You can already make precision metal parts, using computer drawings, in a CNC machine. There’s nothing special about 3D printing with respect to stuff made out of steel.
Yet you see very few guns made on them.
Guns often dont work. They sometimes KILL innocent bystanders … often are used to KILL their owners. Taser and pepper spray … not so much.
- Ban guns.
- Permit tasers and pepper spray.
- Watch murder rates go down.
Agreed that it needs to be looked at. Disagree that looking at it and banning guns is an either/or thing.
hows that working out in Mexico?
AK47’s are made by hand using primitive tools in Pakistan.
Yeah, because it’s simpler to just go to the gun store. (and really, the kind of gun nut who has an idea how to put together a Sten is aware enough of its disadvantages to not want one unless in extremis.)
I’d lay money on illicit manufactories for small arms to go into operation within a week after any gun ban and confiscation program of even moderate success.
Guns pretty much always work. Pull the trigger, gun goes BANG! just like its supposed to. Bad guys aren’t resistant to bullets (as they can be to pepper spray), and bullets aren’t stopped by heavy clothing (as taser leads can be). And both tasters and pepper spray are strictly one-shot items, which makes them less useful if a person is facing more than one attacker.
The other issues you mentioned are issues of training. Training in marksmanship (so the bullets go where you intend them to go), and training in situational awareness and weapon retention (so the bad guy never gets the chance to grab the gun).
When nonlethal methods become so reliable that the police (more specifically patrol officers) are willing to rely on them exclusively, then so will I. That day’s not yet here (although as technology advances, it may one day arrive).
Right now 3-D printers are expensive. It’s cheaper to buy a commercially manufactured firearm. But I bet we’ll start to see changes as the cost of 3-D printers drops.
Well when 3D printers become, in essence, replicators, we’ll have a whole 'nother raft of problems to deal with. In the meantime, ban the actual problem, not the hazy future response to the ban which may or may not occur, and probably won’t.
Guns often are not aimed properly. Often they hit innocent bystanders. We’re talking the cops here, supposedly trained in marksmanship. They shot nine innocent people. Now maybe that’s what you think should happen. It’s not my idea of “success.”
Er, no. Any reasonably competent craftsperson NOW can build a full-auto firearm with minimal training. Which is exactly what will happen if a gun ban is attempted in this political climate.
- Ban drugs
- Arrest anyone attempting to bring in or sell drugs
- Watch drug use go…
- Er…
- Profit!!
You’d probably be surprised how many pro-gun types want a severe increase in the amount of training for cops who are carrying firearms on duty. Most police are woefully undertrained by any reasonable standard–I am a hobbyist who goes shooting clays a few times a year and I shoot literally eight times as many rounds in a few afternoons as the cops in my town are required to shoot yearly for training and recertification. Even most city cops shoot around 300 rounds a year in training–that’s not that much. I’ve gone through 150 rounds in a dedicated afternoon at the rifle range.
I’m glad you added that word “supposedly.”. News flash: most cops aren’t good shots. They don’t practice often enough. The few who ARE good marksmen are generally firearms enthusiasts and shoot regularly as a hobby, paying for their own ammo (instead of limiting themselves to the meager supply doled out by budget-strapped departments). Most experienced shooters avoid going to the range when the cops are there to qualify, because their gun handling skills can be so bad.
When it happens, I’ll believe you. I just see handwaving here.
yah, drugs are JUST THE SAME as guns. Both can only be used to kill peop … er … wait a minute …
See, we can endure quite a bit of people being high as a kite in this country. People being massacred … a different matter.
yeah, yeah. The problem still exists. I have heard that even soldiers in armies in trhe midst of wars have trouble deliberately killing enemy soldiers. Training the cops better woudl be nice, but geeze, no one seems to care.
Point is, my objection still stands. Guns are a dangerous and ineffective weapon. At least when a taser or pepper spray hits an innocent bystander, the results are rarely lethal, or even seriously injurious.
since they don’t sell guns that actually kill people the problem would be the people themselves. Taking the guns away still leaves us with the problem.