{"id":19684,"date":"2013-05-22T11:02:10","date_gmt":"2013-05-22T16:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcitement.com\/?p=19684"},"modified":"2013-05-22T11:00:57","modified_gmt":"2013-05-22T16:00:57","slug":"unimpressive-3d-printed-zip-gun-drives-internet-insane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/hardware\/unimpressive-3d-printed-zip-gun-drives-internet-insane\/","title":{"rendered":"Unimpressive 3D Printed Zip Gun Drives Internet Insane"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve\u00a0got to admit that I\u2019m not nearly as impressed with crypto-anarchist Cody Wilson, his Defense Distributed<\/a> organization, or its 3D printable handgun, the Liberator, as the rest of the internet seems to be. Most everywhere\u00a0I’ve\u00a0looked for the last several days\u00a0I’ve\u00a0seen headline after overwrought headline claiming that this new handgun design is a radical game changer in the argument over gun ownership. On one end of the spectrum, people are panicking, apparently certain that because you can now download files with printable gun parts on them that this is it for civilization and we might as well go back to the trees, chew leaves, and seriously consider going the extra mile to make a return to the ocean. On the other hand, others are proudly declaring (with flags majestically flying behind them) that liberty and personal freedom are now safe for all eternity and this time we\u2019re certain because after all, what stops a tyrannical government that’s waiting to crush the innocent and weak better than a gun downloaded from the internet? The problem with both arguments is that the gun in question, the Lulz Liberator, is a barely functional and sad excuse for a weapon that\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0hold a candle to some of the most rudimentary of improvised handguns used by revolutionaries and minor street gangs around the world.<\/p>\n

In the rush to produce its design, Defense Distributed seems to have been more interested in being first than in actually building a functional weapon. The single shot Lulz Liberator in the video below fires nine times. However, as Andy Greenberg, Defense Distributed\u2019s primary cheerleader in the press, was forced to admit in Forbes<\/em><\/a>, the weapon suffered numerous misfires during the course of the Liberator\u2019s testing, was forced to replace the metal screws holding the body together, and most damming of all, needed to have the metal firing pin that makes the entire unit work replaced. Meanwhile, pressure and heat from firing expanded the ammo cartridge to the point where it required hammering into position after each shot. While this version held together, there has been a real tendency for earlier versions of the Liberator to explode when firing, destroying the gun and leaving whoever is firing open to severe injury. Throw in the melting barrel and you end up with a gun that\u2019s a statement, but not much more. With the screws, firing pin, and bullet added, there\u2019s enough metal in this \u201cplastic\u201d gun to likely set off a metal detector, even if you don\u2019t add the weighted piece of metal required by law to make the gun detectable by a scanner.<\/p>\n