Law enforcement agencies across Europe are on alert over the proliferation of gun-making software that is easily found on the Internet and can be used to make a weapon on a consumer-grade 3-D printer. So far, there are no reported episodes of violence committed with such weapons, but police officials worry it is just a matter of time.
European authorities are even more wary about this software than American lawmakers and law enforcement because gun regulations tend to be far stricter in European countries than they are in the United States. The article discusses a lot of the interesting issues that 3-D printers raise, including whether guns printed on them are practical, worries about whether they can be smuggled through conventional security systems, and the possibility of firearm restrictions taking place on the level of the private printer manufacturers:
A Danish company, Create it REAL, which makes 3-D printers, says it might have another possible solution. It has developed software that looks for the characteristics of weapon designs and, when detected, blocks the printer from making a firearm. “If certain features align, the software will not allow the user to view and print the model,” Create it REAL says on its Web site.
The company notes that hacking of the software is always possible. In any event, measures like the embedded-software approach may be the way to go when it comes to regulating 3-D printed guns -- especially when they can be designed in a gun-friendly state in the United States, but downloaded all over the world.
Continuing to assume that printed firearms will be low-quality may be a temporarily valid critique, but with ever-improving printing technology (including increasing forays into printing metal items), regulations will need to address what will soon become a technological reality.
I disagree that regulations will be needed - 3D printing is simply another manufacturing process. Unless existing regulations are so poorly defined that a 3D printed firearm would not fall under the same restrictions as one machined out of a solid block of material, there should be no additional laws required.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback! I think that while firearms made with 3-D printers will fall under existing regulations, the ease with which these firearms can be manufactured from downloadable software makes these weapons far more difficult to control under the regulations -- especially if printers become as widespread as their proponents forecast. I think that if legislators want to maintain a level of control over firearms similar to what they currently exercise, they would need to implement specialized, targeted regulations.
ReplyDeleteThe 'ease' of 3D printing a firearm is incredibly overhyped, and it's rather difficult to fully 3D print a gun that will actually function (yes, I have done so). It's actually much easier, cheaper, and quicker for a person to build a classic 'zip gun' out of plumbing pipe, wood block, nail and rubber band, and the resulting gun will probably be more reliable as well. Even if 3D printing a firearm became just as simple and expedient, the lack of ammunition in regions where guns are heavily restricted will become the limiting factor in their utility.
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