Gun Manufacturing in the 21st Century: 3-D Printing

The Hidden History of Guns and the 2nd Amendment

How America became awash in guns, mass shootings, and child murders in our schools. Over the next few months the entire book will be here, new chapters posted every Sunday, for subscribers to read at no cost. If you want to get a physical book to mark up or share with others, just click on the picture above, visit your local bookstore, or check your favorite online seller.

Chapter 28

Gun Manufacturing in the 21st Century: 3-D Printing

The future masters of technology will have to be light-hearted and intelligent.
The machine easily masters the grim and the dumb.

—Marshall McLuhan 

In August 2018, a district court judge in Seattle effectively banned the free sharing of 3-D printed gun blueprints on the internet. Cody Wilson, the founder of an open-source gun company called Defense Distributed, responded with an announcement that he would sell the blueprints to people who wanted them. After all, the injunction simply said that Wilson couldn’t freely distribute his blueprints; but he is absolutely allowed to sell the blueprints, at least to United States citizens. If he sells to someone who is not a U.S. citizen, he will violate US export laws.¹

As with any new technology, people are concerned about the consequences. People are concerned that any average American will be able to manufacture his or her own gun, and that 3-D printed guns essentially make any gun regulations or background checks worthless. 

But self-manufacturing something doesn’t place it beyond the law. For instance, despite the panic over freely available gun-printing blueprints, there are already two basic regulations in place: Wilson can’t give away his blueprints, and he can’t sell blueprints to non-U.S. citizens. 

And beyond those very basic regulations, there are already plenty of models for regulating homemade products: everything from cars to raw milk to homemade liquor is regulated in the United States, even if it is manufactured or produced at home. 

For example, the laws surrounding homemade cars in Oregon provide a blueprint for regulating 3-D printed guns. In Oregon there are five basic requirements for certifying an “assembled, reconstructed or replica vehicle” so that someone can drive it on public roads:²

1. Title or Salvage Title for the frame or unibody used in the vehicle (if not previously surrendered to DMV).

2. Evidence of ownership for each major part used, such as bill(s) of sale, a title or a Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin (MCO). If building or rebuilding a vehicle from a kit, you must provide the MCO for the kit. Major parts may be the body (if not unibody), engine, kit, or axles (if a trailer).

3. Application for Title and Registration (Form 735-226). The vehicle description in Section 1 must match the application.

4. Applicable fees.

5. Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) inspection.

And that’s not all! Remember that all car owners must also have car insurance to take their car on public roads, and they must possess a state-issued driver’s license. How a car is manufactured does not change any of these requirements. 

Under a common-sense set of gun regulations, 3-D printed guns should be required to be registered and the owner licensed to carry, just like with automobiles. And just like with a homemade automobile, if someone were caught in possession of an unregistered 3-D printed gun, then he or she would face fines or jail time.