“Consider that 3D printing on a consumer level is not really designed to produce firearms. Real firearms cost what they do due to the engineering required to make them function safely. A printed gun might blow up immediately when fired, though even if it works more than once, you have no confidence in when it’ll have a catastrophic failure.

“Relatedly, although the law allows people to build firearms of certain kinds, it’s a legal gray area. For example, if you add a metal tube as a barrel to a plastic 3D printed gun to make it stronger, you run the risk of contravening (disobeying) regulations under the National Firearms Act.”

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-WVU-

lf/08/01/18

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TYPE OF ARTICLE
Expert Pitch
SECTION
CHANNELS
Crime and Forensic Science Technology Guns and Violence
KEYWORDS
3D printing 3D printing guns Forensic Science
COMMENTS | COMMENTING POLICY