3D Printed Gun Maker Cody Wilson Defends Open Source Freedom

Lucas123 (935744) writes "Cody Wilson, the 26-year-old former law school student who published plans for printing 3D guns online, disputed claims by universities and government agencies that his thermoplastic gun design is unsafe. Wilson claims the agencies that tested the guns did not build them to spec. In a Q&A with Computerworld, he also addressed why he's continuing to press regulatory agencies to allow him to offer the plans again for upload after being ordered to take them down, saying it's less about the Second Amendment and more about the implications of open source and the digital age. "If you want to talk about rights, what does it mean to respect a civil liberty or civil right? Well, it means you understand there are social costs in having that right; that's why it deserves protection in the first place," he said. Wilson is also planning to release other gun-related project, though not necessarily a CAD design."

Comments

Re:Who Cares?

[Noryungi]

This is not about a plastic guns, this is about a paradigm shift that is no less momentous than VHS and later MP3s.

I am not so sure about that. 3D printing has the potential to become a very important technology, but right now, printing cheap plastic trinkets is not what I would call game-changing. But that's just me: it just strikes me as a seemingly good idea - a little bit like flying cars - that can go both ways. It can be truly revolutionary (Crete your own factory in your garage! Let a thousand entrepreneurs bloom!) or it can be the kind of thing that never really lived up to its promise. Time will tell.

And another thing: whether the printed plastic gun really is unsafe or not, I believe it illustrates the risks of 3D-printing. In other words, if you really know what you are doing and printing to specs, using equivalent or better materials than the original creator, it's great. Or you can make a complete fool of yourself, and just print it, because, well, you can! And find yourself severely maimed - or worse - because you did not check the 3D file or whatnot.

On the other hand, the next time some idiot decides to rob a bank or convenience store with a printed plastic gun, the results could be highly amusing. I can see the TV announcements from here: "Another redneck gun-toting moron gets face full of lead and melted plastic. Film at 11".

As an aside: what's with Americans and their guns? Sheesh, people, grow up. You don't need a plastic-or-metal penis to be a real man. (And let the flame wars begin!)