Recently, an American firearms manufacturer known as Defence Distributed has met with opposition after releasing a 3D printer blueprint for a working pistol. The weapon requires only a nail to function as a firing pin and ammunition to work, neither of which would be difficult to smuggle in to a country where firearms are illegal.
Defence Distributed has made parts for firearms before, but the “Liberator” is the first weapon that can be made from scratch. The non-profit company, which is based in Texas, claims that the group’s purpose is to defend American civil liberties by distributing firearms:
“To defend the civil liberty of popular access to arms as guaranteed by the United States Constitution and affirmed by the United States Supreme Court, through facilitating global access to, and the collaborative production of, information and knowledge related to the 3D printing of arms; and to publish and distribute, at no cost to the public, such information and knowledge in promotion of the public interest.”
However, there is no comment on the website with regards to security for other nations should these plans reach mass distribution on the internet. Furthermore, American critics have claimed that this is an attempt to subvert the upcoming gun control laws in America. There is also no acknowledgment towards what should happen should these plans find their way into the hands of minors.
According to the FDA, there are no laws in America against
private citizens producing their own weapons. There have been no cases of the
weapons being made in countries where they are banned nor is there any attempt
to ban or restrict their manufacture. It is entirely possible though that as
printing technology becomes cheaper, guns will become more popular.
No comments:
Post a Comment