3D-Printed Gun & Free Speech

[seer]

I'm not sure how I feel about this, I mean people post things on line on how to make bombs, but those are not banned as far as I know.

Judge blocks distribution of 3D-printed gun blueprints until case is resolved

A federal judge in Seattle granted a motion for a preliminary injunction on Monday that blocks a Texas man from releasing downloadable blueprints for 3D-printed guns until the litigation is resolved, according to court documents obtained by CNN.

Judge Robert S. Lasnik of the US District Court for Western Washington extended an earlier temporary restraining order, which will remain in place until the case is resolved, the court documents state.
"The court finds that the irreparable burdens on the private defendants' First Amendment rights are dwarfed by the irreparable harms the states are likely to suffer if the existing restrictions are withdrawn and that, overall, the public interest strongly supports maintaining the status quo through the pendency of this litigation," Lasnik wrote in the ruling.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/27/us/3d...ing/index.html

[Cow Poke]

He can block the "official" distribution, but there's no way he can stop this guy from emailing or posting on the dark web.

I guess threat of legal action is all he has to "force" this guy to comply.

[seer]

He can block the "official" distribution, but there's no way he can stop this guy from emailing or posting on the dark web.

I guess threat of legal action is all he has to "force" this guy to comply.

But I think you can find bomb making stuff on the normal web, I think, how is this different?

[Leonhard]

3D printed guns aren't good yet thankfully, as even hard plastic parts starts to fail rather rapidly. However, it is only a matter of time before 3D printers that can work by depositing steel becomes cheap enough.

I think any attempt at regulating the internet is doomed to fail.

[Leonhard]

But I think you can find bomb making stuff on the normal web, I think, how is this different?

Exactly. There are recipes out there from anything from the particular bomb materials used by the Unabomber, to how to synthesise TNT. The regulation of explosives is a bit easier as most of them require certain chemicals such as red fuming nitric acid, which is hard enough to make from regular nitric acid, much less from ammonia. So we can look for certain individuals buying up large stocks of those things. Just look for anything containing a lot of nitrate compounds, they'll typically explode or can be made explosive with only a little effort.

The Alt-Right terrorist Anders Breivik we had in Scandinavia who killed over 100 people managed to get his hands on hundreds of pounds of ammonium nitrate, and managed to make these fertiliser bombs.

[Leonhard]

I mean for crying out loud there are detailed plans out on the internet for the implosion type nuclear bomb that landed on Nagasaki. Though thankfully there getting the plutonium for it is next to impossible for anything other than a nation big enough to afford building nuclear reactors.

[Mountain Man]

This is a symbolic gesture at best, and an unconstitutional abuse of judicial authority at worst. The plans are already out there, and there's no getting them back. And even if you could, someone else with the same technical know-how could create and post their own plans. This ruling is like trying to stop an avalanche with a picket fence.

[Cow Poke]

But I think you can find bomb making stuff on the normal web, I think, how is this different?

Good question... The only thing I can think of is that this actually produces a usable (limited, of course) firearm with a specific process rather than combining a bunch of ready.....

ok, that stinks.

I don't know.

[seer]

This is the guy the government is trying to stop.

Cody Rutledge Wilson (born January 31, 1988) is an American crypto-anarchist,[1][2] free-market anarchist, and gun-rights activist,[3] best known as a founder/director of Defense Distributed, a non-profit organization that develops and publishes open source gun designs, so-called "wiki weapons", suitable for 3D printing and digital manufacture.[4][5] He is a co-founder of the Dark Wallet bitcoin storage technology.[6]

Defense Distributed gained international notoriety in 2013 when it published plans online for the Liberator, a functioning pistol that could be reproduced with a 3D printer,[7][8][9] allowing it to pass through metal detectors easier but not completely as the firing pin, spring and bullet are still made from metal.

Wired Magazine's "Danger Room" named Wilson one of "The 15 Most Dangerous People in the World" in 2012.[10][11] In 2015 and 2017 Wired named Wilson one of the five most dangerous people on the Internet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody_Wilson

[Sparko]

The plans are already out on the internet and have been for years now. A judge blocking this guy from posting isn't going to put the genie back in the bottle.

[Sparko]

Why is anyone worried about a plastic gun that will most likely explode in the shooter's face or only be good once, when any criminal can get a real unregistered gun in a back alley deal any time they want to? It's not like we are going to see a new swath of mass school shootings with plastic guns. At best they could take out one person (or two if it explodes in their face) before being beat to death by people around them.

The only place I would be worried about plastic guns would be maybe hijackers or assassins (dumb ones) - but those types of people already have access to probably much better made plastic guns.

[Leonhard]

Why is anyone worried about a plastic gun that will most likely explode in the shooter's face or only be good once, when any criminal can get a real unregistered gun in a back alley deal any time they want to? It's not like we are going to see a new swath of mass school shootings with plastic guns. At best they could take out one person (or two if it explodes in their face) before being beat to death by people around them.

The only place I would be worried about plastic guns would be maybe hijackers or assassins (dumb ones) - but those types of people already have access to probably much better made plastic guns.

Basically. Though I think down the line as minifactoring (I don't know what else to call it 3D printing is a dull term) becomes more normal, there's no limit to the advanced weaponry people will be able to put together in their garage.

Drones armed with target seeking guns, running an onboard hunter-seeker AI system?

Hopefully stuff like that is still a few decades away.

[Sparko]

Basically. Though I think down the line as minifactoring (I don't know what else to call it 3D printing is a dull term) becomes more normal, there's no limit to the advanced weaponry people will be able to put together in their garage.

Drones armed with target seeking guns, running an onboard hunter-seeker AI system?

Hopefully stuff like that is still a few decades away.

They have had the capability to 3D print an actual metal gun since 2013:

world's first 3D printed metal gun successfully fires 50 bullets
https://www.designboom.com/design/wo...ts-11-08-2013/

And the blueprints for making an actual Colt 1911 pistol are all over the internet.

[rogue06]

Exactly. There are recipes out there from anything from the particular bomb materials used by the Unabomber, to how to synthesise TNT. The regulation of explosives is a bit easier as most of them require certain chemicals such as red fuming nitric acid, which is hard enough to make from regular nitric acid, much less from ammonia. So we can look for certain individuals buying up large stocks of those things. Just look for anything containing a lot of nitrate compounds, they'll typically explode or can be made explosive with only a little effort.

The Alt-Right terrorist Anders Breivik we had in Scandinavia who killed over 100 people managed to get his hands on hundreds of pounds of ammonium nitrate, and managed to make these fertiliser bombs.

A lot of those recipes are absolute junk resulting in something that'll only result in a bunch of smoke and fizzing. Some are downright dangerous to those who follow them. I remember one that confused potassium nitrate and potassium nitrite. If followed it would likely explode in your face.

[Sparko]

A lot of those recipes are absolute junk resulting in something that'll only result in a bunch of smoke and fizzing. Some are downright dangerous to those who follow them. I remember one that confused potassium nitrate and potassium nitrite. If followed it would likely explode in your face.

You can still find copies of the anarchist's cookbook online.