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Tag: The Liberator

  • This 3D Printed Gun Can Fire Nine Shots

    The very first fully 3D printed gun – The Liberator – is now out on the Internet despite the State Department having the original files removed. So naturally, people are going to start making their own variations of the 3D printed handgun to improve its efficiency.

    Forbes’ Andy Greenberg reports that a Wisconsin engineer going by the name of “Joe” has created his own 3D printed gun called the Lulz Liberator. The name comes from the 3D printer it was made with – the $1,725 Lulzbot. One plastic barrel survived eight shots, and they were able to fire off one more from a new barrel before nightfall.

    Here’s a short video showing the test firing:

    What makes this particular model more interesting is that it was printed on a hobbyist 3D printer. The original Liberator from Defense Distributed was printed on an $8,000 industrial 3D printer. The eventual goal of The Liberator project was to make it possible for hobbyists to print their own guns, but it seems that “Joe” was able to beat them to the punch.

    Of course, there are some differences between the Lulz Liberator and The Liberator that must be taken into account. For starters, the Lulz Liberator uses metal screws to hold the gun together instead of the plastic pins found in the original Liberator. That could explain the stability, but Joe has another idea in mind – the plastic he used is just better. He claims that the generic ABS plastic used in hobbyist 3D printers is stronger than the official name brand ABS plastic used in industrial Stratasys printers.

    Whatever the case may be, “Joe” is continuing work on something that makes a lot of people feel very uncomfortable. He’s not the only one either. Over 100,000 people downloaded the original Liberator CAD files and even more are accessing it on sites like The Pirate Bay. These people are already more than happy to share their handiwork with the world.

  • British Journalists Sneak 3D Printed Gun On Board A Train Without Being Caught

    Early last week, Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed realized his dream of a fully 3D printed gun with the Liberator – a handgun that can fire a single bullet. The blueprints for the Liberator were taken down by the government four days later, but those determined to 3D print a gun can still access the files. That’s exactly what two British journalists did over the weekend.

    The Daily Mail’s Simon Murphy and Russel Myers created the Liberator on Friday, and then attempted to sneak it on board on an Eurostar train from London to Paris. Surprisingly, the two smuggled the gun on board the train without being stopped.

    Of course, they couldn’t just carry the full gun through security checkpoints with them. Murphy and Meyers split the 3D printed gun into three separate pieces, and then hid those pieces in their clothing. They walked through the metal detector without setting it off, and were never subjected to a pat down. It should be noted that the two men didn’t smuggle bullets or the firing pin on board, but such small metal objects can be easily concealed when going through security checkpoints.

    Once they were on board the train, they assembled the gun in less than 30 seconds. Afterwards, the two began to take pictures of themselves holding the gun next to other passengers. Said fellow passengers were none the wiser.

    After their little adventure, Murphy and Meyers alerted UK politicians and security experts about the potential for people to smuggle 3D printed weapons on board public transportation. As expected, both groups expressed shock and concern. Former Labor security minister Lord West said that security checks need to be improved so they can detect 3D printed and other undetectable weapons.

    The above scenario was a single test on a single train line. It will be interesting to see if anybody else tries to smuggle the Liberator or any other 3D printed weapon on board other train lines, or even an airplane. I would think that in the U.S., what with the TSA’s penchant for pat downs, smuggling the Liberator on board a plan would be especially difficult. Of course, agents would have to know what a disassembled 3D printed gun looks like, and therein lies the potential danger.

    People were already scared of 3D printed guns, but this story will probably take everybody’s fears to the next level. I wouldn’t be surprised if a congressman called for a ban on 3D printers, but we’ve already talked about how stupid that idea is.

    [Image: Daily Mail]

    UPDATE: Well, that didn’t take long. CBS Sacramento reports that California Senator Leland Yee has proposed that 3D printers be regulated, with potential owners having to go through background checks. He seems to not care that most 3D printers can’t yet make guns, and that those who do buy industrial 3D printers are probably not making guns. Blanket regulation seems to be the only solution in his eyes because “terrorists can make these guns and do some horrible things to an individual and then walk away scott-free.”

  • The Liberator Is The First Fully 3D Printed Gun

    Defense Distributed, Cody Wilson’s controversial startup that aims to create the first fully 3D printed gun, has finally achieved its goal. In a video released over the weekend, Wilson shows off a test firing of the Liberator.

    The Liberator doesn’t look all that impressive or intimidating, but it’s not meant to. It’s meant to fire bullets, and the above video demonstrates that it does just that. According to Forbes, the Liberator is made entirely out of ABS plastic except for a nail used as the firing pin. The gun also contains a small stip of steel so as not to run afoul of the Undetectable Firearms Act.

    What may have some people concerned, however, is that not every Liberator will include this strip of steel. Wilson has already published the blueprints for the Liberator at Defcad so anybody with a 3D printer can now print a handgun. The Liberator’s blueprints also include multiple barrels so the gun can fire different calibers of ammunition.

    With that in mind, the Liberator is going to make some people rather uncomfortable. Senators are probably going to draft legislation that’s intended to stop the creation of 3D printed weapons, and may even target 3D printers themselves. Even if that did happen, it really wouldn’t do anything as the blueprint is now on the Internet. It will be incredibly hard, if not impossible, to keep the Liberator out of 3D printer/gunsmith enthusiasts’ hands.

    It should be noted that the Liberator in its current form isn’t going to start arming every man, woman and child with their own handgun. For starters, the gun is still incredibly fragile. A separate Forbes report that covered the initial firing test says that the gun exploded upon an attempt to fire a rifle cartridge. Even when firing compatible bullets, the gun can only fire one round at a time.

    Still, this is a big step forward for Defense Distributed and 3D printing. Something that many, myself included, thought was years away is now here, albeit in a limited form. It will be interesting to see where Wilson and Defense Distributed do next.