3D
printing seems to be a promising project. Just imagine having the capacity—and
the liberty—to create materials right at your own home. Jewelries, toys, tools,
you name it; everything is presumably possible with 3D printing. In fact, even
working guns are said to be possible in the near future. Awesome or scary? Just
imagine everyone having the capacity to create guns as they please. A big
convenience to goons and criminals, but a pain-in-the-you-know-what for police
officers. So, do people have a reason to worry about this innovative printing
technique?
Popular
Science reported that “HaveBlue”, an amateur gunsmith who is a member of
Thingiverse (an online community for 3D printers) under the user “HaveBlue”,
has successfully printed a working .22 caliber pistol in as little as $30 worth
of ABS plastic. Although HaveBlue said that there are still modifications that
need to be done on the pistol, he has already made the blueprint available for download,
which gives anti-gun advocates more reasons to worry about.
Forbes
also reported about a group called “Defense Distributed”, which initiated a
project called 'Wiki Weapon Project' aimed to create blueprints that will allow
anyone to 3D-print guns at home. Although their project looks too violent to
some, Cody Wilson, the chief spokesperson of the group, claimed that Wiki
Weapon Project is legal. It will allow anyone to print guns that they are
allowed to lawfully use, provided that they don’t manufacture them for
sale.
Anxiety
aside, 3D printed guns are remarkable inventions. They will give us the ability
to create usable weapons at an extremely lower cost. However, the idea still
needs to go through considerable legislative barriers before it can be made
legal. A legal 3D gunsmith, for instance, has to face numerous federal, state
and local gun regulations before he can operate legally.
3D
printing is indeed a remarkable technique that has the potential to change the
world for the better. But unless we can regulate 3D printers, there’s high
potential for us to fail to protect
ourselves from the real dangers of this technology. Like they say, there
are always two sides to a coin, and if we’re not careful, 3D-printed guns can
easily fall under the dark side of 3D printing.