“Alright. One…two…”
Before “three” arrives, a shot reverberates across the overcast central Texas landscape. A tall, sandy blond engineer named John has just pulled a twenty-foot length of yellow string tied to a trigger, which has successfully fired the world’s first entirely 3D-printed gun for the very first time, rocketing a .380 caliber bullet into a berm of dirt and prairie brush.
“Fuckin’ A!” yells John, who has asked me not to publish his full name. He hurries over to examine the firearm bolted to an aluminum frame. But the first to get there is Cody Wilson, a square-jawed and stubbled 25 year-old in a polo shirt and baseball cap. John may have pulled the trigger, but the gun is Wilson’s brainchild. He’s spent more than a year dreaming of its creation, and dubbed it “the Liberator” in an homage to the cheap, one-shot pistols designed to be air-dropped by the Allies over France during its Nazi occupation in World War II.
Unlike the original, steel Liberator, though, Wilson’s weapon is almost entirely plastic: Fifteen of its 16 pieces have been created inside an $8,000 second-hand Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, a machine that lays down threads of melted polymer that add up to precisely-shaped solid objects just as easily as a traditional printer lays ink on a page. The only non-printed piece is a common hardware store nail used as its firing pin.
Wilson crouches over the gun and pulls out the barrel, which was printed over the course of four hours earlier the same morning. Despite the explosion that just occurred inside of it, both the barrel and the body of the gun seem entirely unscathed.
Wilson scrutinizes his creation for a few more seconds, then stands up again. “I think we did it,” he says, a little incredulous.
Last August, Wilson, a law student at the University of Texas and a radical libertarian and anarchist, announced the creation of an Austin-based non-profit group called Defense Distributed, with the intention of creating a firearm anyone could fabricate using only a 3D printer. The digital blueprints for that so-called Wiki Weapon, as Wilson imagined it, could be uploaded to the Web and downloaded by anyone, anywhere in the world, hamstringing attempts at gun control and blurring the line between firearm regulation and information censorship. “You can print a lethal device. It’s kind of scary, but that’s what we’re aiming to show,” Wilson told me at the time. “Anywhere there’s a computer and an Internet connection, there would be the promise of a gun.”
The Latest Bing News on:
3D-Printed Gun
- Three teens facing charges in Wayne County after police seize 3D printer used to make gunson May 9, 2024 at 4:20 pm
Three teenagers in Wayne County face gun-related charges following a "lengthy" investigation. New York State Police executed search warrants Tuesday morning at three homes, uncovering multiple guns, ...
- Court hears terror attack accused Artem Vasilyev found in possession of gun parts, explosives and extremist materialon May 8, 2024 at 8:57 pm
An Australian Defence Department worker filled his mother’s home with 3D-printed gun parts, extremist materials and enough chemicals for 13 bombs capable of generating 2000C heat in his plan to stage ...
- Man jailed for offering 3D-printed gun sale on Facebookon May 8, 2024 at 8:36 pm
A man has been jailed for trying to sell a 3D-printed machine gun after admitting to contacting multiple people via social media with offers.
- State Police: 3D printer used to make guns found in Wayne Countyon May 8, 2024 at 4:30 pm
New York State Police say they recovered a 3D printer used to make guns, along with guns and gun parts, during a raid at multiple homes in Wayne County.
- Three Wayne County teens face charges after police seize 3D printer used to make gunson May 8, 2024 at 5:34 am
New York State Police and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office SWAT team executed search warrants Tuesday morning at each of their homes, uncovering multiple guns and gun parts. In one house, police also ...
- Illinois man allegedly manufactured firearms, machine gun conversion devices using 3D printers: Sheriffon May 2, 2024 at 9:24 am
A Grayslake man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly manufacturing firearms and machine gun conversion devices, utilizing 3D printers.
- Grayslake man used 3D printer to make guns, gun parts, sheriff’s police sayon May 2, 2024 at 4:44 am
Once Best was under arrest, police searched his home and seized 64 machine gun conversion devices that appear to have been manufactured using a 3D printer, as well as pistol frames and rifle parts ...
- Why is YouTube suggesting ghost gun videos to young people watching video games? Officials want changeon April 25, 2024 at 1:30 pm
More young people are learning how to make ghost guns online after watching videos about subjects like video games, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said.
- Manhattan DA calls on YouTube to take action against ghost gun videoson April 24, 2024 at 2:57 pm
Law enforcement officials in New York City on Wednesday called on YouTube to change its algorithm to prevent videos on how to build ghost guns from being seen by children. “We have a video then of a ...
- Des Moines' first case linking untraceable 3D-printed guns to a crime raises concerns for policeon April 15, 2024 at 1:24 am
3D-printed guns are a form of "ghost gun," a homemade weapon with no serial numbers for sellers to track their purchase, making it difficult for authorities to connect the weapons to specific crimes.
The Latest Google Headlines on:
3D-Printed Gun
[google_news title=”” keyword=”3D-Printed Gun” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
3D-printed firearms
- Three teens facing charges in Wayne County after police seize 3D printer used to make gunson May 9, 2024 at 4:20 pm
Three teenagers in Wayne County face gun-related charges following a "lengthy" investigation. New York State Police executed search warrants Tuesday morning at three homes, uncovering multiple guns, ...
- Terror accused 'had guns, explosive chemicals'on May 9, 2024 at 12:45 am
Extremist material, a 3D-printed gun and chemicals used in explosive and incendiary devices were found in the home of a Defence scientific analyst on trial for allegedly plotting a terror attack, a ...
- Guns and explosive chemicals found at Adelaide home of defence analyst accused of terror plot, court hearson May 9, 2024 at 12:18 am
Artem Vasilyev, 27, has pleaded not guilty to acts done in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act to advance ‘cause of white nationalism’ Extremist material, a 3D-printed gun and chemicals used ...
- Man jailed for offering 3D-printed gun sale on Facebookon May 8, 2024 at 8:36 pm
A man has been jailed for trying to sell a 3D-printed machine gun after admitting to contacting multiple people via social media with offers.
- State Police: 3D printer used to make guns found in Wayne Countyon May 8, 2024 at 4:30 pm
New York State Police say they recovered a 3D printer used to make guns, along with guns and gun parts, during a raid at multiple homes in Wayne County.
- Harrisburg City Council discussing possible ordinance to crack down on ghost gunson May 8, 2024 at 2:44 pm
“It’s not illegal to print these because you have a right to bear arms but the unlicensing of it is the danger," added Lamont Jones, who serves as public safety chair on Harrisburg City Council. City ...
- Three Wayne County teens face charges after police seize 3D printer used to make gunson May 8, 2024 at 5:34 am
uncovering multiple guns and gun parts. In one house, police also found a 3D printer used to produce ghost guns. They were unable to share if or what the suspects intended to do with the weapons and ...
- ‘Prevented bloodshed in our community’: Grayslake man arrested for manufacturing firearms, machine gun conversion deviceson May 2, 2024 at 9:32 am
A tactical response team arrested a Grayslake man who authorities say was illegally manufacturing firearms and machine gun conversion devices using 3D printers at his home.
- Illinois man allegedly manufactured firearms, machine gun conversion devices using 3D printers: Sheriffon May 2, 2024 at 9:24 am
A Grayslake man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly manufacturing firearms and machine gun conversion devices, utilizing 3D printers.
- 'This problem has exploded exponentially': ATF sees 1,000% increase in 'ghost guns' linked to crimeson May 2, 2024 at 5:00 am
FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES SAW IN GHOST GUNS LINKED TO CRIMES AND A MAJORITY OF THE HOMEMADE WEAPONS ARE THE RESULT OF TECHNOLOGY. THE 3D PRINTED FIREARMS ARE BECOMING A, YOU KNOW, ONE OF OUR PRIMARY ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
3D-printed firearms
[google_news title=”” keyword=”3D-printed firearms” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]