3D Printed Guns: Should They Be Legal?

August 01, 2018

The latest gun control debate in this great soon to be fiery planet of ours involves a few guests that we didn’t expect. Mainly, the 3-D printer, and Donald Trump’s opinion on the 3-D printer, and also — 3-D printed guns. It’s a terrifying idea that throws everything into chaos. What use is even the weakest gun control regulation if anyone, anywhere, can find his way to a 3-D printer and get themselves a weapon that is completely unregistered.

The debate was started, as many awful and weird debates are started in the year of our lord, 2018, by a Donald Trump Tweet. In the Tweet Trump said that he spoke to the NRA and told them that 3-D printed guns didn’t make sense to him! Okay.

I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018

This was problematic in and of itself, because it included a politician saying something that we sort of knew was true, but was verboten to say — he is in constant communication with lobbies. Comedian Bess Kalb breaks down while this is troubling, both concerning Donald Trump and the NRA. For one — it also proves that the NRA is less about gun ownership and more about gun companies making a profit.

This is the most dangerous tweet he has written. Worse than Rocket Man. Let’s break it down. First we have to ask ourselves: Why would the NRA not support 3-D printed guns if their entire M.O. is putting more guns in the hands of more Americans? The answer is money. pic.twitter.com/24PjoTe4C6

— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) August 1, 2018

The only reason the NRA wouldn’t support 3-D printed guns is gun manufacturers can’t make money if people can make guns themselves. This isn’t about the Second Amendment at all. This is about profits for an industry.

— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) August 1, 2018

Trump admitting he had to speak with the NRA before having an opinion on 3D printed guns is a staggering blow to democracy. We are no longer safe or free when the executive branch of the government has to consult with a lobby before making a decision about our freedom and safety.

— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) August 1, 2018

As long as the NRA has the right to buy politicians, we will remain a country with the most gun deaths per capita. The only thing that “doesn’t make much sense” is that a President should have to talk to a lobby before realizing 3D printed assault weapons don’t make much sense.

— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) August 1, 2018

But now– 3-D printed guns. Where do they fall legally as is? Well, first off, according to Mashable it is illegal to sell fire arms that can’t be traced by a metal detector under the Undetectable Firearms Act, an act signed by Ronald Reagan in 1988. In 2012, this led 3-D arms manufacturers to add a metal block to guns for them to be able to follow this law. However, they are also legally untraceable. Again, Mashable’s breakdown of the entire situation is invaluable.

This all brings us to today. On August 1st, the State Department and the Defense Department was set to release the trove of 3-D gun blueprints created by one Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed. Cody Wilson is a 3-D gun manufacturer whose blueprints have been downloaded almost 100,000 times before the government stepped in and blocked the enterprise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drPz6n6UXQY

Well, on August 1st, the New York attorney general has worked with attorney generals around the world to block the 3-D printing of guns, stopping these blueprints from being put out there.

https://twitter.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/1024418720813338625

https://twitter.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/1024425703465467904

Who knows what will happen next. On the one hand, the Trump administration doesn’t seem beholden to anything concerning the way things are usually done, and it seems like the gun culture that the NRA has fanned in the name of profit has now gotten out of its control.

The idea that anyone with a 3D printer can make a machine that can take a life is terrifying. And the only thing that can save us… is that these things look really stupid. It looks like you have a dumb toy. Let us hope that tiny x-factor will stop the next mentally ill human being from shooting up his local supermarket with a gun.

What do you think of the 3D printed gun debate? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.