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That capsuleers frequently communicate by means of dataprojectors? (The Burning Life, p 30)

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Author Topic: 3D Printed Pistol  (Read 4689 times)

Nmaro Makari

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3D Printed Pistol
« on: 04 Nov 2013, 13:17 »

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/05/meet-the-liberator-test-firing-the-worlds-first-fully-3d-printed-gun/2/

So a couple of things strike me about this.

A) 3D Printers are epic.

B) This is going to be the next big thing in national security issues.

C) the guy behind it is an arrogant kid who spends to much time on infowars.com

I mean yes, it's an impressive technical achievement (or more accurately, achievement under construction), but the single minded way in which this guy seems to be trying to arm everyone and believes that all government is equivalent to Nazi occupied France is just a bit "slow down there Alex Jones"
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The very model of a British Minmatarian

Katrina Oniseki

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #1 on: 04 Nov 2013, 13:51 »

inb4 massive political argument.

Scientifically speaking, it's fascinating how much these 3D printers can create. A bit disturbing, but fascinating! I've been thinking a few of you model army painters should be printing EVE ships and painting them for your countertops and such.

Lyn Farel

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #2 on: 04 Nov 2013, 13:51 »

Time to write letters to the Kommandantur.  :evil:
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Morwen Lagann

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #3 on: 04 Nov 2013, 13:57 »

inb4 massive political argument.

Scientifically speaking, it's fascinating how much these 3D printers can create. A bit disturbing, but fascinating! I've been thinking a few of you model army painters should be printing EVE ships and painting them for your countertops and such.

Two Step usually makes a bunch and hands them out at the Boston EVE meetups.

He's brought a variety of ships - Aeons, Archons, Atrons, Bestowers, Machariels, Talos, and he even had the "fake" star destroyer-esque "Nestor" from an early Rubicon build at the last one.
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1) The number of capsuleer women who are bisexual is greater than the number who are lesbian.
2) Most of the former group appear lesbian due to a lack of suitable male partners to go around.
3) The lack of suitable male partners can be summed up in most cases thusly: interested, worth the air they breathe, available; pick two.

Silas Vitalia

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #4 on: 04 Nov 2013, 13:58 »

Many, many, many 40k and other mini game enthusiasts are waiting for the exact price point where it becomes worthwhile to do this, as far as purchasing the home printer and the materials.


When you think about it that a good sized 40k army can easily run you hundreds and hundreds of dollars, that point is approaching very fast.


Considering how much games workshop overchrages for bits of molded plastic I can't wait.



Also the infowars guy is certifiable.


3d printing guns is in the end pretty stupid considering it takes 0 effort to purchase a normal weapon that won't melt after firing a few clips.   It's not as if it's difficult to obtain a weapon here.





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Iwan Terpalen

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #5 on: 04 Nov 2013, 15:10 »

I'm not terribly worried about 3d printers printing shitty plastic guns. I'll start with that once they've advanced enough to print bullets.
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Vic Van Meter

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #6 on: 04 Nov 2013, 16:04 »

I'm not too worried.  People are freaking out because they're saying you won't know who has a gun anymore if they can just download a pattern off the Internet and print it on a 3d printer.

And if there are two things the government has no way of knowing, it's what we download on the Internet and what we buy...
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Lyn Farel

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #7 on: 04 Nov 2013, 16:29 »

Tbh with the number of guns in circulation in the US, a few plastic guns is not going to change the root of the issue, it just feels like a tree hiding the forest...
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Desiderya

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #8 on: 04 Nov 2013, 16:37 »

Now, what's the stance of the gun lobby on this one? I'm pretty sure cheap guns for everyone would be pretty bad for the economy.  8)
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Esna Pitoojee

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #9 on: 04 Nov 2013, 19:31 »

Political issues aside, I believe one serious issue actual law enforcement people are concerned about is that (in the US at least) the serial number of any given firearm is often stamped only on the external case (or, more rarely, specific internal sub-components) of the receiver - not all of which are readily susceptible to damage from firing. So while 3D printers don't really threaten to put a whole bunch more guns on the market, they might potentially make one of the few good means of tracing existing firearms rather more troublesome.
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orange

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #10 on: 04 Nov 2013, 20:01 »

I'll start with that once they've advanced enough to print bullets.

So, you are already worried about western farmers with machine shops and access to lead, brass, and powder?

It is not as if the technology to produce a cartridge (or assault rifle) is particular hard to acquire/produce, it is mid-19th century tech.
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Katrina Oniseki

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #11 on: 04 Nov 2013, 20:25 »

I think the danger here is that now a gun that looks like it's made of plastic could actually kill someone. With painted exceptions, formerly, if someone pointed an orange and blue and white plastic and vaguely gun shaped thing at you, your first response is probably that it's a water squirt gun or some other toy.

Then a very real bullet hits you.

Once a few cops get shot with these things, we can probably expect police to draw their very real weapons on a kid pointing a squirt gun - out of fear that it might be a printed gun.

In other words, with printed custom guns, shape and color recognition go right out the window. It's not so much that they can make a gun, it's that they can make a gun we won't recognize until it's too late.
« Last Edit: 04 Nov 2013, 20:27 by Katrina Oniseki »
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Vikarion

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #12 on: 04 Nov 2013, 20:46 »

If people really want a gun, it's not hard to make one. You don't need a 3d printer. You need a basic understanding of tools and chemistry. Sure, you won't be turning out an M60, but a lethal ranged weapon? Certainly.
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Vic Van Meter

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #13 on: 04 Nov 2013, 21:51 »

I think the danger here is that now a gun that looks like it's made of plastic could actually kill someone. With painted exceptions, formerly, if someone pointed an orange and blue and white plastic and vaguely gun shaped thing at you, your first response is probably that it's a water squirt gun or some other toy.

Then a very real bullet hits you.

Once a few cops get shot with these things, we can probably expect police to draw their very real weapons on a kid pointing a squirt gun - out of fear that it might be a printed gun.

In other words, with printed custom guns, shape and color recognition go right out the window. It's not so much that they can make a gun, it's that they can make a gun we won't recognize until it's too late.

Oddly enough, plastic guns exist.  In fact, they've existed for decades.  Even more in fact, your standard issue pistol now isn't made out of metal, it's made largely out of plastic.  Most in factly, if you see a police officer in America carrying a standard issue pistol, it's very likely to be a plastic gun.

They were made for a while, but were popularized by Austrian Glock pistols.  Glock actually had zero firearms experience when they released their first guns.  They were a plastics company, so they built the gun with a plastic frame.  I remember, vaguely as a child, hearing that there were plastic guns that would be invisible to metal detectors.  I didn't find out until later that they were talking about Glocks (there are enough metal parts, like the barrel and firing pin, that it will still set a metal detector off).  Even the 3d printed gun needs a nail to act as a firing pin.

The difference is that a Glock is an insanely durable weapon, and they have some insane stress tests online showing them being beaten to Hell and back, then still firing and cycling correctly.  The 3d printed gun they have now can fire, but not well.  It's an exceptionally poor gun, though they may someday make it worth something.  As it stands, though, you can paint any real gun funny colors and make a fake gun look real.  I don't think that is the problem.

I think, if anything, people are afraid of them because there's no paper trail.  In America, not having a paper trail on a gun can vary from state to state, and some people literally can swap guns without changing paperwork in certain states.  Elsewhere, people want to know who has what kind of guns on their property (imagine that!) so the idea of being able to print out a gun without registering, needing a license, needing to pass a mental health assessment, or needing to have your criminal record checked kind of sets people on edge.

Which it probably should, considering the gun is smoothbore and thus also has no identifying rifling marks to examine during a ballistics test.  So not only can you fabricate a gun without any regulation, but then it'd be almost impossible to prove that the bullet came from the gun you fired.

Thankfully, for now, it's fairly easy to get hold of a real gun and the 3d printed one is a piece of shit.
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Katrina Oniseki

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Re: 3D Printed Pistol
« Reply #14 on: 04 Nov 2013, 22:31 »

The 3d printed gun they have now can fire, but not well.  It's an exceptionally poor gun, though they may someday make it worth something.  As it stands, though, you can paint any real gun funny colors and make a fake gun look real.  I don't think that is the problem.

I was unclear, but I meant more the shape than the color. Having wild tyedye colors (can you do that?) and an odd shape might make someone not realize it's a gun at all. This is my point. A box shaped 'gun' won't show up as anything suspicious on an x-ray scan at the airport. An airplane shaped one could be hidden in with a bunch of children's toys. It could be given to a toddler to carry (sans bullet) into a courtroom with the bullet inside the shoe (that has a metal buckle). There's all sorts of new and devious ways to sneak them around without being detected, in ways that you can't do with current guns that aren't spring-and-nail toilet paper reels.

The point is that a lot of these basic gun recognition tropes we take for granted right now - the shape, the weight, the metal, the color... all of that is thrown out the window. The only part that remains the same is the bullet. If you can't even recognize the firing device reliably... well isn't that a bigger problem than paper trails?
« Last Edit: 04 Nov 2013, 22:32 by Katrina Oniseki »
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