scribe123

When it's made on a 3D printer - maybe.

Recently someone in America has designed and produced a 3D printable gun to protect gun users against overzealous gun controls.

I just read a news article stating that because you can only load and fire it one round at a time, officials are debating if it's as dangerous as a real firearm. *rolls eyes*

dbd33

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=796210

scribe123

I was more pointing out that officials are trying to decide if it's as dangerous as a *real* firearm

Former Lancastrian

For Canadian purposes does it fall within this?
Q4. What is considered to be a firearm for purposes of the Firearms Act and for offences related to the Firearms Act in the Criminal Code?

A4. As set out in the Firearms Act, "firearm" means:

a barrelled weapon from which any shot, bullet or other projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing serious bodily injury or death to a person, and includes
any frame or receiver of such a barrelled weapon, as well as
anything that can be adapted for use as a firearm.
Following are some weapons and devices that meet the definition of a firearm but that are deemed not to be firearms for purposes of the Firearms Act and related offences in the Criminal Code. Some of these items are exempted from the definition only if they were designed exclusively for a specific purpose and are intended to be used exclusively for that purpose by the person who possesses it. However, all of the items listed below are considered to be firearms if used in a criminal or negligent manner.

Antique firearms;
Devices designed exclusively for signalling, for notifying of distress, for firing blank cartridges or for firing stud cartridges, explosive-driven rivets or other industrial projectiles;
Shooting devices designed exclusively forslaughtering domestic animals, tranquilizing animals, or discharging projectiles with lines attached to them;
Air guns and other barreled weapons designed to have:
A muzzle velocity of 152.4 meters per second or less and/or
A muzzle energy of 5.7 joules or less.

GC44

The news report I saw on this was a "printer" manufactured AR15. The guy that was firing it was definately emptying a magazine down the range as fast as he could pull the trigger. The only part not printer produced was the firing pin.

geedee

"Liberator': Proof that you CAN'T make a working gun in a 3D printer

No need to pry this piece of crap out of my fingers"

Article at The Register......

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05...lastic_3d_gun/

scribe123

A good article.

Ok, so it's not a gun in any practice sense defined in that article, but to me if you have a device that is created to hold a bullet and send it on command in a chosen direction (don't care how inaccurately), then by definition that's a gun.

geedee

And how about a straw that's wide enough to accept a bullet? Is that a gun? Or is it still a pea-shooter?

scribe123

If you trigger the round to come out under its own power, yes.

There will be many detailed definitions of what is what, but this printed gun is what it is, and that's a gun. You can make a technical argument to serve an end, but often the simplest answer is the correct one.

Make one, point it at a police man and see if he says "put the plastic pipe down", or "put the gun down".

geedee

Or, if you're in the US, he just pops 12 rounds into you!!

Steve_

You can make a shotgun out of a piece of .68" tubing with a nail and a hammer.

I agree with the article from the Register to some extent but the tricky bit to make is the trigger mechanism, not the barrel. So you could certainly make some parts of a gun a bit more easily on a 3D printer.

The only part of a firearm subject to control in Canada and the US is the frame/receiver, so if you can make that part on a 3D printer (which isn't easy as it is the most critical part) then you can buy the rest of the parts separately.

But it is possible: http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/01/def...an-600-rounds/