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posted by janrinok on Thursday February 12 2015, @05:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the Darwin-award-material? dept.

Police in Australia have seized 3D-printed weapons after a raid in a suburb of Gold Coast City, Queensland. The haul included plastic knuckle dusters and what are suspected to be printed gun parts. If confirmed, the state's police force has said it would be the first time it had discovered 3D-printed firearm components in a home.

"We've obviously got to get it through our ballistic experts but we can identify most if not all of the major components of a weapon," detective inspector Scott Knowles of Queensland Police Service told ABC News following the arrest of a 28-year-old suspect in Mudgeeraba. He added that the owner of the printer thought to have been involved had given the machine to the suspect to be calibrated, and was not aware that it was going to be misused.

Last year, Australia's Senate held an inquiry into gun-related violence, during which there were calls for the country's laws to be updated to take account of new technologies. However, DI Knowles noted that Queensland's current laws were already adequate to prosecute a case if ballistics experts confirmed the 3D-printed parts involved were designed for use in firearms. "With weapons and parts manufactured this way still being classified as a firearm under current legislation, people can also see themselves before the courts for manufacturing and possessing these items" he said.

In 2013, the New South Wales police force released videos warning of the dangers of 3D-printed guns and depicting an exploding Liberator, while acknowledging that it is impossible to stop the proliferation of gun CAD files. Last year, Yoshitomo Imura was arrested in Japan and sentenced to two years of prison after posting a video showing himself firing a 3D-printed revolver of his own design.

Related Stories

Landmark Legal Shift for 3D-Printed Guns 92 comments

For those in the US with a combined interest in 3D-Printers, intersections of the 1st and 2nd Amendments, and legal precedents; Cody Wilson has been fighting the US Government for half a decade.

Short version: after Wilson uploaded his 3D pistol plans to his site, over 100,000 people downloaded it - this drew the attention of the US authorities, who tried to use the International Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to force a take-down.

The authorities argued that by posting the 3D printer plans for a firearm, Mr. Wilson was effectively exporting firearms, and subject to federal regulation. Eventually the Department of Justice dropped the case, paving the way for DIY'ers to publish such things freely.

The article cites 'promises' made by DoJ to move the regulations to another department.

Wired's article: A Landmark Legal Shift Opens Pandora's Box for DIY Guns (archive)

Related: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
Japanese Gun Printer Goes to Jail
Suspected 3D-Printed Gun Parts and Plastic Knuckles Seized in Australia
FedEx Refuses to Ship Defense Distributed's Ghost Gunner CNC Mill
Man Who Used CNC Mill to Manufacture AR-15 "Lowers" Sentenced to 41 Months
Ghost Gunner Software Update Allows the Milling of an M1911 Handgun


Original Submission

[Updated] Defense Distributed Releasing Gun Plans, President Trump "Looking Into" It 76 comments

Trump says public availability of 3D-printed guns 'doesn't seem to make much sense'

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is "looking into" the availability of plans for the 3D printing of guns, writing on Twitter that he had already been in touch with the NRA on the issue.

"I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn't seem to make much sense!" the president wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning.

After a years-long legal battle, Defense Distributed, a Texas-based group, has announced plans to release instructions on Wednesday for guns that can be created by a 3-D printer, including a handgun and parts for a semi-automatic assault rifle. Although plans were not supposed to be available until Wednesday, instructions have already begun to appear online for download, CNN reported Tuesday.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by jmorris on Thursday February 12 2015, @05:12PM

    by jmorris (4844) on Thursday February 12 2015, @05:12PM (#144229)

    Remember the Soviets and fax machines and copiers?

    Well we in the former Western Republics are about to attempt the same process of stuffing a genie back into a bottle. Good luck with that guys. Twenty years from now the tech to print reliable firearms will be so widespread that controlling the possession of a weapon will be about as practical as stopping the photocopying of samizdat political tracts in the old Soviet Empire. The upside is that firearms aren't nearly as dangerous to the ruling regimes so when they eventually are forced to recognize the new reality they probably won't fall. Well they won't fall because of that, they are all already far along the road to ruin for a host of other reasons.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by ikanreed on Thursday February 12 2015, @05:33PM

      by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 12 2015, @05:33PM (#144233) Journal

      Or, you know, you'll find that gunpowder(or more modern propellants) can't just be conjured out of plastic with a 3d model file, and that people intent on creating their own firearms will face most of the same complexities as always, and only dangerous fringe lunatics will actually go out of their way to try in countries with sensible gun laws.

      The ability to make a gun by hand isn't new. What's new is idiots who think the internet can be used to circumvent all laws discovering it.

      For similar examples: See the imprisonment of dread pirate Roberts in spite of all the technological circumvention he thought he had.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by WillAdams on Thursday February 12 2015, @05:41PM

        by WillAdams (1424) on Thursday February 12 2015, @05:41PM (#144235)

        Or, rather than attempting to control w/ laws the distribution of metal folded or machined into certain shapes, why don't we instead work to create a society which actually works toward what should be the goal of human society, the preservation and increase of human dignity.

        Rather than trying to control who has what bit of metal, why not create a society in which there is:

          - justice
          - self-control and self-expression
          - meaningful employment for all who are able to work

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 13 2015, @01:48AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 13 2015, @01:48AM (#144444)

          Step 1: Make it harder for unstable people to shoot people they don't like, through sensible laws licensing access to weaponry.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:01PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:01PM (#144242)

        Making a gun is not hard...

        It just takes a bit of shop skills and a trip to your local hardware store and some basics of what to do and not do.

        Printing a gun is at this point in time just 'show off' material for 3d printing. 3d printing at this time is fairly expensive.

        Making a gun that lasts more than a few shots takes time and some amount of skill. 3d printing with plastic is not going to cut it. They have printed a metal gun using laser sintering. But hardly common.

        Also to the article. It is one of the reasons the US has its second amendment. Notice the implication of 'owning a weapon' has already made the dude sound more like a criminal? If everyone can own one it is not as big of a deal...

        • (Score: 3, Disagree) by bob_super on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:17PM

          by bob_super (1357) on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:17PM (#144277)

          > Notice the implication of 'owning a weapon' has already made the dude sound more like a criminal?

          Because Australia has banned private ownership of guns. Therefore, someone making one is, quite logically, perceived negatively as potential trouble.

          > If everyone can own one it is not as big of a deal...

          That's USA logic. Most of the other civilized countries do not subscribe to it.

          • (Score: -1, Redundant) by VitalMoss on Thursday February 12 2015, @08:03PM

            by VitalMoss (3789) on Thursday February 12 2015, @08:03PM (#144299)

            I was unaware that Switzerland was considered an uncivilized country.

            For that matter, statistics show that gun control laws aren't very effective. If someone really wants a gun, they are sure as hell going to find a way to get one.
            I'm sure it will be more difficult in Australia, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still possible.

            • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday February 12 2015, @08:13PM

              by bob_super (1357) on Thursday February 12 2015, @08:13PM (#144300)

              "Most of" ... Do we need to go over this every time?

              I've got a bridge for sale, free shipping to your Egyptian river...

              • (Score: 0, Redundant) by VitalMoss on Thursday February 12 2015, @08:18PM

                by VitalMoss (3789) on Thursday February 12 2015, @08:18PM (#144304)

                The point is that you are likening lax gun control laws to uncivilized countries, as if gun control is the only option.

              • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:43PM

                by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:43PM (#144353) Journal

                "Most of" ... Do we need to go over this every time?

                Only every time you say it. You referred to it as "US logic". But it's worth noting, again, that guns are widely prevalent in a large portion of the developed world, including Australia. The "logic" goes beyond the US.

                • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday February 12 2015, @10:15PM

                  by bob_super (1357) on Thursday February 12 2015, @10:15PM (#144364)

                  "Hunting" rifles are not the same thing as handguns or semi-auto assault weapons. Actually killing someone else with one is a much more involved exercise.
                  The "logic" was about people carrying guns all over the place ("everyone has one" can't be restricted to your house), as if a trained officer hadn't just been mowed down by two idiots to disprove the bravado claims.

                  Anyway, this discussion has happened a million times and will keep happening a million times...

                  • (Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Friday February 13 2015, @01:46PM

                    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday February 13 2015, @01:46PM (#144594) Journal

                    "Hunting" rifles are not the same thing as handguns or semi-auto assault weapons.

                    Actually hunting rifles are the same thing as assault weapons (which is basically a propaganda label for a variety of military-looking features on a gun). They just don't look as pretty.

                    The "logic" was about people carrying guns all over the place ("everyone has one" can't be restricted to your house), as if a trained officer hadn't just been mowed down by two idiots to disprove the bravado claims.

                    How does that "disprove"? And what "bravado" claims? Trained officers can't be everywhere. Nor can they ever be trained and armed well enough to always survive an ambush.

                    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday February 14 2015, @12:37AM

                      by bob_super (1357) on Saturday February 14 2015, @12:37AM (#144814)

                      Legal "hunting" rifles in most of Europe, as far as I'm aware, cannot have magazines or be semi-auto.
                      That makes a huge difference when it comes to mowing down other bipedal animals.

                      • (Score: 2, Informative) by khallow on Saturday February 14 2015, @06:57AM

                        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 14 2015, @06:57AM (#144882) Journal

                        Legal "hunting" rifles in most of Europe, as far as I'm aware, cannot have magazines or be semi-auto.

                        Looks like hunting rifles of that sort are legal, but are "subject to authorization" [wikipedia.org].

                        That makes a huge difference when it comes to mowing down other bipedal animals.

                        Unless those other bipedal animals are similarly armed.

                      • (Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Saturday February 14 2015, @08:01AM

                        by Yog-Yogguth (1862) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 14 2015, @08:01AM (#144894) Journal

                        I only know of plenty of counterexamples and not everything about every country in Europe but even if you were right what would be your point? [huffingtonpost.co.uk]

                        If people are going to break the law against murder they don't give a shit about any laws against any kinds of weapons. Why is this so hard to understand for so many people?

                        --
                        Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
          • (Score: 2, Insightful) by WillAdams on Friday February 13 2015, @12:58PM

            by WillAdams (1424) on Friday February 13 2015, @12:58PM (#144581)

            Yeah, but pretty much every other civilized country depended on the U.S. to arm them and help them against Nazi Germany:

            http://www.examiner.com/article/would-you-send-a-gun-to-defend-a-british-home [examiner.com]

      • (Score: 3) by Arik on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:06PM

        by Arik (4543) on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:06PM (#144244) Journal
        "Or, you know, you'll find that gunpowder(or more modern propellants) can't just be conjured out of plastic with a 3d model file"

        Quite true. Making modern smokeless powder is an art that few master. It certainly can be done, however, there's nothing magical about the chemistry. And there are other propellants that are much easier to fabricate in a pinch.

        "only dangerous fringe lunatics will actually go out of their way to try in countries with sensible gun laws."

        Well that's just ludicrous. The only people that would bother with this in countries with sensible gun laws are geeks, experimenters, and we are hardly 'dangerous fringe lunatics' for doing so.

        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
        • (Score: 1) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:40PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:40PM (#144261)

          Yeah, I"m still waiting to see someone work up a dual-extruder w/ two filaments:

            - one is suitable for use as a primer
            - the second is inert, but burns cleanly when the other burns up to a certain thickness / percentage of mix

          Print the case, primer, propellant and projectile all in one go for a true caseless round.

      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:38PM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:38PM (#144257) Journal

        For similar examples: See the imprisonment of dread pirate Roberts in spite of all the technological circumvention he thought he had.

        I was just thinking of this, since the source of Iocaine powder is Australia, and Australia is a country populated entirely by criminals, so clearly I cannot chose the 3-D printer in front of you!!

        Oh, you mean the Silk Road Dread Pirate Roberts, who was not the original Dread Pirate Roberts, either?

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Hairyfeet on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:05PM

        by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:05PM (#144273) Journal

        Wow what a great example of how politically correct this site is becoming, one points out that the soviets tried the same thing with easy to manufacture tech and is labeled troll while the one that trumpets the political narrative that more federal laws is ALWAYS the answer is modded insightful..why am I not surprised? BTW anybody else notice that the left went from being champions of individual rights in the 60s and 70s have become the mirror image of the right, with "big mommy" being the left equivalent of big brother? I guess those of us on the left that still remembers the old party are getting to see what those on the right felt when their party kicked all the fiscal conservatives out in the 80s for the neo-cons. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

        Oh and just FYI but not only is making gunpowder really not that difficult (therefor your idea simply will not work) but there is no reason why one even has to use gunpowder at all, after all there are plenty of chemicals that will explode with enough force to give a lead bullet lethal acceleration. This is of course not even taking into account one can simply not use an explosive at all, plenty of videos on YouTube on how to make a coil gun (which would probably work better for a printed gun as the barrel wouldn't have to deal with the large pressure of a traditional shell) and the big rotting elephant carcass in the room that you can't even stop the import of slaves (both sexual and labor) and mountains of drugs across the joke that is the southern border, both of which is much larger than a crate of guns or bullets, both of which can be bought in cartel controlled areas of Mexico for less than a PS4.

        BTW don't you feel even a teeny tiny bit like a hypocrite? After all even the most politically correct agree that the federal drug laws have been an absolute failure, wasting billions of dollars and not doing shit to stop the cartels and instead disproportionately turning citizens into criminals, yet you want to go down the exact same path and use the exact same failed strategy wrt guns because you don't want anyone to have them...doesn't this strike you as being a hypocrite? Oh and just FYI this you would think is obvious but it bears repeating as so many on the politically correct left really seem to have trouble grasping this, but you see there is a huge gaping flaw in your logic....what you fail to grasp is this.... criminals do not obey your laws hence why they are called criminals! So by their very design your laws will only affect the lawful as the criminals? Really aren't gonna give a rat's ass what laws you make!

        --
        ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
        • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:22PM

          by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:22PM (#144280) Journal

          I modded it up. In the meantime maybe you should ditch the sig and adjust threshold down towards -1.

          --
          [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
          • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Thursday February 12 2015, @11:27PM

            by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Thursday February 12 2015, @11:27PM (#144398) Journal

            Why so I can get the "pleasure" of reading posts from my cyberstalker? You can always tell when Stalky and pals are around because suddenly all my posts become yo-yos, you see Stalky is a "true believer" in the SJW vein and just like a SJW rather than debate (and possibly get curbstomped thanks to his failure to understand the "is ought" fallacy) his goal is to silence. you can look at some of my posts the past 3 weeks and the modbombing is beyond obvious, with the same post going from +5 to 0 to +5 as many as 4 times in the space of 48 hours!

            So no sir, if they are unwilling to take the whole 3 minutes to register an account and stand by their bullshit then I will not waste even 2 seconds of my time reading their drivel. Oh and just FYI but on a site like this AC posts MAKE NO SENSE as the entire appeal of a site like this is discussion and since an AC will never see any response? Then there is simply no point in bothering with their posts, as they just spew shit and run like its 4chan.

            BTW the amount of modbombing on this site is making Slash look like fair and balanced and the longer it goes on the more obvious it is that the admins either do not care (because they hold the same political bent as the bombers) or simply do not have the ability to police their own site. When a single post goes from +5 to 0 to +5 in a few hours? I'm sorry but that is pretty blatant bombing, no way are you gonna have enough users suddenly out of the blue decide that posts that were previously labeled interesting or insightful are so offensive that they should use up their points to drop that post into the negative, especially when this happens over and over AND OVER, often times to multiple posts by the same user within minutes of each other.

            So I'd say its pretty obvious we have somebody here trying to silence all that do not agree with him, whether this person be an admin or the admins just don't care I do not know but I bet my last dollar if you could see who was doing the modding? You'd see its the same couple of names targeting every post I make over and over which clearly makes it a personal attack. Its a shame as I thought the whole point of moving away from Slash was to have a site focused on tech without all the left/right political flag waving and cliques trying to silence all those that don't follow the groupthink, guess I was wrong.

            --
            ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
            • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday February 13 2015, @12:50AM

              by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday February 13 2015, @12:50AM (#144427) Journal

              I was surprised by that troll mod, too. Maybe the person who modded it that way didn't get the memo about the "disagree" option. It's possible. The site is growing.

              I'm also surprised you're getting modded up and down so dramatically. I mean, I might question your choice of operating system ;-) but you know what you're talking about and say well-reasoned things.

              Maybe it's time to bring back meta-moderating?

              --
              Washington DC delenda est.
              • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by Hairyfeet on Friday February 13 2015, @01:56AM

                by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Friday February 13 2015, @01:56AM (#144447) Journal

                Well I'd say the bigger issue is that the admins don't seem to be policing the site, that or they just do not care. I mean when a single user has multiple posts just start yo-yo-ing like that, +5 to 0 to +5, over and over like that? Well it don't take Kojack to realize that somebody is targeting that user and modbombing. you can tell its a modbombing because they aren't even bothering to glance at the content, just the UID, because even a post where I simply said "You can't tell the age of a PC by the XP sticker as XP was sold until 2009" and even THAT went +5 to 0 to +4 to 1, back and forth and back and forth as some user reading the page would go "WTF was this downmodded for?" and upmod only for the bomber to go back and drop it back down again.

                Its sad as i had real high hopes on this site becoming like the old Slash, where all the articles were about tech with no political BS, none of the groupthink and cliques attacking those that didn't wave whatever flag they did, but it looks like all we are gonna end up with is new Slash with a red color scheme...just sad, which is why I stopped contributing articles and have been visiting this site less, after all even Slash shuts down modbombers.

                --
                ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
                • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday February 13 2015, @02:14PM

                  by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday February 13 2015, @02:14PM (#144601) Journal

                  no political BS, none of the groupthink and cliques attacking those that didn't wave whatever flag they did

                  You've been around the block enough to know that's a human problem, not a Soylent problem. The editors are all volunteers. They have day jobs. So it bears taking that into consideration when evaluating what they have or have not done. I think meta-moderation would address some of what you've been experiencing, but there are probably other measures that could be taken if we as a community think about it hard enough. I don't know if you've tried talking to the guys on IRC, but they seem pretty open to me. Since mod-bombing is more of a meta issue IRC would probably have a higher chance of having a productive discussion.

                  FWIW, I feel your frustration and think it would be a pity if you dropped out. You have a strong & informed perspective. It's one I frequently disagree with, but it makes me think. That's a lot more valuable than an echo chamber.

                  --
                  Washington DC delenda est.
                  • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Friday February 13 2015, @06:37PM

                    by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Friday February 13 2015, @06:37PM (#144701) Journal

                    Meta-mod does NOT do anything more than INCREASE the amount of yo-yo as users go "WTF was that modded down for?" and mod it up only for the bomber/s who are cyberstalking then go right back and downmod again.

                    No the ONLY way to target a cyberstalker or modbomber is for the admins to look and see who is repeatedly targeting a single individual and BAN THEIR ASSES by IP if necessary! For anybody with access to the logs it would be soooooo trivial to spot it isn't funny, you see that a person is getting yo-yo-ed by having a script that flags posts that go up-down-up by more than a point or two (because if its based on content? Most people will generally agree with the modding so there will be little in the way of yo-yo one way or another) and when a post shows up on the radar? Look at that user....has this person shown up on the radar before now? How recent? and most importantly you LOOK AT THE USERS/IPs THAT ARE MODDING THE POSTS and if that person has the same name/IP show up more than twice or downmodding multiple posts by that user? Hello cyberstalker/modbomber!

                    Look I know these guys got day jobs, nobody is asking them to rewrite the fricking site, shit most of this can be done with a few simple scripts as long as you have access to the modding history. This is why I have to wonder if one of the admins either supports the modbomber or is a modbomber because this ain't rocket science, this is the kind of shit that is pretty much website 101 and 10 minutes with the logs and a couple scripts will spit out the UID/IP of the persons doing this...if an admin cares that is.

                    Lets get to brass tacks...I put up with that shit on Slash because I was able to speak my mind to a wide audience and for every time I had to deal with a cyberstalker or modbomber (which to be fair Slash was actually good about shutting down, as my lovely "Die you fat fucker DIE!!" poster found out when he ended up IP banned) there was a dozen times when somebody replied or even emailed and said "thank you for the info, you made my job a hell of a lot easier with those tips" or "Thanks, you saved me a couple hundred bucks on my new computer and it runs fantastic, thanks again!" so to me it was worth putting up with the bullshit because at least I did get to help some folks...there is a REASON why I don't post to Faux or HuffyPo despite them having an even larger audience and that is because the admins there really have not a single fuck to give about stalkers and modbombers as long as they follow the political bent of the site and the one they are attacking isn't subscribing to the groupthink...which sadly as time goes on is the feeling I get here more and more. I mean for fucks sake my posts yo-yo more than old Ethanol and he comes right out and proclaims "I'm just here to troll and piss people off"...DaFuq?

                    So I'm sorry but I've already stopped submitting articles and find myself coming here less and less, if they want to make this some little echo chamber where everybody agrees? they are welcome to have it, there just isn't enough users here for me to put up with that kinda bullshit for much longer, sorry.

                    --
                    ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by ikanreed on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:27PM

          by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:27PM (#144282) Journal

          The soviets also forbade murder. Better stop doing that.

          • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:26PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:26PM (#144339)

            What is wrong with violent revolution against communists / SJWs like yourself?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:02PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:02PM (#144321)

          This site has recently received a large uptick in comments on all articles. I can't help but wonder if its a bunch of astro turfing corporate/govt trolls.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:15PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:15PM (#144330)

          The only answer is to kill these PC people who rule us.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by shortscreen on Thursday February 12 2015, @11:06PM

          by shortscreen (2252) on Thursday February 12 2015, @11:06PM (#144388) Journal

          I have noticed that on both the Left and the Right, there are rational ideas, and then there are... other ideas. The Right has a faction which wants the law to reflect their personal religious beliefs. The Left has a faction which wants the law to reflect their doctrine of political correctness and nanny-statism. Both of these groups are damaging to the political process because they make a laughing stock of everyone who is associated with them politically and serve to perpetuate the "Left vs. Right" false dichotomy.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:12PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:12PM (#144329)

      There needs to be a civil war where the social justice warriors (who are the supporters of the feminist police state which bans everything from good guns to men having good girls (female children as brides, allowed in the bible: deuteronomy 22 28-29)) are killed

      Allready you get 5 yrs in prison if you speak against some of their things. The only solution it to meet repression with repression, violence with violence.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @05:55PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @05:55PM (#144239)

    how to (plastic) print a BULLET!
    honestly? finding a mechanism that allows to discharge a bullet w/ your index finger is like so yesterday.
    i wikipedia that there are caseless bullets. now that's a novelty!
    all you would need is gun-powder and a printer ...
    what actually would be WAyyyYYY more interesting is how to shot down a satellite from your back-yard : )

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:10PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday February 12 2015, @06:10PM (#144247) Homepage Journal

    a tabletop lathe and milling machine would cost about the same, you could machine real steel with it, and there are many uses for machine tools other than weaponry.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:34PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:34PM (#144283) Journal

      1. By making it easier, it expands the number of people who can do it (without getting their hands dirty)
      2. 3D printers also have uses other than weaponry. Print a chess set, print a gun, all in a day's work
      3. Better 3D printers and metal 3D printers could offer novel designs that challenge what you can make with your machine tools (but this is speculation):

      Australian Police Seized a Buttload of 3-D Printed Weapons [vice.com]

      The Reprringer was pretty innovative when it came out, but what are we capable of now?

      ...
      Defense Distributed bought a carbon fiber printer almost a year ago. The material sheets on some of these are way stronger than ABS, and we're thinking there are whole other concepts available like [home printed] extractor mechanisms and semi-automatics.

      Basically there's a couple of things that I don't want to say we've done yet—but we've done them. And I don't want to release the details until we have a clear avenue to put them back on the internet. So the field definitely has advanced, it's just publicly it hasn't advanced as much as you might think.

      How expensive are the kinds of advances you're creating these improved guns with?

      They're not really prohibitively expensive—in fact they're comparable to what we were paying a couple of years ago [for plastic guns like the Liberator]. We're still talking like five, six grand machines for a totally different class of materials. That seems fair to me.

      And as soon as this stuff gets out there, there'll be markets for people to start producing more of the materials. Then the prices will fall. These machines are being developed for the home user.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:37PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:37PM (#144284) Journal

    Here's an interview with Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson about the raid:

    Australian Police Seized a Buttload of 3-D Printed Weapons [vice.com]

    ...and something completely different [bbc.com]

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Ryuugami on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:42PM

    by Ryuugami (2925) on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:42PM (#144286)

    However, DI Knowles noted that Queensland's current laws were already adequate to prosecute a case if ballistics experts confirmed the 3D-printed parts involved were designed for use in firearms.

    You're telling me that getting a gun... from the Internet! doesn't need an entire new law? Now that's what I call a novel legal theory! What's next, refusing patents where the only new element is "on the computer/Internet/smartphone" too? Talk about a slippery slope!

    :)

    --
    If a shit storm's on the horizon, it's good to know far enough ahead you can at least bring along an umbrella. - D.Weber
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:46PM

    by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:46PM (#144289) Homepage Journal

    From Professor Bernardo de La Paz:

    In terms of morals there is no such thing as a ‘state.’ Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free, because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything that I do.

    --
    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by tftp on Thursday February 12 2015, @08:43PM

      by tftp (806) on Thursday February 12 2015, @08:43PM (#144313) Homepage

      I am free, because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything that I do.

      However what will stop a bunch of busybodies from believing that they alone are morally responsible for everything that you do?

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:04PM

        by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:04PM (#144322) Homepage Journal

        I am free, because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything that I do.

        However what will stop a bunch of busybodies from believing that they alone are morally responsible for everything that you do?

        Absolutely nothing. Laws are intended to be the mechanism a society uses to continue to function. Unfortunately, some laws invariably intrude upon what some consider to be their privilege. In those cases, one may either leave that particular society, choose to obey objectionable laws, or "if I find them too obnoxious," break them." All of these potential courses of action are available, the only invariant is that the individual is still responsible for their own choices and actions.

        I'd also add that

        The correct way to punctuate a sentence that starts: "Of course it is none
        of my business, but --" is to place a period after the word "but." Don't use
        excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. Cutting his throat
        is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about.

        --RAH

        Just sayin'

        --
        No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:15PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:15PM (#144332)

        Why is this rated as troll? It is nowhere near a troll. It is an honest observation and philosophical question that is very important to morality and justice. Is this site going the way of slashdot already?

        • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Thursday February 12 2015, @10:52PM

          by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Thursday February 12 2015, @10:52PM (#144375) Homepage Journal

          Why is this rated as troll? It is nowhere near a troll. It is an honest observation and philosophical question that is very important to morality and justice. Is this site going the way of slashdot already?

          A good question. I didn't interpret tftp's [soylentnews.org] response as particularly trollish either.

          Which is why I gave a fairly reasoned reply to it.

          I've locked horns with tftp in the past, and while he (she?) appears to have strong opinions, I didn't get the sense that they were trolling. I guess someone feels otherwise.

          Presumably the moderation system will deal with this appropriately.

          --
          No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
        • (Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Saturday February 14 2015, @08:16AM

          by Yog-Yogguth (1862) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 14 2015, @08:16AM (#144898) Journal

          It seems the next change to the moderation system should be to remove the “Troll” moderation. “Disagree” will have to do for those who disagree.

          --
          Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:54PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @07:54PM (#144293)

    I don't get why people want to 3d print gun parts CNCs are basically just as easy to build as 3d printers on small scale and can print nice quality peices in metals and aluminium

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:17PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 12 2015, @09:17PM (#144334)

      The answer is that people printing gun parts don't really want a gun, they want the novelty or challenge. If they really wanted a gun, they would just grab some supplies from the local hardware store and make an AK-47 like so many others have.