Talk-Polywell.org

One expects some drama in regards to the 3D Printer Gun Project.

One that caught my eye and worries me is this:

The Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance wrote to Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson demanding the designs be "removed from public access" until he could prove he had not broken laws governing shipping weapons overseas by putting the files online and letting people outside the US download them.

So much for innocent until proven guilty. Why is the burden of proof not on the "Office of Defence Trade Controls". They do not have court authority. This looks like a civil liberties case in the brewing, and as I understand having loosely follwed these guys for a while, that is the prime intent. It is about rolling back government arbitrary intrusion into daily life.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22478310

Looks to me like the cows are out of the barn already.

Yup. That Genie is not getting back in the bottle. Taxpayer dollars 'well' spent again on useless government activities fuled by leftist stupidity and self-absorbed agendas operating outside the bounds of constitutional intent.

ladajo wrote:So much for innocent until proven guilty. Why is the burden of proof not on the "Office of Defence Trade Controls". They do not have court authority. This looks like a civil liberties case in the brewing, and as I understand having loosely follwed these guys for a while, that is the prime intent. It is about rolling back government arbitrary intrusion into daily life.

I'm wondering how much this interaction with the fed is being hyped by the media. It's probably prudent of DefDist to remove the plans while working out the paperwork. ITAR fines are pretty steep. Regardless of politics of gun control, I do think ITAR needs some reform and being beholden to it's regs myself I can see why this would be a gray area with regards to enforcement. This is just another example of the huge ship of state trying to get out in front of a technology it didn't anticipate.

On the larger issue I agree though: the cat's already out of the bag. If direct laser metal sintering ever gets cheap enough for a small business or maker group to own it'll make these DefDist weapons look like toys.

I agree on both counts.
I am also wondering how much mischaracterization is in the reporting on this. However, the basic facts remain. They posted the file. They were asked/told to remove the files. IMO the burden of proof is on the government to get a court injunction to have the files redacted. Without the court, I do not see the authority.
Now if they removed the file of their own violition, then that is another thing. It does not seem to read that way though.

The whole thing is silly as noted.

paperburn1 wrote:Looks to me like the cows are out of the barn already.

The files are on P2P networks. I don't see how this bit of information won't be as quicksilvery as e.g. hollywood movies or copies of photoshop.

The Machinery of Government looking like morons once again.

Well.. honestly... Something's gonna have to give, sooner or later, as far as home fabbing goes. On the one hand you have 3D printers, on the other you have the internet. Or is there something else?

It's stupid hysteria generated by people who don't bother to think most of the time. I saw a video just a few days ago of a shotgun made with 2 pipes (readily available at Home Depot) and a firing pin. Insert shell, point, fire. With a 26.5" barrel (longer if you'd like) it's surprisingly accurate. Loud as all get out, but it gets the job done.

Guns aren't that hard to make. Bullets are. For some reason people flip out when they see a crudely made/used weapon (anyone remember not being able to carry fingernail clippers on a plane?). It's ridiculous, pointless, and dangerous for everyone else.

This is hype, nothing more, nothing less.

The cartridge is the hard part to fab.... So....

Before we had brass cartridges, for a couple of years, paper cartridges were used.

Or since, it's a single shot device, why not do away with a cartridge in the first place and make it a pure muzzle loader design.

If a pure muzzle loader using black powder was used, I'm not even sure those are classified as weapons in the first place.

Bullets can be cast from lead, or more easily obtained today zinc.

Brass casings can be reloaded, or there are firearms that don't need them. Reloading cases generally involves replacing a primer cap.

Which leaves the gunpowder, which a chemist/pyrotechnician could come up with a workable mix using unregulated source materials. There are recipes on the web, but I expect many are dangerously unstable.

Why is this in news? Admins, can we please put this into general? It is not fusion related.

Skipjack wrote:It is not fusion related.

Now that is funny...
Been hangin' around T-P for a while, have ya?

The Israeli's made bullets using lipstick cases.

Skipjack wrote:Why is this in news? Admins, can we please put this into general? It is not fusion related.

To be open and clear, I did intend for this to go into General, and thought I did, but realized after the fact it landed in news. My lack of attention to detail.
Sorry.

I have no issue if it moves to general, which is where I meant to put it anyway.

All that said, DeltaV has a point as well...