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Gun Rights Hacktivists To Fab 3D-Printed Guns At State Capitol 573

giulioprisco writes On January 13th Come And Take Texas (CATI) will be manufacturing 3D-printed firearms on location at the State Capitol. In 2013 Defense Distributed made public the 3D printable files (STL files) for the world's first fully 3D printable gun. Their more recent Ghost Gunner is designed to automatically manufacture publicly created designs with nearly zero user interaction. According to CATI’s website, “In the last year and a half Texan Gun Rights Groups all around the Lone Star State have walked, assembled, and engaged in Humanitarian efforts all while Open Carrying their Long Guns and Black Powder Pistols. This has succeeded in Educating the Public as well as Law Enforcement, to show that the presence of Firearms in Public is not only Safe but Highly supported.”
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Gun Rights Hacktivists To Fab 3D-Printed Guns At State Capitol

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  • by Slartibartfast ( 3395 ) * <ken@[ ]s.org ['jot' in gap]> on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @10:38AM (#48744991) Homepage Journal

    is Still a Lost Art. Thank goodness for "Educating" the Public.

  • Thanks, assholes (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rainwalker ( 174354 ) on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @10:42AM (#48745031)

    If there's anything that'll push forward legal restrictions on 3D printers/home CNC, it'll be assholes like this making a media push over how easy it is to make weapons and OMG THE CHILDREN. This is why we can't have nice things.

    • Have you pondered that the purpose is to cut the "think of the children" argument off at the pass? It's up to the rest of us to defeat that logic now before it's too late. I, personally, support Defense Distributed pushing the envelope with both 3D printers and gun rights. What value does a free society have if we cannot tackle the difficult questions like adults?

    • If there's anything that'll push forward legal restrictions on 3D printers/home CNC, it'll be assholes like this making a media push over how easy it is to make weapons and OMG THE CHILDREN. This is why we can't have nice things.

      You don't get it. He's trying to force them to charge him. Because everything he's doing is protected by the constitution. If they did charge him, he'd get whichever law they tried to use struck down. He's trying to "Draw the foul" and he knows it.

      • You don't get it. He's trying to force them to charge him. Because everything he's doing is protected by the constitution. If they did charge him, he'd get whichever law they tried to use struck down. He's trying to "Draw the foul" and he knows it.

        I don't see this as a bad thing, truth be told. Bad laws are still bad laws, even if they're not challenged.

        Better to strike down a bad law now with someone determined to do so, than to have some innocent schmuck get slapped with it later who is either incapable or unwilling to fight back against it.

    • So you'd rather just wait till some idiot does something actually harmful with them before we hash out the legal issues? Imagine what happens if the first legal restriction comes after someone makes a gun or other weapon and actually kills a child.
      • Re:Thanks, assholes (Score:4, Informative)

        by cayenne8 ( 626475 ) on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @11:10AM (#48745259) Homepage Journal
        There's currently nothing illegal about making your own guns with other methods, why should we worry about 3D printers making the parts for them?

        As long as you aren't making a fully automatic weapon, it is perfectly legal today to make your own guns by any means (CNC, 3D printer, holodeck...etc).

        • Some states have even passed laws allowing new manufacture of machine guns *as long as* they are for in-state use. Theory being that the BATFE (and fed gov) only get the ability to restrict/deny based on interstate commerce.

          And while I am definately for gun rights, and love shooting full auto (if someone else is buying the ammo) I don't have pockets deep enough to become a test case.

        • Just because it is legal through other methods doesn't mean someone won't try to make it illegal because it is digital related. These guys are pressing the laws in ways that give a better pressure release than having actual harm occur.
      • by sycodon ( 149926 )

        I'll never understand the thinking process that leads us to conclude that a dead kid is less dead due to beating, traffic, starvation, etc. than it is due to a gun.

        • by Penguinisto ( 415985 ) on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @11:25AM (#48745433) Journal

          ...because children are an emotional cudgel with which folks try to beat down logical arguments. Folks treat it like some sort of trump card in a debate.

          A: "...but your proposal is unconstitutional because it directly violates..."

          B: "...DEAD CHILD! YOU WANT DEAD CHILDREN YOU EVIL FUCK! HEY EVERYONE! THIS GUY WANTS TO KILL CHILDREN!"

          • Simple solution to thwart those who would emotionalize the debate in the manner you suggest - hold the debate on a cross-country flight to Orlando.

    • by mwvdlee ( 775178 )

      Don't worry. Copyright laws written by companies selling parts and deliberate obsolescent products will kill 3D printing before it ever gets to the "in every home" state that could enrich civilisation.

      • This. While people waste energy bitching about 3D printed guns, the Copyright Mafia is going to walk in like a boss, unopposed, and get all those unpleasant laws passed for themselves.

    • by Chas ( 5144 )

      If there's anything that'll push forward legal restrictions on 3D printers/home CNC, it'll be assholes like this making a media push over how easy it is to make weapons and OMG THE CHILDREN. This is why we can't have nice things.

      Sorry, but staying silent and furtive about it is no better protection. And it allows them to make all sorts of unopposed claims about how "bad" an activity is as the government fucks over its citizenry yet again.

    • by jopsen ( 885607 )
      Yeah... I don't see the point in what they are doing either..

      I do find it hilariously stupid that the first thing Americans decide to print when they get 3d printers is guns... Thank you (America) for confirming my prejudice :)
    • All you need is a length of steel pipe, a nail, a piece of wood, and a few other things that you can purchase at your local Home Depot for like 20 bucks. Just search for "pipe shotgun" on Youtube or Google. The "3D printing" makes for a good clickbait headline, but if you want a serviceable weapon, the $20 Home Depot Special is actually a better option, because it's more powerful and it won't blow up in your face.

  • by GameboyRMH ( 1153867 ) <gameboyrmh&gmail,com> on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @10:43AM (#48745039) Journal

    They think they're protesting against gun control, but they're actually making a powerful and probably effective protest for 3D printer control.

    • by bondsbw ( 888959 )

      But how exactly would the government regulate 3D printers? Tax them to hell? Ban them completely? Because there's little chance they can enforce any other regulation.

      • by mwvdlee ( 775178 )

        How does government regulate color printers from printing paper money?

        • How does government regulate color printers from printing paper money?

          By using expensive technology, inks and papers not readily available to the average person. Sure, you might be able to use an inkjet to print $100 bills that will fool a machine or even some people, but with micro threads in the paper and specially formulated inks applied using offset printing, counterfeiting bills is pretty difficult and expensive.

          • I don't know if you're deliberately missing the point or not.

            The reason more people don't counterfeit money is because if they get caught they go to jail for a long time.

            I'm sure there are plenty of multi millionaires who could easily fund a high quality counterfeiting operation, but they don't want to take the risk of spending ten years shitting in a bucket and playing who dropped the soap in the showers.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Highly supported? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Grisstle ( 2798631 ) on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @10:44AM (#48745047)
    It seems to me that there has been a lot of media and public backlash against open carry. I'm not personally affected by open carry at the moment, but I'd be hesitant to visit any state where open carry becomes too prolific. My opinion is simply that when everyone open carries, I will have a harder time discerning who is a threat and who isn't.
    • by ihtoit ( 3393327 )

      try not to look so nervous, or you might find yourself being seen as a threat.

      • by jopsen ( 885607 )

        try not to look so nervous, or you might find yourself being seen as a threat.

        Ha, ha, That's good advice, along with: "try not to look so black" :)
        Or when in a bad neighbourhood: "try not to look so rich"...
        All sounds advice, we should all abide by :)

      • by GlennC ( 96879 )

        Something I think will eventually happen, especially if the open carry state also has concealed carry....Florida and Texas, I'm looking at you.

        A person will see someone openly carrying, pull out their wallet and cell phone, and say loudly and clearly, "Don't shoot, just take my things. Please don't hurt my kids!" Then the concealed carriers will shoot at the open carrier, thinking themselves "the good guys with the guns" and the area (likely) turns into a free-fire zone as everyone with a gun imagines tha

    • Huh? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Nidi62 ( 1525137 ) on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @10:56AM (#48745129)

      It seems to me that there has been a lot of media and public backlash against open carry. I'm not personally affected by open carry at the moment, but I'd be hesitant to visit any state where open carry becomes too prolific. My opinion is simply that when everyone open carries, I will have a harder time discerning who is a threat and who isn't.

      You do realize what OPEN carry means, right? It generally means on the hip, outside the clothes, ie. in plain view. As in, you know EXACTLY who is carrying and who isn't. Now, CONCEALED carry is where the firearm is tucked away in a pocket, or a shoulder holster under a jacket, or inside the waistband. Concealed carry is when you don't know who is armed and who isn't. For gun control advocates open carry should be preferable to concealed carry, because you can at least tell who is armed and who isn't.

      • Because someone *isn't* going to corneal their weapon....
        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

          Because someone *isn't* going to corneal their weapon....

          Most gun owners are lawful gun owners. If the law requires open carry, then those carrying openly are probably not a threat to you. Anyone still carrying concealed more likely is. It's like making schools and other places gun free zones: if a person is already planning to commit an illegal act (robbery, murder, etc) then tacking on one more illegal act isn't a big deterrent. The only ones affected by the law are those that actually follow it.

      • Concealed carry also means lower powered, lower caliber and lower capacity weapons. I'll take my chances with my preference. I'm not a gun control advocate, I'm not a gun rights advocate because I just don't care if people own guns either way. I support limited gun control but I don't advocate it. If normal, sane people want to own guns for lawful purposes, I don't care either way. I don't want to see all the long gun carrying peacocks strutting and getting in my face to remind me of my rights that I don't
        • by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

          I don't want to see all the long gun carrying peacocks strutting and getting in my face to remind me of my rights that I don't care about. I don't want to own a gun, but I don't want to stop other people from owning them if they want one and can own it responsibly.

          As a gun owner, to me the "long gun carrying peacocks" as you put it are not responsibly owning their firearms. There is no need in society for someone to be walking around with an assault rifle. The first priority in gun ownership and gun safety is responsibility. That means storing them appropriately, always treating them as if they are loaded, don't point them at anything you don't want to shoot, and most importantly, don't treat them as a toy or "accessory". Carrying a firearm in public is supposed

    • by Minwee ( 522556 )

      My opinion is simply that when everyone open carries, I will have a harder time discerning who is a threat and who isn't.

      Quite the opposite. When everybody becomes a threat, determining who is a threat becomes child's play.

  • Because a right not exercised is a right lost .
    • by hweimer ( 709734 ) on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @10:58AM (#48745153) Homepage

      Because a right not exercised is a right lost .

      Does this also apply to the Right to Die?

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) *

        He was probably referring to the right to same sex marriage.

    • LMOL yeah o.k. so when was the last time you exercised unlawful search and seizure...
    • by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

      Because a right not exercised is a right lost .

      Then buy a gun at a local gun store (supporting small local business, yay America!), or if you really feel ambitious, get a CNC machine and 80% milled receiver blank. 3D printing a crappy gun out of cheap plastic that is more likely to hurt the shooter than any target out in public is a publicity stunt that is more likely to increase regulation of home manufactured firearms and 3D printing in general than anything else. This is akin to those idiots who felt the need to walk around with AR-15s and AK-47s

  • by gurps_npc ( 621217 ) on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @11:17AM (#48745327) Homepage
    Look, it's not a significant problem. Probably never will be.

    Why? Because :

    1) Our gun laws are already so loose that it's easy to buy an illegal gun. No need to print it out.

    2) It takes too long to make. You go and buy one in ten minutes.

    3) Most gun deaths are crimes of passion/accidents. In either case, you are not going to print a gun first to do it.

    4) The real 'advantages' of said gun - it's a virgin gun unconnected to any thing else and being able to melt it down to destroy the evidence, are not that important. They don't apply in accidental deaths and most murders would rather use a proven weapon that isn't likely to blow up on you.

    • by mpercy ( 1085347 )

      "2) It takes too long to make. You go and buy one in ten minutes."

      Bought a gun recently? Even with CCW license to speed the process, it takes a lot longer than 10 minutes.

  • Priveldge Protest (Score:4, Insightful)

    by T.E.D. ( 34228 ) on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @11:18AM (#48745345)
    Interesting country, where white folks earnestly protest that they should be able to openly carry weapons and not be viewed as a threat, while black folks have to protest that they should be able to walk around unarmed and not be viewed as a threat.
  • Nobody accepts openly carried firearms. It's just stupid, insecure men trying to show off. I think almost everyone should have a gun but CONCEALED on them. Otherwise guess who the criminal is shooting first. There's no point in carrying a gun unless nobody knows it's there.
    • by jopsen ( 885607 )

      Nobody accepts openly carried firearms. It's just stupid, insecure men trying to show off. I think almost everyone should have a gun but CONCEALED on them. Otherwise guess who the criminal is shooting first. There's no point in carrying a gun unless nobody knows it's there.

      Yeah, because people are more likely to use the gun successfully against an attacker, than getting shut by their kid while browsing walmart...

  • I cant believe these gun rights guys are still scared of the government and their feeble berettas, glocks, AR15s are enough to ward off their enemies and protect their liberties.

    The goal and dream of the "starve the beast" group has been realized, the government has been shrunk small enough to be drowned in a bath tub. And the big banks and the financial industry has promptly drowned it in the bath tub. What these people see as government is nothing but reanimated corpse, the zombie totally under the con

  • All just show ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @11:32AM (#48745499) Homepage

    If you don't plan on using any of these much vaunted gun rights to defend the other rights in your Constitution, WTF is the point?

    If you're going to say "well, the 1st amendment is shot, the 4th is being ignored, the 5th is being tramped on, but I have my gun" ... why the hell are you even bothering??

    Why are none of you gun advocates killing off the NSA officials and the rest of the security people who are shitting all over the rest of your fucking rights? Or are you just a bunch of one trick ponies who only give a crap about your guns?

    If so, you should seriously STFU and start worrying about the other rights they've been taking away from you. Otherwise you're just a bunch of children playing cowboy.

    Or should we conclude gun advocates are totally OK with tyranny and the erosion of your other rights?

    If you won't defend the rest of your Constitutional rights, you don't deserve this one either.

    Pathetic.

    • You really need to do a bit of research into Anarchists like Cody Wilson's philosophy before jumping to these conclusions. 3d printed guns were never intended to be more efficient than stamped ones and they don't represent a violent call to armed revolution.

      They represent a backstop and to show the ultimate futility in regulations. A shifting of the paradigm and a change of the power dynamic more towards decentralized and egalitarian power structures vs the NRA, factory gun manufacturers and the military i

  • by laird ( 2705 ) <lairdp@@@gmail...com> on Tuesday January 06, 2015 @12:00PM (#48745773) Journal

    The whole idea is stupid - good quality guns in the US (where this is going on) are cheap and easily available. 3D printed guns are expensive and incredibly unsafe, because they're not only made of bonded plastic powder or filament, which can't stand up to the stress of gunpowder exploding, so the guns risk exploding and injuring the user, and in any case will be inaccurate and have a very short useful life. You could make a better "gun" with a block of wood and a drill, more quickly and at lower cost.

    The only perspective from which this makes sense is that they're gun fanatics trying to attach themselves to 3D printing for PR purposes, to promote their theory that there need to be more guns in the US, and that they be completely uncontrolled, which is a position that is not only extremely unpopular (90% of the US supports background checks, so violent felons can't easily get guns, and only a few fanatics think that it's a good idea for guns to not be detected by metal detectors).

    So really, why promote a few fanatics who, if successful, would lead to even more gun deaths in the US? With the internet we can't stop them completely, but by giving them front-page promotion, we're just encouraging them, which is (IMO) extremely bad judgement.

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