Civil Liberties

3D Printing Promises To Make Even New Gun Controls Irrelevant

Subversive innovation beats control freaks every time

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After the tragedies of Sandy Hook and Aurora, the U.S. government is preparing to introduce stricter guidelines on gun ownership. But supporters of the second amendment could get around them by printing their own firearms at home.

The technology is still developing but 2012 saw the first shots fired from guns with printed parts. 'Gun hacking' is a growth community in online forums and has become serious business.

"I have five people now making AK-47 magazines – they're incredibly easy to reproduce", Cody Wilson, CEO of the Defense Distributed company in Texas, told Metro. A firm believer in the right to bear arms, Wilson is deliberately producing parts for assault weapons likely to be banned by new controls.