DHS bulletin warns 3D-printed guns 'impossible to stop'

[ShotgunBlast]

Not surprising anyone here. I love 3D printed guns because it easily destroys the enforcement capabilities of any kind of legislation someone wants to pass.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/23/go ... e-to-stop/

[dorminWS]

Saw a Yahoo item yesterday that said NASA was working on printing food. So we may live to see a day when you can print yourself anything from an AR-15 to a cheeseburger. Damn kids will NEVER get off the couch.

And Nanny Bloomberg will have a stoke. So some good might come of it.

[grumpyMSG]

I have serious doubts about the ability to make them undetectable. Unless there is some magical carbon fiber/epoxy resin/ ceramic material, a barrel and the rear of the chamber would have to be made out of steel to withstand the pressure of firing more than once. The folks writing the article probably don't have the firearms experience/ knowledge to understand that.

[gunderwood]

I have serious doubts about the ability to make them undetectable. Unless there is some magical carbon fiber/epoxy resin/ ceramic material, a barrel and the rear of the chamber would have to be made out of steel to withstand the pressure of firing more than once. The folks writing the article probably don't have the firearms experience/ knowledge to understand that.

The technology is still young. Most of these printers focused on ABS plastic or similar materials because they were easy to work with. However, the push in recent years has been to actually start manufacturing things. There have been for some years the ability to laser sinter metals via a "3D printer." The final finish typically wasn't great and CNC passes were required to finish a part. However, that is changing.

Strictly speaking, nothing we are familiar with is undetectable. Even a 100% plastic firearm is detectable (no one has come up with a 100% plastic gun yet, some parts must still be made of metal to function), it's just not detectable with metal detectors since it wouldn't have any metal in it. The whole undetectable firearms silliness is about stoking public fear and increasing budgets, nothing more.

[Kreutz]

The bullets would set off a metal detector be they in the gun or on your person.

[PhantomPhixer]

As if on cue: 3D printed shotgun slugs

http://gizmodo.com/forget-3d-printed-gu ... -509358801

Although the primer would still be detectable....maybe.... My daughter's science fair experiment two years ago was on metal detectors. She showed that the results were very inconsistent, and the orientation of the metal object had a lot to do with detection. Walked through a metal detector with a roll of quarters without setting it off. Obviously, they can be tuned for different sensitivities.

[WRW]

One article mentioned barrel inserts...cause I'm guessing rifling plastic would be futile.

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[ShotgunBlast]

As if on cue: 3D printed shotgun slugs

http://www.gizmodo.com/forget-3d-printe ... -509358801

Although the primer would still be detectable....maybe.... My daughter's science fair experiment two years ago was on metal detectors. She showed that the results were very inconsistent, and the orientation of the metal object had a lot to do with detection. Walked through a metal detector with a roll of quarters without setting it off. Obviously, they can be tuned for different sensitivities.

I'm going with chocolate slugs personally.

[mamabearCali]

I like the technology. I think it makes the idea of a world without guns moot....as if that we not already true, but now it is beyond the shadow of a doubt. Perhaps now we can focus on bad people and get beyond the ridiculous notion that an object is evil.

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[Domino]

Shotgun B - you are correct on the leve settings. I have had a gum wrapper trigger one at Dulles and the guy said it was "cranked up."

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[TallEd]

In 1999 my brother made it through security at Tampa airport with a Sig on his hip. This was before 9-11 when you could still go into the terminal without a ticket, but he still went through the metal detectors. The director of security happened to be in the elevator with us when he realized it. He was upset that his team wasn't calibrating the metal detectors but didn't seem concerned at all that someone had a gun.

[Reverenddel]

I remember when I could carry my 4" folding Cold Steel Tanto, but not a DEWAT .45ACP shell on my keychain.

Still to this day, The Airport's priorities are pure SHHHHHHIIIIIITTTTTT!!!!

Until they get properly trained personnel, and when they learn that NOT EVERY PASSENGER IS A VILLAIN, they're never gonna get anywhere.