Age of 3D printed guns and how 3D printing evolved

A news about a revolutionary 3D printed hand gun which you can download and get printed using a 3D printer and fire to cause destruction has made a controversy in international news.

What is this 3D printing?

3D printing is is the creation of solid objects out of plastic or soft metals.

A 3D printer prints a design created in sophisticated 3D modeling software. It works like a common ink jet printer. The melted plastic (or the metal in advanced printers) prints in layers as thin as 100 microns (.1 mm) slowly to make the 3D object.

Watch how a 3D print is made in this video:



This is a 3D printed toy aeroplane. Printing is done part by part and then assembled.



MakerBot and some other companies sell 3D printers that are of the size little bigger than the normal desktop prnter. Two such models are the Replicator 2 ($2,200), which can construct objects as large as 11 x 6 x 6 inches, and the Replicator 2X "experimental" 3D printer ($2,800, pictured above), which can create objects 9.5 x 6 x 6 inches.

The gun Liberator is also printed part by part and assembled. It is fired and tested for robustness. It may be highly dangerous production due to its highly individualized production technology.


The first 3D printed gun has been produced by Defense Distributed headed by a law student 25-year old law student, Cody Wilson.  His website states that his goal is to “produce and publish a file for a completely printable gun.”

Availability of a blueprint of the gun online will make it simple for those without expertise to print a gun.

We are entering a new gun age, aren't we? 

Cody Wilson, 25-year old 'father' of printable gun age