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Need an untraceable gun (we won’t ask why)? Create a homemade 3D-printed gun

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3D printed AR-15 rifleSince the receiver is the only gun part that requires a license in the United States, gun receivers that are printed at home don’t have to be registered (yes, it’s possible to 3D print a gun – gun manufacturers have used 3D printers to print gun prototype parts for years). Now it’s possible for you to print your own untraceable gun too using instructions and plans from a new website, Wiki Weapon.

Are 3D printable guns feasible?  Last month, Michael Guslick, an engineer, obtained gun blueprints from a website and with slight changes, used his 3-D printer to print his own .22 caliber pistol. After firing more than 200 shots from it, he enhanced the design to print an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Word of his feat quickly spread through the Internet and interest in 3D gun printing, and the legal implications of printing unregistered weapons, quickly became a hot topic.

Now Defense Distributed, an activist group led by Texas law student Cody Wilson, has received $20,000 in funding for its new Wiki Weapon project. Wiki Weapon will provide instruction kits for guns which will allow individuals to download the kits and use their 3D printers to print their own weapons at home, sidestepping the need for a gun license. With 3D printers now costing as little as $600, this new website (and accompanying Android app) could potentially take off.

Regarding the legalities, Defense Distributed notes on their website:

“Since its inception, it has been legal in the USA to fashion your own firearm, and to talk about doing so. More precise legalities are that it is legal to produce any category of weapon you could ordinarily legally own, so long as you are not providing it for sale or are not prohibited from possessing firearms in the first place. Everything else is free speech, ladies and gentlemen.”

3D printed "registered" partIt seems as if gun laws are about to be tested.

“The old rules and regulations about who is the designer, who is the manufacturer and who is the distributor change when people have the tools and opportunities to become the designer, manufacturer and distributor themselves.”

Wiki Weapon has stated that the CAD files for its “Wiki Weapon A” and “Wiki Weapon B” prototype plastic handguns will be made available for download in the coming weeks.  The Wiki Weapon A has no moving parts and relies on an electrical solenoid for the firing action.  Other than the solenoid, the gun is 100% 3D printable.  The Wiki Weapon B will have moving parts for its firing action.  In the future, as users begin to upload their own custom gun designs to the wiki, we hope to find all kinds of interesting weapon designs available for download

Sources: Defense Dist, Wiki Weapons
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