The Year of the Gun
The issue regarding gun control has become increasingly controversial in recent years. Firearm violence is on the rise with horrifying events playing out on our newscasts. The reasons for this rash of violent armed tragedies are unknown but it does not appear to be getting any less dangerous in America. To make this new reality more frightening is what is to come. Could America be facing a new era of mass produced 3D printed military available to the masses with no restrictions?
2012: The Year of the Gun
The prevalence of firearm related deaths has led some to call 2012 “The year of the gun“. 2012 was a violent year in the US. In 2012, the US had 16 mass shootings in 15 states. On December 14th in Newtown, Connecticut 20 year old Adam Lanza entered the Sandy Hook elementary school and killed 20 children and six adults before taking his own life.
Harsh Opposition of Gun Control
President Obama announced 23 executive actions meant to address gun violence. Included in the presidential actions were universal background checks, bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. However, this met with harsh opposition from gun supporters who argued that firearms are just as beneficial in protecting people from gun violence as they are at causing them. In defiance of the presidential executive action, activists set upon campaigns to directly oppose any new controls, restrictions or regulations on firearms.
The New Reality
In this new reality, it’s unrealistic to think that we can control guns now that we have the ability to print the parts of a firearm with 3D printers. The movement to self-manufacture firearms with 3d printing technology is a controversial one. At the forefront of this movement is Cody R. Wilson. His effort on the gun control issue is to eliminate all control on firearms with 3D printing. As one of the key figures in the wiki-weapons movement, Cody’s goal is to produce and mass publish a file for a complete 3D printed firearm. Anyone could potentially download and then print the weapon with the right tools.
No Way to Regulate 3D Printed Guns
This could potentially allow anyone to bypass any regulations, restrictions and background checks. They can simply create a fully functioning firearm in the privacy of their own home. This is a terrifying new reality that we could be facing. Cody’s Austin, Texas based company, “Defense Distributed“, has already designed several components of high powered automatic weapons. These include extended ammunition clips and the firearm component that allows fully automatic fire in semi-automatic weapons.
