[refurb]

The thing I don't get is how a plastic gun suddenly becomes a problem if it's 3D printed.

You can construct (a very crude) gun barrel for .22LR out of 3/4" plastic bar using nothing more than a 1/4" drill bit. You need a mechanism to fire the round, but since you just need to crush the primer, it doesn't have to be anything fancy. Of course you have no rifling and a poor seal so the bullet tumbles and isn't effective more than 10-20 ft away, but it's deadly up close.

Since plastics became commonly available over 50 years ago, I don't understand why everyone is suddenly concerned about plastic guns from 3D printing. What is a criminal more likely to do, buy a 3D printing machine for several hundred dollars, learn how to use the software correctly and print a gun OR just buy some plastic and make one himself for $10 and a few hours of his time?

[chrischen]

He may not do that, but he could go and buy a plastic gun for $10 from someone who does know how to use a 3D printer.

Think about this: a curious kid could accidentally shoot himself now in many fewer steps than before. Download, load it into dad's printer, assemble. Though, I'm assuming these plastic guns still need real bullets.

[smsm42]

"Curious kid" could also drink bleach or fall from a roof or bite into an electric cable or spill a boiling soup on his head. That's what parents are for. If the kid is smart enough to use dad's printer, he has the mental capacity to understand the dangers. If the parents didn't educate him it's their failure.

[mc32]

But aren't parents supposed to keep dangerous chemicals away from the reach of curious children?

They can be told over and over of the dangers, but get a few together and all those warnings can flee their brains. If the stuff is inaccessible, then they can't --I mean, unless they're insolent, but most children will refrain from braking into locked closets. Leave things out and it's a different story.

[smsm42]

Yes, they are supposed to. That's the whole point - it's parents' responsibility, not yours or government's.

[chrischen]

Yea that's why it's so dangerous... because we know that many parents will fail at this.

Keep in mind a better analogy is a personal computer. A curious kid might use it and stumble on pornography. But we're not going to go locking computers into closets. Plus the dangers of printing a gun aren't that clearcut for a 10 or 12 year old, especially in our violent video game world of today.

[smsm42]

>>> Plus the dangers of printing a gun aren't that clearcut for a 10 or 12 year old

So explain it. Show the real gun and what happens when one is used and explain what can it do and how dangerous it is. Kids at 12, if they're not mentally damaged, can understand basic safety just fine, and guns are not magic - they are tools, and tools can be dangerous (most homes have lots of dangerous or potentially tools). So kids should be taught not to mess with dangerous tools.

Video games have little to do with it - any kid old enough to meaningfully use a computer can understand difference between fairy tale and reality.

[MikeCapone]

> Since plastics became commonly available over 50 years ago, I don't understand why everyone is suddenly concerned about plastic guns from 3D printing.

It's a zeitgeist thing, IMO. 3D printing is hot in the media, so interesting stories about it (good and bad) tend to get more attention than they would if the same thing had been done by conventional means.

[smsm42]

Because headline saying "threat that was known 50 years ago exists today and despite nothing new happened we still decided to write an article about it as if it was something new" wouldn't attract as many readers.