shadowxvii said:
Wait...NHK? This is clearly a conspiracy !
Still, pretty scary thing, now that anyone with a computer and a 3D printer can get an actual working gun....
Working is a bit of stretch. Sure, they might fire, but they are no where near as effective as a metal firearm. At least, as far as I've heard, 3d printed firearms single shot, and highly inaccurate, not to mention having decreased muzzle velocity.
kajinking said:
In the US this guy would be a hero with massive media coverage.
Actually no, such weapons are also illegal in the US under an old law banning firearms capable of evading metal detectors.
Rabid_meese said:
Oh boy. Just imagine when every house has a 3D printer, and the design of these guns isn't so poor that you'll probably end up blowing off your hand. I imagine finding bullets to shoot out of 3D printed guns would be rather difficult.
they're engineered to use the same bullets as other firearms.
I imagine this guy will probably be praised as a hero in America. GUNS ARE TEH FREEDOM YEAH.
see above
In all seriousness, he has the right to think firearm access is a basic human right, and taking them away is a violation of his basic human rights. Unless he's planning an overthrow of the government, he has to work within the system to get things changed. There is a small window in which people will recognize protesting, and usually possession isn't seen as political dissonance.
what ghandi and King Jr did wasn't originally seen as protest either, but petty criminality. Sometimes that's what it takes. I don't think Japan has many legal routes for citizens to directly influence government, but I'm not an expert.
If he wants to make a difference, he should try to get things changed within the countries laws. Printing a few guns isn't going to change laws - and, to be honest, they probably won't offer him much self defense. Unless the potential harasser takes pity on them for the gun misfiring and blowing off the guys hand. Seriously - no matter how many times they test these, they're still made from cheap plastic resin. Bullets are controlled explosions that get really hot. Recipe. for. disaster.
Again, as I said, some times the best way to change something is to violate the law. I don't think that was his intent, but it is unwise to say that meaningful political change only happens within the system. In almost all cases, working within the system is not enough.
rasputin0009 said:
The story may sound crazy to Americans who can legally make a gun out of anything.
see above, this is not legal in US either.
But to most people of countries with better
stricter. There is a great deal of evidence calling "better" into question.
gun laws, it's reasonable. Just the fact that the guns have a pretty high chance of exploding in your own face is good enough of a reason to make it illegal to print them.
hazard99 said:
Where would he get the bullets to use the guns?
3d printed guns are designed to use normal ammunition. If you're asking how ammunition is regulated in Japan, I don't know.
UNHchabo said:
shadowxvii said:
Wait...NHK? This is clearly a conspiracy !
Still, pretty scary thing, now that anyone with a computer and a 3D printer can get an actual working gun....
rasputin0009 said:
The story may sound crazy to Americans who can legally make a gun out of anything. But to most people of countries with better gun laws, it's reasonable. Just the fact that the guns have a pretty high chance of exploding in your own face is good enough of a reason to make it illegal to print them.
You can already make a much more lethal firearm with $5 worth of materials at the hardware store -- a section of pipe, an endcap, and a nail can be made into a shotgun. Then if you have a simple metalshop, let alone a CNC setup, you can build most submachineguns from scratch pretty easily -- every military in WWII made a submachinegun designed to be made from stamped steel, cause they're cheap and easy to make (compared with the Thompson, for instance, which is milled).
When criminals can't get guns through their normal methods (theft, bribery, or smuggling), they're still be able to do so by making them.
Actually no, a firearm barrel is much more advanced than a piece of pipe. It's better grade steel, for one, and hammer-stamped barrels of the type you are suggesting require careful heat treating after they are forged.
Kalezian said:
rasputin0009 said:
The story may sound crazy to Americans who can legally make a gun out of anything. But to most people of countries with better gun laws, it's reasonable. Just the fact that the guns have a pretty high chance of exploding in your own face is good enough of a reason to make it illegal to print them.
Zip guns, aka, guns that are made out of anything, are highly illegal in the US. On par with making explosives.
actually no. It is perfectly legal for citizens to modify and manufacture firearms within the US, so long as you don't intend them for sale(which requires a dealer's licence) and so long as the weapon itself is not illegal for some reason, such as being fully automatic or too short. You might be required to use a manufactured barrel, but I am not sure, and those are easily available anyway.
RelativityMan said:
UNHchabo said:
When criminals can't get guns through their normal methods (theft, bribery, or smuggling), they're still be able to do so by making them.
I've never quite understood that line of reasoning.
If someone is a CNC operator and has access to their equipment, they tend to be either employed or well-off. What is their incentive to illegally manufacture firearms? Especially when the risks include a few decades in federal prison at best, or a short-lived conversation with the authorities (doubly short if involving the ATF).
Common crooks on the other hand tend not to have these jobs skills. They just get professionally built guns off the black market (or in the US, use the private sales legal loophole).
The private sales or "gun-show loophole" is a god damned myth. According to the ATF 0.7% of firearms used by criminals in the US were purchased in this way. The majority are purchased from illegal sellers or crooked dealers, with almost as many coming from straw purchases, and the next most common being stolen weapons. Then you have pawn shops and similar and way down, literally at the bottom of the list, is private sale "loop-hole"
