So this judge doesn't know that this, and similar printable gun's STL data has been awash on the internet for at least five years? One search for stl and gun and you've got thousands of sources. It's like deleting an email - you know that can't be done in any absolute sense. So if you want to try to regulate matters (and more power to you if you do) then go for the bit which cannot be 3d-printed or CNCed: the chemicals in the bullet or the bullets themselves.

Stupid fuckhead Trump asshole

This is all a charade. There is no chance in hell that this information will be suppressed successfully.

@1 sure the data will never be eradicated, but that's okay, no law is 100% and that's not the point. A child porn image will never be eradicated from the world either, but a law can reduce its distribution and make people work harder and become more visible if they want to seek it. In the case of gun data, laws could perhaps slow the rate of development of better (?) guns.

Printing in the common printer's filament materials must be a really flimsy gun. Back in my day we made zip guns out of metal pipe like real hooligans.

Bob is our hero.
* swoon **

Bob, you are such a doll sometimes. Thanks for being an awesome AG. <3 <3 <3

Oh man -- I simply cannot wait any longer to get my hands on a 3D printer and a handgun design so I can have my very own shitty home-job pistol explode my hand!!!

@10: Only losers go buy a well made hand gun that will last forever for 500 bucks or so.

Real patriots buy a $1,000 3D printer, spend hundreds of dollars on thermoplastic filaments, and print out a shitty, unreliable one shot pistol.

@10 yeah I feel the same way.

In all seriousness though the cat is out of the bag. Plans are easily available online to anyone who wants them (have been for years). Even if Sideshow Bob wins in court (he won't) anyone who wants to build a gun already has more practical options anyway,

I say we allow these plans to be fully distributed. Anyone stupid enough to spend the $$ on a 3D printer and supplies to extrude one of these worthless pieces of plastic, should be encouraged to load and test-fire their new, 2A masturbation toy. And whatever happens as a result will simply provide all that many more opportunities for them to become Darwin Award finalists. Heck, we could probably create an entire category especially for them.

@11, 12, 13
What seems more likely - a plastic gun crime wave, or a rash of plastic gun Emergency Room visits for hand injuries?

I doubt that either will ever be much of a thing, but the schaedenfreud value of the latter scenario is so...palpable.

Every printed gun design file should be required to also include an officious 3D Darwin Award medalion, printed concurrently...

Seriously though - why not just go to the closest indian rez, purchase an M-80, and blow up your hand with that instead? Way cheaper, and less bother.

The craziest part is that because of these headlines I learned it's perfectly legal for the private citizen to manufacture firearms as long as they are for personal use and not sold on the open market.

Distilling liquor at home, even for personal consumption, is still illegal.

What is my fine if I don't lock up my 3D printer in a safe? Anyone know?

@7 "Printing in the common printer's filament materials must be a really flimsy gun."

Yes. And it was done purely as an exercise in free speech. The gun is a piece of junk. It can't be smuggled through airport scanners (they can see plastic as well as the ammunition). And it will cost you more that a .45 ACP ghost gun available on the street. It's just about getting the gun-grabbers panties twisted in a bunch.

There are CNC plans for AR-15 parts out there. And if you are handy with blacksmithing tools and a drill press, plans and a video on how to make an AK-47 out of a shovel. Shotguns can be made from common plumbing parts.

It's over. The war against guns has been lost. You'd be better off saving innocent lives by getting heroin and other opiates off the streets. How's that working out for you?