What changes a gun printed on a 3-d printer

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

"Non-traceable and undetectable." With these words, experts describe the so-called 3D pistol - a weapon made of plastic using a special machine. The distribution of drawings on the Internet enables almost everyone to make a pistol in their own home. And if this becomes a reality, our world will change dramatically.

In the US, a massive campaign began on Tuesday to stop the proliferation of firearms using 3D printers. Prosecutors of eight states at once (Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Maryland) and the Metropolitan District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the US presidential administration in order to force it to stop the circulation of relevant information on the Web. This was stated by the Attorney General of New York State Barbara Underwood.

The danger of the new 3D weapon is that it can be produced by almost anyone if they acquire the appropriate technology. In addition, it is invisible to metal detectors as it is made of plastic. “It’s just crazy - to provide criminals with tools that make it possible to release non-trace and undetectable weapons at the touch of a button,” Underwood quoted TASS as saying. "This is exactly what the Trump administration allows."

In response, Donald Trump tweeted in a casual tone. “I studied these 3D plastic pistols. Already spoke with the NRA. It seems that this weapon is a little confusing,”he wrote.

Apparently, the US government does not take the danger of the proliferation of such weapons seriously, since it is still believed that it is possible to make a pistol at home, but it is still impossible to make a high-quality cartridge. In addition, the metal bullet will be immediately visible on the detectors. However, such views seem to be outdated.

“What can a bullet be made of? If we go the traditional way, it will be lead and powder charge. But the development of science and technology does not stand still, - explained to the newspaper VZGLYAD Major General of the Internal Service (retired), the former head of the DSP of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Vladimir Vorozhtsov. - Now there are dozens of different ways of firing a shot. I do not exclude that the most dangerous will be firing using compressed air. Such "air vents" are still dangerous in that they are noiseless. Maybe they will invent some options for replacing the powder compositions."

The massive appearance of short-barreled weapons among the population will require fundamentally new approaches to regulating this area,

the expert warns.

“The numerous shootings in American schools are a direct result of the large number of firearms. If the situation cannot be kept, this will radically change the system of relations between the police and society. That is, in the event of an elementary threat, the policeman will simply be obliged to use a weapon, since he will assume that the person who should be detained also has a weapon. This is a serious problem,”Vorozhtsov continues.

Recall that the private organization Defense Distributed since the days of Barack Obama has been in a lawsuit with the government over 3D weapons. The organization was founded in 2012 by a young man Cody Wilson (born in 1988), a supporter of various leftist currents: according to him, in different years he was fond of post-Marxism, libertarianism, the ideas of the American anti-state right-wing (the so-called militias).

Now Wilson calls himself a cryptanarchist, that is, a supporter of complete anonymity on the Internet and complete non-interference of the state in the affairs of network communities. Guided by such ideas, he declared himself the leader of an organization that should in every possible way contribute to the proliferation of weapons made using 3D printers (the so-called wiki weapons). The purpose of this, as stated in the Defense Distributed manifesto, is "to protect the freedoms of American citizens guaranteed by the US Constitution."

Initially, the organization focused on the development of only parts for weapons that can be made using 3D printers - for example, silencers. But on May 5, 2013, she posted on the Web drawings of the Liberator pistol she created, which can be relatively easily made by yourself - from plastic, the same as the one from which the Lego constructor is made. The pistol is single-shot and was designed for one standard cartridge of 9 × 17 caliber. The improved model of the pistol could withstand up to 11 shots. And then the barrel needs to be replaced with a new one. In Wilson's kit, the pistol was equipped with several spare barrels at once.

A low-power cartridge 9 × 17 mm is capable of wounding or killing a person only from a short distance, with accurate shooting at unprotected areas of the body. Its advantage is considered to be low recoil and the possibility of using it in light and compact pistols. Distributed in the USA and Europe as ammunition for police and civilian weapons.

However, Defense Distributed in every possible way promotes the use of special cartridges, plastic, also made on a 3D printer. Their destructive power is less than that of ordinary ones, but the plastic pistol withstands them longer. Such cartridges are being developed by various enthusiasts in the USA. For example, student Michael Krumling, who calls himself a like-minded fellow of Wilson, made cartridges in 2014, which he named 314 Atlas. These are the most popular 3D weapon ammo right now. Under US law, Krumling and Wilson are not allowed to sell cartridges, but US law does not prohibit the distribution of their manufacturing drawings on the Web.

The drawings of the cartridges have been in the public domain on the Web for only a few months - a little more than the drawings of the Liberator pistol.

In November 2013, the Bureau of Political Military Affairs' Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, abbreviated as DDTC, within the State Department, demanded the removal of the pistol blueprints. Cody Wilson went to court, the process dragged on until now, until suddenly in June the Donald Trump administration lifted the ban imposed under Obama. Perhaps this was done at the suggestion of one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in the United States - the National Riffle Association (NRA), which advocates in general for complete freedom to sell weapons. Anyway, Trump mentioned her name in his tweet on Tuesday.

The tweet has already been harshly condemned by Democratic leaders in Congress. They, like prosecutors, predict a global threat. And it is worth noting that it can also affect Russia. After all, from now on, everyone who has access to the Internet can download drawings, including Russians.