Page 11 - the NOISE July 2014

as there is considerable preparation required for the ingredients that will be fed into the machine and there may still be cooking in- volved. But gourmet restaurants are already showing an interest as the presentation pos- sibilities for 3D printed foods is certainly ap- pealing. There is even the possibility of apps being developed that will turn your biosta- tistics into information for the 3D printer to determine what vitamins and minerals to put into your food.
So who would have thought that a tech- nology that has so many practical, perhaps lifesaving and even fun applications could also be deadly? Is it really a surprise that 3D printed guns have already been produced and test fired?
In May 2013 Defense Distributed, a US-based non-profit organization that was founded “to defend the human and civil right to keep and bear arms” and “to collab- oratively produce, publish, and distribute to the public without charge information and knowledge related to the digital manufac- ture of arms” produced the first 3D printed firearm. The Liberator is a handgun that is assembled almost entirely from 3D printed parts. The only piece not from the 3D printer is the firing pin which is made by simply us- ing a nail that can be purchased in any hard- ware store. The plastic parts make the gun undetectable by security devices. And it can fire a .380 caliber bullet with enough accu- racy to kill at close range.
Defense Distributed uploaded the files to create the Liberator to their open source 3D design site, making it openly available to anyone who wanted to make a gun of their own. Cody Wilson, the maker of the Lib- erator and founder of Defense Distributed, sees the production and file sharing of the Liberator as an expression of his rights under the Second Amendment of the Constitution. The United States Department of State im- mediately ordered the removal of the files based on international gun trafficking laws. Defense Distributed complied with the order but the files had already been downloaded more than 100,000 times. The original plans can still be found on file sharing sites all over the Internet.
In just over a year, the Liberator files have been improved and expanded upon. Just a few weeks after the Liberator files hit the In- ternet a gun enthusiast in Wisconsin created the Lulz Liberator. The original Liberator was created using a commercial grade 3D printer that cost around $8000 second-hand. The new gun was produced on a more basic Lulz 3D printer that was purchased for only $1725 and used about $25 worth of plastic material. The new gun is also the first to in- corporate rifling of the barrel. This makes it much more accurate at longer distances. It has survived 8 consecutive shots without damage. Due to the controversy over the Liberator files, the new gun’s designer has not released his files on the Internet ... yet.
A 3D printed rifle capable of firing .22 caliber bullets, albeit one at a time, was an- nounced in July 2013. Other plans exist online for creating other rifles and even au- tomatic weapons. Some of these use plastic for key components of the gun that would otherwise be regulated and then incorpo- rate manufactured metal gun parts that can be purchased by anyone without licenses or background checks.
In November 2013 Texas-based Solid Concepts announced that it had produced the world’s first 3D printed metal gun using a laser sintering process and powdered met-
als. The design is based on a 1911 classic gun and Solid Concepts says it “functions beauti- fully and has already handled 50 rounds of successful firing.” The company has a Federal Firearms License so can legally manufacture the weapon for sale.
The metal gun is much more like a tradi- tionally manufactured weapon so is not in violation of the Undetectable Firearms Act (UFA). For a printed gun like the Liberator to be legally carried it has to have a metal plate attached to it that would make it detectable by security devices. But some argue that the metal plate could easily be detached allow- ing the gun to be brought through metal detectors unnoticed. Proponents of new 3D gun regulations have proposed that the metal plate must be made a permanent part of the gun if it is to be considered legal.
The UFA was extended at the end of 2013 for another 10 years but it was not amend- ed. US Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) would like to see 3D printed guns banned completely. “I’m not seeking to regulate or reduce the use of 3D printers at all,” Mr. Is- rael said in a Forbes article in 2012. “This isn’t about 3D printers. It’s about the use of a 3D printer to manufacture a weapon that can’t be detected by metal detectors.”
In November 2013, Philadelphia became the first US city to regulate 3D printed guns. If you get caught with one in the City of Brotherly Love, expect to get hit with a fine up to $2000. Other states and cities are con- sidering similar bans. New York has banned high-capacity magazines which can also be 3D printed.
In May, Yoshitomo Imura became the first man to be arrested for possessing 3D guns and gun components. Japan’s gun control laws are far more restrictive than ours. Mr. Imura was arrested after he uploaded video to the Internet of himself assembling his Zig-Zag Revolver and firing blanks with it. Police raided his home and confiscated five weapons, two of which were determined to be capable of firing live bullets. Mr. Imura’s 3D printer was also seized. No live ammuni- tion was found.
In the US, it is becoming clear that any new gun control legislation will at least be taking 3D printed guns into consideration. What form that consideration will take re- mains to be seen. “Background checks and gun regulations will do little good if crimi- nals can print high-capacity magazines at home,” Rep. Isreal said. “3-D printing is a new technology that shows great promise, but also requires new guidelines.”
If Cody Wilson has his way, 3D printed guns will continue to be refined and im- proved and the technology will become more and more accessible. “Not only can [3D printed guns] not be regulated,” he said, “but it’s about to be exploded open right now.”
To help with accessibility, you might want to know that there is already a self-replicat- ing 3D printer on the market. The RepRap was produced under an open source license and can be purchased for around $500-$600 online. Once you have one, you can program it to reproduce itself. Just print the parts and put them together and you’ll never have to worry about what to give your friends for birthdays.
| Cindy Cole may look a little goofy with her 3D glasses on. cindycole@live.com
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