DOJ Seeks 3D Printing Industry’s Help in Stopping Illicit Use

The US Department of Justice announced a program attempting to curb the use of machine gun conversion devices, which could involve 3D printers. “MCDs” are the issue here. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco explained: “We’re here to discuss one such emerging threat: machine gun conversion devices — or MCDs — also known as “switches” or… Continue reading DOJ Seeks 3D Printing Industry’s Help in Stopping Illicit Use

Lawmakers Hope to Regulate 3D Printed Guns with an Act from the 1980s

US Senator Chuck Schumer (D) is sounding the alarm about the proliferation of 3D printed weapons as a law banning undetectable firearms is set to end on December 9, 2013.   The Undetectable Firearms Act, which was adopted in the 1980s, sought to make firearms more easily detectable by requiring that they contain a minimum… Continue reading Lawmakers Hope to Regulate 3D Printed Guns with an Act from the 1980s

Canadian Government Investigating 3D Printed Weapons

The 3D printed weapons controversy continues. From the CBC we learn that the Canadian Government, or specifically several of its agencies (the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency and Criminal Intelligence Service Canada) have sponsored a request for contractors to provide insight into 3D printing of firearms, ammunition and associated parts.    Our view is that… Continue reading Canadian Government Investigating 3D Printed Weapons

3D Printed Guns at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Readers may recall the controversy earlier this year when DEFCAD produced and electronically distributed digital 3D models for the first working, 3D printable weapons. While the event was a milestone, it didn’t last long as the US Department of Defense Trade Controls seized the digital assets as they determined the digital weapons were not appropriate… Continue reading 3D Printed Guns at the Victoria and Albert Museum

The First Commercial 3D Printed Metal Gun Part

In the last year, 3D printed guns have, unsurprisingly, rather polarized the 3D printing community. While Defense Distributed’s Liberator gun project has been shut down, reverberations from the project continue across the internet, and others are still developing 3D-printed firearm components.   Neal Brace, founder of Sintercore LLC and a former US Marine infantryman, has… Continue reading The First Commercial 3D Printed Metal Gun Part

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It’s A 3D Printed Rifle

First it was a pistol, now it’s a rifle. Over the past year we’ve seen deeper and more complex experiments into the possibilities of 3D printing, some remarkable and others simply pose difficult questions.    One of the challenging experiments was the first 3D printed gun, a pistol designed by Defense Distributed. While the pistol… Continue reading It’s A 3D Printed Rifle

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Preventing 3D Gun Printing?

Create It Real announced they’ve developed a system for preventing 3D printing of firearms. The system apparently uses some kind of geometric detection to identify firearm-like 3D models. Once identified, it simply prevents them from printing. But how does it work? They say:    Upon opening a 3D file, the smart software scans the model… Continue reading Preventing 3D Gun Printing?

3D Printed Bullets?

A new video has surfaced of experiments with 3D printed bullets. The video, produced by popular gun video enthusiasts Taofledermaus, shows three actual firings of said bullets.    One firing involves 1/10 of an ounce (3g) of powder, another is 1/2 an ounce (14g) and the third shows a very unusual shape, which fails miserably.… Continue reading 3D Printed Bullets?

Are 3D Printers Scary?

We’re reading a post by Shelly Palmer of Huffington Post entitled, “3D Printing is Way Scarier Than Plastic Guns”. Palmer describes the recent 3D printed gun scenario that we’ve covered in several posts and then goes on to suggest that the knee-jerk reactions of various politicians are misguided, sensational and “like putting a Band-Aid on… Continue reading Are 3D Printers Scary?

3D Printers: Banned?

That could be the outcome of a proposal from California state senator Leland Yee of San Francisco. Upon reviewing recent reports of 3D printable weapons, Yee became concerned about the possible outcomes and has proposed that the technology must be regulated. He says:    Terrorists can make these guns and do some horrible things to… Continue reading 3D Printers: Banned?

Breaking: DEFCAD’s 3D Printable Gun Files Held by US Government

An announcement suddenly appearing on Defense Distributed’s DEFCAD.org notifies visitors that the files containing 3D models of gun parts will no longer be available.    The announcement says:    DEFCAD files are being removed from public access at the request of the US Department of Defense Trade Controls. Until further notice, the United States government… Continue reading Breaking: DEFCAD’s 3D Printable Gun Files Held by US Government

An Update from Defense Distributed

During our visit to New York City this week we heard directly from Cody Wilson, founder of Defense Distributed on the latest progress they’ve had developing 3D models of functioning firearms.    During his talk at Inside 3D Printing, Wilson described some significant breakthroughs:    Defense Distributed has been able to produce an ABS barrel… Continue reading An Update from Defense Distributed

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“Print Me a Cruiser” : The Future of the US Fleet

According to the Navy publication Proceedings Magazine, “The 3D printing revolution will radically change naval construction.”   In the magazine’s most recent issue, Lt. Cheney-Peters and Lt. Hipple argue that the future of naval design and manufacturing could be based on a 3D printing paradigm. In an interview with MakerBot’s Peter Schmehl, Cheney-Peters learned that… Continue reading “Print Me a Cruiser” : The Future of the US Fleet

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Point. Click. Gun.

A fascinating video detailing Cody Wilson’s Defense Distributed initiative has been published by Motherboard: “Point. Click. Gun.”   In the 24 minute video Wilson takes you on a tour of his operations and deep into his philosophy on gun making. You’ll see his own workshop containing the very Objet Connex 3D printer used to print… Continue reading Point. Click. Gun.

DEFCAD Gets Licensed

There’s news from DEFCAD, the commercial arm of WikiWeapons, who hope to provide the world (or at least the USA) with 3D printable models of gun parts. The news is that they’ve received an official license to manufacture guns, as evidenced by the image above.    They don’t report much more on their blog entry,… Continue reading DEFCAD Gets Licensed

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Defense Distributed Defends Itself

If you’ve been following 3D printing recently, you have surely heard of Defense Distributed, a controversial non-profit initiative to create printable 3D models of gun parts, led by Cody Wilson.    Wilson’s talk at SXSW this week revealed their plan to develop and launch a new for-profit venture to distribute said 3D models: DefCAD.com. It’s… Continue reading Defense Distributed Defends Itself

Al-Jazeera On 3D Printed Guns

A video report on Al-Jazeera explores the 3D printed gun scenario. While we’ve written (probably too much) on this topic, Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle points out one aspect not written so much about: what happens outside of the USA?    Within the USA, proponents of 3D printed guns suggest that the US Constitution permits such… Continue reading Al-Jazeera On 3D Printed Guns

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The Most Dangerous Person in 3D Printing

Wired has named their list of the “15 Most Dangerous People In The World”. The list includes some certainly dangerous types, such as Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Mexican drug kingpin of Ciudad Juarez, but also includes some persons of questionable dangerousness, such as the scandalous former Army intelligence officer Paula Broadwell.    One name we… Continue reading The Most Dangerous Person in 3D Printing

3D Printed Weapons: The Aftermath

Inevitably, controversy erupted upon the revelation that 3D printing weapons is actually feasible. Let’s have a look at the implications.    First, what changes with this discovery? It proves that 3D printer owners in their own homes (and we’d guess there must be at least 20,000 of you out there, with many, many more arriving… Continue reading 3D Printed Weapons: The Aftermath

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3D Printed Weaponry Now Functional

Another first for 3D printing: A pistol constructed from 3D printed parts has been successfully fired.    The gun design was an AR-15, a “a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed, semi-automatic rifle”, according to Wikipedia. Gun enthusiast HaveBlue selected this configuration due to its small caliber and the uncertainty of whether the 3D printed parts would withstand… Continue reading 3D Printed Weaponry Now Functional

3D Printed Crime

PC World takes a very deep look at some of the criminal possibilities of 3D printing in a recent article. We’ve been quite concerned about how this will play out, as have some others. When you have a machine that can create practically anything, what do you expect to happen?    PC World’s article details… Continue reading 3D Printed Crime