The weapon, called “the Liberator” — a homage to cheap pistols distributed by the Allies in France during World War II — is printed on a Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer. It consists of 16 parts, 15 of which are 3D-printed. The last part — the firing pin — is a simple nail, found in any hardware store.
[Source: Mashable]
It fired a real bullet.
The plans for the gun were available online for a short while, and by the time the Feds asked Cody Wilson to remove them, the files had spread throughout the web.
Clearly it is not a great gun. It blew apart in testing when they tried a rifle cartridge in it, and being made from plastic it won’t have the durability of metal. Also, how good are plastic bullets? At this stage we don’t know… And is it easy to aim?
As a first-of-its-kind it is pretty successful, and it is only a matter of time before high quality guns can be printed on $100 3D printers. Nails will never be made illegal, and there are many things that can be used as makeshift bullets.
I can’t see it as being a problem. People who really want guns seem to have no trouble getting them – in America anyway. And if you can’t get a gun, you can certainly get a knife, machete, crossbow or pick axe. It is unlikely that we will see an increase in crime because of this development.
Maybe they will be useful in 3rd world countries?
Cloakers should be careful not to ever download anything related to criminal activities. A CAD file for a plastic gun downloaded today could be used as evidence against you, or your integrity, in the future.
