The dangerous fascination with 3-D printed guns

Gun lobbyists argue that 3-D printed guns are pointless because these weapons can be fired only a few times before they break

This week, instead of walking into a gun shop and handing over my credit card to buy firearms, bullets and grenades, I decided to try a different route: I downloaded highly detailed schematics - like blueprints for a house - of dozens of functional weapons and bullets. If I had the time, a little technical know-how or was willing to sit through tutorials online, I could buy a 3-D printer (which makes objects by spraying thin layers of plastic that become shapes) and print and assemble some of these guns.

Among the files now sitting on my laptop are parts for an M16, AR-15, AK-47 and other semi-automatic guns. There are files for handguns, including a Glock, Beretta and a .22-caliber Ruger.

The government is flummoxed about what to do. Last year the State Department tried to ban people from sharing files for one of these guns, called the Liberator. Yet here it is, sitting on my laptop. Along with hundreds of other 3-D files. The Department of Homeland Security anticipated this problem, sending a memo to law enforcement noting that "Limiting access may be impossible."

Ginger Colburn, a spokeswoman for the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said it is not illegal to print and make a gun in your own home. Yet if someone were to print an all-plastic gun, they would be breaking the Undetectable Firearms Act, which prohibits owning a gun that cannot be seen in a metal detector.

One anonymous guide I found online called "3-D Printable Firearms" shows a list of working guns, how much they cost and how well they work. There's the Liberator plastic gun, which can shoot one bullet and costs $9.30 (Rs 560) in plastic parts to print. The Liberator Pepperbox has been upgraded to shoot four bullets and costs a little more. And one of the more popular designs, called the Reprringer, can shoot a single .22 cartridge and costs only $2.41 (Rs 145) to print.

Gun lobbyists argue that 3-D printed guns are pointless because many of these weapons can be fired only a few times before the gun breaks, often overheating and cracking. But last I checked, one shot is enough to kill someone.

"Weapons experts will tell you these guns are a joke and not that serious," said Hod Lipson, director of the Cornell University Creative Machines Lab. "But that's exactly the problem. Plastic guns are easy to fabricate, they can be used just a few times and you can make guns that don't look like guns." What's more, he noted, these weapons are very difficult to detect at security points, as they often don't have metal parts or, if they do, just a spring and a couple of screws, all of which could easily pass through a metal detector.

Lipson, who is an author of the book Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing, said the public should worry not so much about these weapons falling into the hands of terrorists or hardened criminals, who already have access to most any weapon they desire. "The real danger is kids and teenagers and hobbyists who will attempt to make these," he said.

For gun enthusiasts, this is all good news. When I visited one of the main meeting points online for 3-D guns, the Free Open Source Software and Computer Aided Design, or Fosscad, which hosts anonymous forums, files and resources for people interested in 3-D printed guns, members of the site were hard at work building and testing more files for more guns. In the site's private chat section, some with whom I spoke didn't worry about teenagers being able to make guns, noting that it still requires mechanical expertise.

As anyone who has needed a 12-year-old to fix their iPhone or reprogram the TV knows, technical expertise isn't much of a hurdle for today's teenagers.

© 2014 The New York Times