Do It Yourself Second Amendment
By Jeff Knox
(October 10, 2014) Remember the hoopla a few months ago when a young, libertarian entrepreneur named Cody Wilson announced that he had constructed the first functional 3D printed gun? And the growing outcry from the hoplophobes about “Ghost Guns” and 80% lowers? Now Wilson and his company, Defense Distributed, has introduced a small, self-contained, computer controlled milling machine which can automatically finish an 80% lower in just a couple of hours. The device has been dubbed the “Ghost Gunner,” in honor of State Senator Kevin DeLeon (D-CA) and his infamous, lunatic rant. (If you haven’t seen it, look it up on YouTube. Hilarious!) The machine sells for $1500.00 and comes with everything you need to get started.
That’s got the professional hoplophobes of the Bloomies and the Bradys all in a tizzy all over again. Wilson announced the release of the new machine just days after Representative Mike Honda (D-CA) introduced new legislation to require that all home-made guns be regulated in the same manner that commercially manufactured guns are – which, according to the same hoplophobes are completely unregulated… But all of the hand-wringing and legislation writing is just further proof that these people really have no idea what they’re talking about. They seem to think that guns are some magical creations forged in high-tech furnaces in Hell. They clearly believe that making a firearm requires sophisticated machinery and highly specialized skills.
Of course Shotgun News readers know just how ridiculous that belief is. While “printing” the parts for an all-plastic, single-shot zipgun is a nifty concept, actually making a similar, but more durable and functional gun, from wood, pipe and nails is child’s play. Most of us could accomplish the task in under an hour, using nothing but hand tools and junk from the garage.
Printing a lower receiver for an AR-style rifle is also pretty cool, but again, anyone with rudimentary skills could carve or build a functional receiver nothing but a drill-press and files. The end result probably wouldn’t be very pretty, but it would be just as functional, and probably stronger. There are examples on the Internet of people making functional AR lowers from cheap, plastic cutting boards. It’s not rocket science.
Of course building a high-quality, accurate firearm from scratch does require some specialized machinery and skills, but a basic, functional, up-close-and-personal bang-stick has always been within the capabilities of the average American. For more sophisticated firearms, especially on the AR platform, all of the tricky parts are readily available on the open market, while the regulated part, the receiver, is one of the easiest parts to fabricate. But even with the relative ease of making an AR receiver, the rest of the parts needed to construct a good, basic AR will cost a builder at least $500 dollars, and probably substantially more, on top of the time and money invested in the receiver.
Perhaps in a few years, when the prices of 3D printers and personal CNC milling machines come down even further, it will eventually be easier and cheaper to build a gun that way, but personally, I have no use for a machine that does all of the work for me. I’d much rather get my hands dirty and end up with something that I can really claim as my own.
As to the hoplophobic fears of criminals taking advantage of the new gizmos to terrorize the nation, they are completely unfounded. Development of these machines will not result in a flood of home-made guns suddenly showing up at crime scenes. Criminals are by and large too stupid and lazy – and broke – to invest their money and time into this sort of techno-hobby. Those who do have the money, like the Mexican drug cartels, are not going to waste their time on small scale, one-at-a-time equipment when they can easily afford to smuggle in true military ordnance or hire skilled craftsmen and buy commercial CNC machines that can manufacture all of the vital components on an industrial scale. Two such manufacturing operations were recently discovered in the Guadalajara area. Expect to hear about more illegal gun factories being found down there. With the death of Hugo Chavez, and the shutdown of Operation Fast and Furious, the Mexican underworld is finding that the “Iron River” that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Hillary Clinton were so fond of talking about, is more like a trickling stream. If they can no longer count on guns from the US government via ATF, or from friendly, neighborhood, communist dictators, they’re naturally going to expand their firearm manufacturing business. If we do begin to see an increase in “home-built” firearms involved in crime, you can bet that’s where they’ll be coming from, as the cartels will also naturally expand their export business.
I suppose it’s too much to hope that hoplophobes will someday figure out that guns and gun manufacturing technology aren’t the problem; criminals are.
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