Homeland Security bulletin warns 3D-printed guns may be 'impossible' to stop
Posted by: Tim Tibbetts on 05/24/2013 09:59 AM [ Comments ]
This is a tough one. I prefer to report the news and it’s been my experience to avoid religion and politics unless you just feel the urge to “tweak” people but this story covers technology and politics. I will leave my personal feelings out of it because I think the story stands on its own.
You are more than aware about the gun debate and at the end of the day; sadly it’s all going to be for nothing thanks to technology. 3D printers are making it possible to create all sorts of things in your home. The technology remains new and expensive but that changes little. As gun laws make getting guns harder, technology will allow people to make their own guns which could end up anywhere and be untraceable.
Now, Foxnews confirms that a Homeland Security intelligence bulletin warns it could be "impossible" to stop 3D-printed guns from being made, not to mention getting past security checkpoints.
A May 21 bulletin distributed to numerous state and federal law enforcement agencies and obtained by FoxNews.com states that the guns, which can be made by downloading blueprints into cutting edge computers that mold three-dimensional items from melted plastic, "poses public safety risks" and are likely beyond the current reach of regulators. The guns threaten to render 3D gun control efforts useless if their manufacture becomes more widespread.
One thought would be that bullets would be hard to come by. Oddly enough, just today I saw a story on 3D printed bullets plus if you can create a gun on a 3D printer then bullets seem obvious. That story was deleted for some reason. I had also seen, for whatever reason, a video on a 3D printed AK-47 which also seems to have been deleted. It’s early, it’s not that easy to do but then again less than 20 years ago I used to go to LAN parties to play games with friends..
To play devil’s advocate one can always say that anything made for good can be used for evil but we are heading into new, uncharted territory here. So the question is – now what? Ban 3D printers? Does the end here justify the means? I honestly don’t know.
Stay tuned.
Now, Foxnews confirms that a Homeland Security intelligence bulletin warns it could be "impossible" to stop 3D-printed guns from being made, not to mention getting past security checkpoints.
A May 21 bulletin distributed to numerous state and federal law enforcement agencies and obtained by FoxNews.com states that the guns, which can be made by downloading blueprints into cutting edge computers that mold three-dimensional items from melted plastic, "poses public safety risks" and are likely beyond the current reach of regulators. The guns threaten to render 3D gun control efforts useless if their manufacture becomes more widespread.
One thought would be that bullets would be hard to come by. Oddly enough, just today I saw a story on 3D printed bullets plus if you can create a gun on a 3D printer then bullets seem obvious. That story was deleted for some reason. I had also seen, for whatever reason, a video on a 3D printed AK-47 which also seems to have been deleted. It’s early, it’s not that easy to do but then again less than 20 years ago I used to go to LAN parties to play games with friends..
To play devil’s advocate one can always say that anything made for good can be used for evil but we are heading into new, uncharted territory here. So the question is – now what? Ban 3D printers? Does the end here justify the means? I honestly don’t know.
Stay tuned.
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