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Will you need a license to buy a screwdriver?

3D printers can be very useful.

For some people, the conversion of spools containing a long filament of plastic into actual "things" through the 3D printing process has become a fantastic hobby that keeps them occupied and happy for many hours every week.

For the rest of us, 3D printers are simply a very handy tool that enable us to make stuff that would otherwise be difficult or time-consuming to fabricate using other methods.

I've written before about the myriad of things around my home that I've designed and printed with this technology and that list grows on an almost weekly basis.

There is however, one thing that I have never 3D printed and, to be brutally honest, wouldn't dream of printing with this tech.

I'm talking about a firearm... a gun.

There are several reasons why I have no desire to print a gun.

Firstly, I don't need a gun, nor do I want a gun.

I live in a suburban setting and have no problem with pests such as rabbits or possums, as I once did when living in a more rural setting (when I *did* have several guns).

Secondly, there's no way I would risk my own safety to pulling the trigger on a firearm that had been 3D printed. Consumer-grade 3D printers and materials are simply not up to the task of creating real firearms to a safety standard that I would consider acceptable.

However, I guess there are some people who are stupid or desperate enough to take the risk that undoubtedly comes from using a 3D-printed firearm. I would say that this is likely a wonderful demonstration of "natural selection" at work -- if they do.

With this in mind I wasn't surprised to read this RNZ story mooting the prospect of laws being introduced here to control/restrict the creation of 3D-printed firearms.

Given that the State Assembly of New York has produced a bill that would require all purchasers of 3D printers to submit to a background check before they could legally obtain such a machine I figured similar rumblings would start in this part of the world eventually.

The reality is, as I have commented in previous columns, that a 3D printer is simply a tool, just like a hammer, a file, a drill or a hacksaw. Any and all of these tools can be used to make real firearms out of real metal and chances are that such a firearm would be a damned sight better, safer and more effective than one printed out of corn-starch.

Those opposed to the free availability of 3D printers claim that although firearms could be made using metal and hand-tools, these printers greatly simplify the task and require no skills and therefore represent a much greater risk.

well guess what?

Here are the plans and instructions for building a 9mm submachine gun using basic metal-working tools -- and they're readily available online (albeit from the Internet Archive, probably because the originals have been taken down).

Yes, building that submachine gun would take more time and effort as well as some more tools but it's still within the scope of the average home-handyman and his garage workshop. And... it's a MACHINE GUN!.

By comparison, the plastic guns that a 3D printer could make are often single-use, one shot devices that may self-destruct on pulling the trigger.

It seems to me that humans are very ingenious creatures and if you take away one option they will simply come up with another. Firearm misuse is not a problem, it is the symptom of a much bigger problem that we'd be far better trying to address.

Why do some folk feel the need to harm or threaten others? If we can crack that nut then we're a lot further down the road to a safe and peaceful society than if we simply make it harder for people to build guns.

Just look at the situation in the UK. They effectively banned firearms so those with evil intent simply switched to knives -- or cars when they wanted to kill innocent souls for whatever reason.

As I said at the top of today's column... 3D printers are just tools. Yes, you can use one to make a shoddy firearm but you could also stab someone with a screwdriver -- and there have been far more recorded deaths from the latter than the former. Is it time to license hand-tools and require mandatory background checks before their purchase down at Bunnings?

Remember also, that screwdriver will be an essential tool for building that 9mm submachine gun as well.

Carpe Diem folks!

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