Own a 3-D printer? If so, you may soon be able to build your own firearms from the comforts of your home.
While lawmakers continue to thwart gun companies from selling firearms, some crafty gun enthusiasts have started producing their own weapons. Gun gurus can print off separate parts of the gun with their 3-D printers and then assemble the guns themselves, and because they’re not purchased at a store they are not regulated the way traditional purchases are.
One 3-D printing expert believes he’s just a few weeks away from building the first handgun made entirely with parts from a 3-D printer. Cody Wilson, a University of Texas law student, started the non-profit Defense Distributed to look into the idea of creating guns with 3-D printers, and has been working on building a gun entirely out of parts printed from a 3-D printer since last summer.
If “Wiki Weapon” is successful, Wilson will have partially achieved his dream of bringing “near-instant access to a firearm through the Internet.” Defense Distributed has a license to sell and manufacture guns from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, however a government act prevents the organization from manufacturing, distributing or possessing weapons that can pass through airport security undetected.
It’s also unclear how popular handmade guns will be, although with states passing more and more gun restrictions, it might become an intriguing option for gun enthusiasts.
“As a gun owner, I know first hand that you can’t shortcut quality,” gun owner Marshall Cox told Red Alert Politics. “There is no substitute to a well crafted rifle.”
