Just putting the word “gun” in the title of a 3D printer blog is controversial. So, should the public worry about 3D-printed guns? How about 3D-printed knives? 3D-printed bomb casings?
DANGER
As a member of the armed forces, I learned that signal words in documents meant to show a procedure could cause injury such as the word “WARNING” or death as in the word “DANGER”. So should I be scared that someone will use a 3D printer as a murder weapon? I say “NO”! I have never ever seen anything in the manuals that accompanied my printer saying things like DANGER may create a gun.
Guns, Bombs, Knives!
Yes, you can print these things on a 3D printer. But will not waste time when they could just buy most of the components on the internet. The internet is full of videos and articles on how to make Dundee-sized knives from nothing more than a railroad spike. There are even YouTube videos on how to build a gun using unserialized parts. You don’t even need a 3D printer. Anyone who owns a 3D printer will tell you that printing a gun is not that easy.
Should I worry?
No, because unless they have been in this hobby for some length of time, they will use other methods of obtaining their means of destruction. As of this article, a 3D-printed gun has never been used to kill or injure someone. There is and always will be a possibility of that occurring, but there is also a possibility that someone might use some other easier-to-get weapons for such things as murder. But this is, of course, my opinion, and you will have yours. It is a free country after all…
