Photo of the Liberator, courtesy of Forbes.
In case you haven’t heard yet, the first successful gun made with 3D printing technology was released earlier this week. That’s right – somebody made a printed gun. The gun, known as the Liberator, is made entirely out of plastic, except for a firing pin and a piece of metal meant to comply with metal detector policies.
Since it’s been released, multiple politicians and government leaders have openly supported a ban on this technology. After all, that metal plug doesn’t have to be included; it could just as easily be left out if the maker wanted to smuggle the weapon into a government building.
Bans in Progress
As of the writing of this article, the Department of Defense has claimed the rights to all downloadable files on the Defense Distributed website, and removed them. That means that you can’t find the blueprints from their source, although you can still find photos of the Liberator, blog posts, and other information. File sharing sites are also taking down the files as soon as they are uploaded, in an effort to stop the spread.
Three states are already moving to pass bans on these guns, amidst a considerable outcry. Making a gun for personal use is currently legal in the United States; of course, it’s always been assumed that those guns would be detectable. Are 3D printed guns really any different? This will have to be decided before any long term bans can be passed.
Can Printed Guns Really be Stopped?
The problem with trying to ban 3D guns is that the materials and blueprints are already out there. As an article by VentureBeat put it, 3D printing technology is “making guns information rather than just objects.”
And that’s where the problem lies. Countless amounts of torrented music, viral videos, and public wikis have proven how difficult it is to actually stop people from getting the digital information they want. The kinds of people who want to smuggle guns are the same people who would willingly torrent music; they aren’t going to listen to a ban.
Of course, even if the information was successfully banned, nothing is stopping people from coming up with their own designs. The Liberator proved that a plastic gun is a possibility; guns are only going to get more sophisticated from this point.
No one has a problem with 3D printers when they are used to make prosthetics, toys, or useful tools. The problem only arises when the technology is used to print weapons – things that can kill people. But how can you draw the line there, without banning 3D printers altogether?
One thing is for certain: we live in an age where you can print literally anything you want, as long as you have the blueprints. If we can make guns, who knows what else we’ll come up with?