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by BrianEatWorld 4792 days ago
I'd agree with you on the model in question, but I could see costs going down, quality improving and designs shifting to cater to the limitations of the medium over time to the extent that more lethal firearms are being produced.

For this particular model, its an interesting question of margins. If you are someone who is looking to willfully harm people, you could download these CAD files, find a printer and be armed without ever showing up on enforcement radar and without the need for links to underground dealers. However, your lethality will be limited.

1 comments

Given that all a 3D printer will produce is plastic (ignoring SLS as it's much further away on the radar), the number of shots is limited before it fails. That's in addition to the requirement to buy ammunition first. Something from Home Depot probably poses a greater threat and would be equally undetectable.

I can't imagine anyone opting to buy a printer, calibrate it and print a terrible gun when they could just buy a hammer (or improvise a firearm out of a piece of pipe).