# 3D Printing Guns **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 30, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818 "2013-01-30T15:25:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/61 "2013-05-10T22:29:53Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > So, close, but no cigar, State Department. Nice try, though! So, is it Cody, or the State Department, whom you will sue when the gun blows up in your hand? šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/62 "2013-05-10T22:42:11Z")
Itā€™s not like the information on the manufacture of these parts is a secret. The plans for nuclear weapons are widely available, but a common magazine and lower receiver, that somehow affects national security? Weak. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/63 "2013-05-12T04:49:51Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > \ > > Apparently [shots have now been fired from a 3D printed gun](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/06/3-handgun-fired-cody-wilson). > > The gun is completely fabbed and ABS plastic, apart from the firing pin. Which is a nail. > > Obviously itā€™s not the most practical or effective weapon right now, but itā€™s proof of concept when many people thought it impossible. The chamber pressure on a .380 is less than double that of a 22lr. and less than half that of a 9mm. Thats is a very big gun to fire a .380 Not exactly concealable. I donā€™t know about .380ā€™s but I know you can fire a 22lr out of a flare gun and Iā€™ve seen them fired from cap guns with a 2" steel barrel. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > But how many people would know how to do that? > > Assuming we really had 3-D printers that could print out weapons roughly as good as normal manufacturing methods, weā€™d be talking about a situation where anyone who just knew how to punch a few buttons could print out a copy of a machine gun if they felt like it. Thatā€™s a lot easier than making a weapon with tools. Zip guns are incredibly easy to make especially if you donā€™t expect to fire the gun more than once. I donā€™t see the point to the 3d gun project. There is no part of me that wants to have a plastic gun. I might be convinced to buy a plastic magazine but the gun canā€™t be much more accurate than a zip gun. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/64 "2013-05-12T11:54:47Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Thats is a very big gun to fire a .380 Not exactly concealable. > > I donā€™t know about .380ā€™s but I know you can fire a 22lr out of a flare gun and Iā€™ve seen them fired from cap guns with a 2" steel barrel. Again, this gun is a big deal not because itā€™s great, but because itā€™s first. Itā€™s unlikely to change anything. Its successors might. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/65 "2018-09-24T23:10:40Z")
[American 3D-printed gun activist Cody Wilson is hiding out in Taiwan after being charged with sexually assaulting underage girl](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3534054). ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/66 "2018-09-25T13:15:46Z")
[He was arrested in Taiwan, returned to Texas, and posted bail](https://www.npr.org/2018/09/24/651214331/3d-gun-designer-arrested-for-sexual-assault-of-a-minor-freed-on-bail) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/67 "2018-09-25T15:07:26Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > [He was arrested in Taiwan, returned to Texas, and posted bail](https://www.npr.org/2018/09/24/651214331/3d-gun-designer-arrested-for-sexual-assault-of-a-minor-freed-on-bail) Rapes underage girls and runs off to hide in foreign countryā€¦and he gets bail? What _does_ it take to be a flight risk these days? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/68 "2018-09-25T15:19:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What _does_ it take to be a flight risk these days? Someone smart enough to run away to a non-extradition country, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/69 "2018-09-25T16:00:01Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Someone smart enough to run away to a non-extradition country, perhaps. Actually, Taiwan has no extradition treaty with the US. Probably a distinction without a difference but we do have a ā€œMutual Legal Assistanceā€ program. When the US cancelled Wilsonā€™s [passport](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/09/taiwanese-authorities-arrest-cody-wilson-intend-to-deport-him/) his entry into Taiwan became illegal. So, Taiwan legally wanted him gone and the US wanted him home. Taiwan arrested him for illegal presence and turned him over to the State Department who put him on a plane to be met by the US Marshals in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818/70 "2018-09-25T17:36:24Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [American 3D-printed gun activist Cody Wilson is hiding out in Taiwan after being charged with sexually assaulting underage girl](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3534054). > [@Slash1972](#): > > [He was arrested in Taiwan, returned to Texas, and posted bail](https://www.npr.org/2018/09/24/651214331/3d-gun-designer-arrested-for-sexual-assault-of-a-minor-freed-on-bail) [Resigned.](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cody-wilson-resigns-defense-distributed-3d-gun-company-accused-sex-with-minor-2018-09-25/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3d-printing-guns/648818.md?page=3)