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this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
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3d printed plastic guns are real in a sense but not in any practical way. I am not sure why so many people think this is a concern. If I have a box of ammo, I can probably go into my shop and come up with a way to fire it. I doubt I would use my 3d printer in that project though. There are better ways to makeshift a weapon.
The lower receiver of an AR15 is legally considered the firearm. You can buy all other parts straight up, but you have to go through federal background checks on that one. Even with private sales, at least the first buyer would have to have gone through the process.
On its own, it's just a chunk of plastic or metal. It's not pressure bearing and isn't even all that mechanically stressed in typical use. Therefore, you can print that one part off, buy all other parts, bypass all checks, and have a completely unregistered AR15. It's not especially difficult to do, though it does involve a few specialized tools.
In the UK, regulation tends to be around pressure bearing parts, and this is a lot more sensible.
While I majorly disagree with this legislation, its not about plastic guns.
They only regulate the part of a gun that has the serial number, not the other parts. For "repairability." Guess what that one part is easily made of? Yup, plastic.
People are printing the easy part, and buying all the rest in metal. Proper control would be to regulate the sale of commercially manufactured replacement parts, not a tool.
So the point isn't 3d printers making guns, it's 3d printers enabling people to escape registration of guns, especially for unregulated sale of guns.
Maybe start regulating normal guns more first… 3D printed guns are not a problem anywhere in the world.
Well, yes, but I was specifically going down the replacement part road because the intent of the legislation is to limit ghost guns (unregistered firearms), not guns overall. IMO it's just a play to say "we are cracking down on guns!" without actually doing it. And since it only hurts a niche audience, who cares, right?
Movies, they fear a gun that can't be detected in a metal detector.
And you can still get one shot out of a plastic gun, and accuracy doesn't matter if you are close.
After Jan6 NO ONE in office is free from the fear of being a target of violence, not even the politicians that instigated it.
Fear beats every other emotion. Nearly always
Edit: Ok so I guess lemmy is just as bad as reddit for not wanting to hear the truth.
At least have the balls to say why you disagree.
To drive the point home a little further. No one, at least in this context, is making an all plastic gun with a 3D printer. It simply doesn't happen. Even the memeworthy and incredibly janky Harlot 22LR uses steel barrel liners. It is also difficult (read: impossible) to have strong enough springs to fire a primer without using steel. Plus cartridges and bullets themselves are famously made out of... metals.
The notion of a 3D printed plastic gun sailing through a metal detector are pure fantasy. Completely fictional. Bogus, bunk, absolute bullshit.
But legislators believe it, because politicians are not actually experts in anything except playing politics. Which in general does not equip you with knowledge or experience from the real world.