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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
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday July 13 2018, @03:37AM (3 children)
If memory serves there are 2 kinds of atomic bombs. Uranium is a bitch to refine, but once you have it making the bomb is easy (slam 2 chunks together). Making plutonium is easy if you have a reactor, but making a bomb out of it is a bitch.
Hydrogen bombs, on then other hand....
These are 20+ year old memories so keep a grain of salt handy.
It's just a fact of life that people with brains the size of grapes have mouths the size of watermelons. -- Aunty Acid
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday July 13 2018, @08:40AM (2 children)
The next step in weapons development could be the development of a pure fusion weapon [wikipedia.org]. Hypothetical for now, but if developed it would remove the need for fissile material altogether.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Saturday July 14 2018, @03:36AM (1 child)
In the most respectful manner possible I must ask you not to speak of this. They'll ban consumer access to superconductors if you mention stuff like that.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 14 2018, @05:00AM
And they will try to ban cheap gene editing and related stuff because it could be used to create new life, and unmonitored high performance computers or neuromorphic chips because they could run a strong AI capable of becoming Skynet-like.
Unfortunately, just as with the Drug War, banning these things will only delay the inevitable (and none of them are as easy to track as fissile material).[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]