Are enforceable gun bans a thing of the past? At popular 3D printer design sharing site Thingiverse, user King Ludd recently posted a file that will allow users to print a regulated part of a semi-automatic rifle themselves.
According to the creator of the digital file:
For those unfamiliar with the American cult-of-the-firearm, an AR-15 is a popular semi-automatic rifle that can easily be purchased by well-behaved citizens in the United States. Enthusiasts are drawn to it because it is nicely engineered, reliable, versatile, highly modular, and good for many legitimate civilian uses.
The Lower Receiver is the frame that holds together all the other pieces of the firearm. In the States, all the other pieces can be purchased without a permit - over the counter or through the post. The Lower Receiver is the only part which requires a background check or any other kind of paperwork before purchase.
Typically this part is made of aluminium. A rifle with a Lower Receiver made of plastic can be perfectly functional.
This raises the question: at which point does your printer become a weapon, and how will it be regulated and enforced? Will printer manufacturers be forced to incorporate software that will prevent designs such as these to be printed—similarly to the way high-quality printers prevent currency from being duplicated? Will the responsibility be on the people who design and distribute the files, or would it be on the end of the chain when they weapons are finally printed out?
