[Granny Bear]

So, instructions for printing 3-D guns can be available to the public as early as tomorrow.

What do you guys think about that ability?

Does the 2nd amendment cover this situation?

[TheRealThing]

So, instructions for printing 3-D guns can be available to the public as early as tomorrow.

What do you guys think about that ability?

Does the 2nd amendment cover this situation?

Not that you have suggested making a 3-D gun is an easy task. Making one is in fact very expensive, and a 3-D printer capable of making one is extremely expensive, (one company makes printed guns that sell/sold for $11,000) But the argument being made about plastic guns is just being used as a political football. The gun control crowd are always on-point, waiting for any reason to scream gun control.

Each part (which must be later assembled), for a 3-D gun comes out of the printer mounted on a plastic scaffold or pedestal, that must be painstakingly removed to be used, much like a plastic car model. But in this case the tolerances would be way more critical. And as I understand it, firing a 3-D gun is a very dicey one-time proposition, which would almost certainly cause it to explode. And, any 3-D gun would be easily traceable to whatever printer had produced it.

I don't believe the 2nd Amendment deals with the materials or process used to produce firearms. And the right to own and bear arms would include people who make homemade firearms. For example, I have a friend who can make Kentucky long rifles from raw materials. But in the case of plastic guns, many experts insist that some metal parts would still be required for them to function reliably, which renders them useless the purpose of getting past metal detectors and other screening methods.

[RAM-A-DEVIL]

If youre allowed to have assult weapons then why not plastic guns

[Granny Bear]

I don't understand the process in the least. But there's no way you could fire a weapon made completely of plastic...….is there??

[TheRealThing]

I don't understand the process in the least. But there's no way you could fire a weapon made completely of plastic...….is there??

I think the firing pin is questionable, as would be the plastic spring that drives it into the bullet. From what I’ve read the barrel usually explodes, which vents the gases meant to propel the projectile. Therefore the impact force of the bullet can be lessened.

[Hoot Gibson]

I don't understand the process in the least. But there's no way you could fire a weapon made completely of plastic...….is there??

Yes, plastic guns have been made on 3D printers that have fired one or two bullets. I think that the guy involved in the Texas case may have been the first to successfully fire a plastic gun. He made the plans available online, which led to the lawsuit that he just won.

Like every other form of gun control, government attempts to promulgate laws to infringe on American citizens' 2nd Amendment rights by restricting the flow of 3-D printed guns will only result in a higher percentage of bad guys being well armed.

It is only a matter of time before plans for 3-D metal printed guns are widely available. There are other ways to spread new technology besides the internet, but liberal politicians will no doubt argue for strict prohibitions on sharing designs of firearms online.

I look forward to the day that we can buy affordable 3D printers that will print both plastic and metal spare parts at home - no more waiting a day or more to replace a broken part - we will be able to download parts as easily as manuals.

[4_real]

Yes, plastic guns have been made on 3D printers that have fired one or two bullets. I think that the guy involved in the Texas case may have been the first to successfully fire a plastic gun. He made the plans available online, which led to the lawsuit that he just won.

Like every other form of gun control, government attempts to promulgate laws to infringe on American citizens' 2nd Amendment rights by [I]restricting the flow of 3-D printed guns will only result in a higher percentage of bad guys being well armed.[/I]

It is only a matter of time before plans for 3-D metal printed guns are widely available. There are other ways to spread new technology besides the internet, but liberal politicians will no doubt argue for strict prohibitions on sharing designs of firearms online.

I look forward to the day that we can buy affordable 3D printers that will print both plastic and metal spare parts at home - no more waiting a day or more to replace a broken part - we will be able to download parts as easily as manuals.

How can the same human being who uses the word "promulgate" say one of the most halfdead, fish brained, snake handling Pentecostal things of all time :'restricting the flow of 3-D printed guns will only result in a higher percentage of bad guys being well armed.' I know you aint as sharp as a bear claw but my God my God.

[Hoot Gibson]

How can the same human being who uses the word "promulgate" say one of the most halfdead, fish brained, snake handling Pentecostal things of all time :'restricting the flow of 3-D printed guns will only result in a higher percentage of bad guys being well armed.' I know you aint as sharp as a bear claw but my God my God.

You are quite a dolt, but I will attempt to explain the state of 3D printing in simple terms that you may be able to understand.

3D printers are very cheap. Even a cheap 3D plastic printer is capable of replicating most of the components to make copies of itself. 3D metal printers are more expensive, but prices have been falling for years. Their cost may be beyond what an average individual is willing to pay, but for a drug cartel headquartered in Mexico or Central America, their cost is already affordable.

While it is true that the government could pass laws to track the sales of 3D printers, reliably tracking all of the products manufactured with such printers would be impossible.

As long as there is a demand for firearms, the demand will be met. The government may eventually rob law abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights, but weapons are necessary tools of the trade for organized criminals.

Making a gun is not a high tech task, but technology is making it easier. Wealthy people who want guns, whether for self defense or to facilitate criminal behavior will have them. The question is will liberals succeed in rendering the rest of us defenseless against the criminal element of our society?

[4_real]

I don't need a gunsmithing lesson on 3d guns. I honestly could not care. My. 45 is with me everywhere I go. I just read where you said laws against a plastic gun makes responsible gun owners less safe. Jeeeeeez. That's just not a reach, that's cutting off your arm and sending it to the moon.

[Hoot Gibson]

I don't need a gunsmithing lesson on 3d guns. I honestly could not care. My. 45 is with me everywhere I go. I just read where you said laws against a plastic gun makes responsible gun owners less safe. Jeeeeeez. That's just not a reach, that's cutting off your arm and sending it to the moon.

If you had a clue where the 3D printing technology is headed, you would not be making such stupid statements. 3D metal printers are already widely used for producing prototypes of all sorts of products. 3D plastic printers cannot be used to self-replicate all of the parts necessary to manufacture machines identical to themselves, but metal printers have no such restriction.

The biggest concern with plastic guns is supposedly that they are extremely difficult to detect with screening devices - but the truth is smarter liberals than yourself realize that printed metal guns could eliminate their power to dismantle the 2nd Amendment.

3D printers are a liberal politician's worst nightmare.

[Ballmom1]

So, instructions for printing 3-D guns can be available to the public as early as tomorrow.

What do you guys think about that ability?

Does the 2nd amendment cover this situation?

I think the idea is insane.
I'm not sure about the 2nd amendment application though.