?
I'm in my right mind and I have the answer to everything!
And, out of those 100K+ downloads, what fraction of a percent will actually get printed out, and what fraction of those will actually get assembled to the point of working?
BEFORE: Skilled Blue Collared metal workers could make a zip gun. As manufacturing is almost gone in America, this was a dying breed going the way of the winged water buffalo.
NOW: The huge spat of nerds and computer programmers now have the means to accomplish what formerly required a moderately skilled metal worker.
NOW THEY'RE SCARED. NERDS WITH GUNS!!!!
DISCLAIMER: I am a godless liberal in some respects, so I might be biased...but this is becoming like bitcoin, guys. A 3D printed gun is cool to me as a demonstration of the advanced state of the technology, but we don't need a story of even little happening with TEH 3D PRONTED GUNNS (GUBERMIENT, etc).
Slashdot has become awash with political crap. Let's return to a site for nerds, stuff that matters. Not stuff that rallies the libertarians and the collectivists, okay?
Really, cause I think he nailed it.
I'd also point out that the very first "metal" guns weren't all that safe and reliable as well. So this is a generation 1 prototype. Consider in 20 years, when 3D printers are in most middle class homes (if we still have a middle class). What do you think 20 years of tweaking and discovery will do? Might these become more reliable, & safer,... there was a time that folk though using a polymer frame on a handgun was ludicrus. Glocks and many others have shown that is NOT the case.
...taking out anybody stupid enough to fire one of these things.
Why bother, when you can go to wal mart and buy a real gun? That's a question only a Teabilly Loon can answer.
The whole point was to prove that antigun laws are as useless and counterproductive as the war on drugs.
Gun control works quite well in countries that have decided to implement it nationwide.
Thorough gun control is analogous to bomb control. Anyone can build a bomb with instructions on the internet, but most of us don't. Why? The public has decided that bombs kill way too many people and the law (in the United States, at least), severely punishes people who, successfully or otherwise, blow up a bomb. Like all other hazardous items (with the curious exception of guns), individuals have to be licensed to handle bombs and there is probably a federal registry that lists all of them and where they store their bomb-building supplies.
People in the United States don't have lots of bombs in their houses. Why, then, would gun control enforcement pose any particular challenge?
I'm sorry, that is just false. In my state, Massachusetts, for example, you need a license to *possess* any firearm.
All 3D-printable weapons really circumvent is the Federal background check, which you can just as easily bypass by buying at a gun show. Well, that and whatever state laws may require a license to buy a gun but not to own or carry it. (Those may or may not exist; if they do then they seem pretty stupid.)
It would be smart to at least check what the laws in your state actually are, before you print one of these puppies out.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
Didn't realize Kim Jong Un had a /. account...
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
How adorably naive.
A) Many of the same people who want to do away with private ownership of guns also oppose the death penalty under any circumstances.
B) Criminals in regions that still employ the death penalty kidnap, rape and kill despite the consequences of being caught. Crazy, right? Criminals ignore laws and punishment!! We *really* ought to try and reach them. Maybe a PSA?
Let me put this back into proportion for a second.
One trip to the dollar store and anyone can make a high-yield chlorine gas bomb.
One trip to certain sporting goods stores and anyone can buy a harpoon gun without a license or ID.
One trip to ebay and anyone can build a high-yield black powder explosive.
One trip to the junkyard and anyone can build a machete or sword.
One trip to the Walmart and anyone can buy rubbing alcohol, matches, and firewood starter sticks to burn anything down.
One trip to a gas station and you can make a rudimentary napalm explosive (diesel and dish soap).
So now one trip to the internet and...wait, you probably don't have a 3d printer and neither does anyone else in your area. Hmmm, lol. Okay, so one trip to imaginary 3D printing store that doesn't mind you printing guns and tada, you've got an inaccurate, low quality firearm.
You know, let me add one more. One trip to Gamo's website and you can buy a US-made 1400 FPS BB rifle that runs on CO2 and fires sleeved hardened metal custom rounds with armor-piercing tips without a license since it's not a "gun." It does break the sound barrier and cause a sonic boom when it fires by the way and is guaranteed to kill small animals and they recommend you take it hunting. So yeah, this is not the end of the world or really even anything new.
Gun ownership among everyone in the U.K. is low. It was so low in WWII that ``The American Committee for defense of British Homes has organized to collect gifts of pistols, rifles, revolvers, shotguns (and binoculars) from American civilians who wish to answer the call and aid in defense of British homes'':
http://twinbuttebunch.org/index.php?fuseaction=misc.sendguns
I'm given to understand that my grandfather sent over a Remington No. 4 which an uncle of mine had cut down to a pistol....
This article indicates a dramatic uptick in gun crime (89%) in the U.K. though:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223193/Culture-violence-Gun-crime-goes-89-decade.html
FWIW, I can't think of a single police force in the U.S. where regular police officers on patrol carry submachine guns.
Another article:
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2012/12/11/gun-crime-soars-in-england-where-guns-are-banned-n1464528
An interesting statistic is that a home is burglarized when occupied ~13% of the time in the U.S., while that number is 47% in the U.K. --- my father worked as a prison guard, and a recurring theme among people serving time for robbery was the importance of ``casing the joint'' because one didn't want to risk confronting an armed home-owner.
and here's an article which argues about statistical reporting:
http://www.theendrun.com/larry-pratt-british-gun-crime-stats-a-sham
and here're some hard numbers:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/jul/22/gun-homicides-ownership-world-list
A government strong enough to protect you from everything, is strong enough to take everything from you.
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
SHM. No. The reason most of us don't build bombs has nothing to do with bomb control laws. The reason most of us don't build bombs is because bombs are not useful to most people.
Guns are useful to 1) good citizens who want to defend themselves, and 2) bad people who want to hurt, steal from, and kill other people.
Good citizens can't use a bomb to defend themselves against someone home invaders or muggers. Bad people can't rob or rape someone with a bomb. (Though most robberies and rapes don't use firearms). Bombs are poor tools for murdering a specific person, and most murderers want to kill someone specific.
When bad people actually want bombs, as Boston proved it's not hard for them to get them.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
For now. Tech will get better, faster, cheaper, always.
That's true of manufacturing too. Mass-produced guns will ALWAYS be cheaper and more reliable than one-off printed devices, because any significant improvement to 3D printing can also be applied to factories if it's good enough.
The domain of home-printed guns is solely that of the gun enthusiast, not the criminal who values practicality and speed above all else.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
For a criminal, the prospect to creating guns without serial numbers is potentially very appealing.
That's a really ignorant statement, because it assumes criminals buy from sources where serial numbers can be tracked.
In reality criminals don't care about serial numbers, because they are buying from illegal gun suppliers. Not having to abide by any rules, illegal guns are cheaper and easier to acquire and not traceable to boot.
So being able to print out a far less usable gun holds zero appeal to the criminal element.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You need to compare it to the cost of acquiring a firearm if you knew you would fail a background check.
Under $100 for a simple gun. Illegal guns are cheaper because many are stolen, so there's zero cost to the supplier. They also don't have to abide with costly regulations so there's no overhead.
No criminal today purchases a gun by legal means to commit crimes with. Far cheaper and easier to get one illegally.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Gun control works quite well in countries that have decided to implement it nationwide.
Define "works". If your definition includes "reduces intentional homicides", you're provably wrong. Plot a graph of private gun ownership rates against intentional homicide rates around the world and what you'll find is that there is no correlation. In fact based on the most recent numbers from UNODC and the 2007 small arms report, there's a slight negative correlation, which means that countries with more guns tend to have fewer homicides.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
"Plenty of countries operate just fine with strict gun control laws and with lower violent crime rates than the U.S."
Looking at another country and assuming that the U.S. could reduce violent crime simply by duplicating that country's gun control laws is the naive view.
Check out this new report from PEW research:
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/07/gun-homicide-rate-down-49-since-1993-peak-public-unaware
The number of privately owned firearms in the USA is way up. Both the number of firearms owners and the number of concealed carry permit holders are at record highs. Meanwhile, violent crime rates, and even firearms-related crime rates are down. The Clinton gun ban expired in 2004, yet there has been no associated spike in violent crime or gun crime.
The most interesting and relevant case of a foreign country is Australia because we have a before/after view of gun confiscation.