3D-Printer Gunmakers Resume Work

After getting previous printer taken away, now getting assistance from unidentified defense firm

Three weeks after a group of desktop gunsmiths had its leaded 3D printer seized by the digital manufacturing firm that owned it, the weaponeers have quietly restarted plans to build a gun entirely of printed parts. The group has also begun expanding their operation with outside help, including space for ballistics testing provided by a mysterious firm involved in the defense industry.

Cody Wilson, founder of the Wiki Weapon project, tells Danger Room that the unnamed company's owner "wanted to offer me a safe haven, basically." Wilson describes the company as a "private defense firm" in San Antonio, Texas, but the company's owner is wary of negative publicity and Wilson doesn't want to reveal the firm's name without consent.

"We've got basically a space where we can do experiments. Ballistics, basically. So it's not quite a range — we've got a range — but we've got floor space where we can literally test the guns and set up instrumentation," Wilson says.