The concept of gun control in the United States has always been futile given that it is a violation of a fundamental Constitutional right and that it is impossible to enforce even if that fact is overlooked. Now, though, thanks to technological advancements in 3D printing and a recent decision by the U.S. Justice Department, gun control is even more impossible now than it once was.
Twenty-five year old Cody Wilson – the founder of Defense Distributed – created quite a stir when he announced that he had developed a successful design for a 3D printed gun and made the files for his design available on the internet. Within just two days, 100,000 copies of the design were downloaded from people all over the world.
Shortly thereafter, the Obama State Department issued Wilson a letter threatening criminal prosecution if he did not cease and desist. Wilson complied as best as he was able, but stopping the file from being downloaded once it had made its way onto the internet was impossible.
On July 10, though, the State Department ruled in Wilson’s favor, saying that sharing the instructions to print 3D guns was protected under Wilson’s First Amendment rights. They further ruled that Wilson could provide unlimited distribution of the instructions to the public in any form and even compensated $40,000 of his legal fees.
The case received little fanfare and media attention. However, it is a landmark case that delivers a crushing blow to the gun control crowd. If people are able to print off firearms using a metal 3D printer that costs less than $2,000, all the gun control laws in the world will never keep firearms out of people’s hands unless the 3D printers are made illegal as well.
Even if the Justice Department had not ruled in Wilson’s favor, though, the blow that 3D printed guns strikes to gun control would have still been just as devastating. If there’s one lesson we’ve learned in the digital age it’s that it is impossible to keep files from being downloaded whether they are legal or not.
Look no further than the flood of illegal movies and TV shows available for download on the internet for proof that even a multi-billion dollar industry such as Hollywood cannot keep files from being downloaded, legal or not.
The case that 3D printed guns makes gun control impossible becomes all the more evident when you consider where the majority of Wilson’s downloads came from. When Wilson first made the design available online, Spain and Germany – both countries with strict gun control laws – were the countries with the most downloads of the file, with the United States coming in third.
These figures paint a very clear picture: citizens in countries where firearms cannot be easily purchased at a gun shop down the street are already using Wilson’s design and 3D printed guns to circumvent their country’s gun control laws and attain a functional firearm.
Of course, even with innovative designs such as the one Cody Wilson created, 3D printed guns are still quite a ways behind their traditionally-manufactured counterparts in terms of reliability and quality. This very likely won’t always be the case, though, given that just a couple decades ago the idea of printing out any 3D object – much less a functional firearm – was the stuff of science fiction.
Innovations in materials, 3D printers, and designs will likely allow for high-quality handguns, rifles, and more to be printed out in the not so distant future, at which point any form of gun control will become a pipe dream unless drastic legislative measures are taken.
Already, bans on high-capacity magazines are entirely futile since these can easily be printed out using a cheap 3D printer that handles only plastic. Someday, even bans on fully-automatic weapons that are already in place may become impossible to enforce thanks to 3D printing technology.
Given the ever-increasing ease in which firearms can be acquired, the time has come for the gun control crowd to admit that they’ve lost the war and start focusing on how we can make our country safer in ways that don’t involve disarming law abiding citizens.
Short of dismantling the First Amendment which makes sharing 3D printed gun designs a Constitutional right, dismantling the Second Amendment which makes owning guns in the first place a Constitutional right, and somehow figuring out how to prevent people from downloading files off the internet, it’s the only option they have left.
~ American Gun News
Gun control is no more possible than liquor and narcotics control. If people want something it will always be available to those that want it. Government works under the illusion that the have control over it’s population. In America we not only have the right but the duty to abolish a government that gets to big for it’s britches. That day is coming. The election of Trump and the coming of the conversation of states should serve as a clear warning to the professional hacks. Liberal progressives are on their way out. America has had enough of their efforts to destory America. Other governments are having the same issues with thire population. They can’t lock us all up. If you want something you can get it if you can afford it. All any Government does is create another market for organized crime to profit from
Wankers.
Gun control has never been an accomplishable fact in the United States of America. It has instead always been impossible to even estimate accurately the number of guns in citizens hands in America. Furthermore, if no one knows how many are here how can they possibly be controlled? Of course they cannot!
For example some people have three or four guns while others may have upwards of 50 or more. Those who have dozens of guns are the majority of people. The interest does not stop there because interesting enough most have ammunition for every gun they own.
There are surveys that claim there are only three or four hundred million guns in America. Where there are others who claim the ownership to be well over a total of a billion guns. A figure not unbelievable. Everyone can rest assured the accurate number is somewhere in between those two extremes. Also some of those reports say only half of the people own guns while others claim their research shows 90 out of a hundred own them. All any of those surveys prove is that no one knows for sure how many guns are in this country.
Americans are, I am convinced, to smart to give in to government gun control. Because they know the history of the 20th century. During that terrible century millions and millions of people were murdered by their own governments. After, I might add, guns were successfully confiscated. That number is in access of 170 million people. Many which thought such a horrible thing could not happen to them in their country. Let that sink in for just a moment and perhaps you will better understand why we here in America will never give up our weapons. That number (murdered) represents over half the population of this whole country. If we do give up our weapons we will become vulnerable to dictatorships as many people have been in the past. Learn form the mistakes of others for if we do not we will not live long enough to make them all ourselves. Rest assured America and Americans have many enemies many of whom call themselves our friends. What so called friend or politician are you willing to bet your life on?