In the wake of the release of Defense Distributed’s “Liberator” firearm many news organizations around the world have responded in a typical manner, namely by claiming that it sucks and that it doesn’t work, so therefore it should be ignored. “Continue about your lives, gun control is still effective.” Let’s take El Reg for an illustrative example . . .
Seriously. That’s all a Liberator is: a particularly crappy pipe, because it is made of lots of laminated layers in a 3D printer. Attached to the back of the pipe is a needlessly bulky and complicated mechanism allowing you to bang a lump of plastic with a nail in it against the end of the pipe.
[…]
When the nail hits the cap in the cartridge base in a Liberator, the expanding gas likewise pushes the lead bullet off the end of the cartridge and down the “barrel” pipe. Much of the gas leaks past due to the loose fit and soft material of the “barrel”. The lump of plastic with the nail (probably) stops the cartridge case spitting out of the back, which is pretty easy as the bullet pops out of the extremely short, basically smooth* “barrel” almost immediately with very little push from the gas required. Most of the cartridge’s hot gas spills out of the muzzle without getting a chance to do any work on the bullet, which is the main reason the cruddy “barrel” doesn’t (always) come to bits on the first shot and the cartridge case (probably) doesn’t just spit backward into the user’s face.
Their argument is that since the very first version of such a firearm is the modern equivalent of a Saturday Night Special, it should be completely ignored and PROVES that 3D printing CANNOT POSSIBLY be used to print guns. Forgetting that whole open source movement thing, where crowd-sourcing of operating systems and other software components have led to amazingly fast and stable platforms which work fantastically well. It’s like proclaiming Linux a dead and useless OS because the very first kernel was barely able to function as a calculator, not seeing beyond the object to the possibility of what lies beyond.
And that’s the main issue with the mainstream media. They see the “Liberator” as a finished product, and the only possible iteration of what can be made. Instead it is merely a proof of concept, a blueprint for what could be done in the future as more people work on the problem of printable firearms and contribute their own ideas.
The cat is out of the bag in terms of firearms production. And the “establishment” wants to cover their eyes and ignore what’s going on, because that makes them feel safer.
These beings are no longer fully human, having spurned tooth and nail, able only to sip life through a power-assisted straw.
Yes, I know I’ve said it before but it’s no less true for that.
How would a man from 14,000 years ago view the average among us? This is I suspect how I view the people of New Town – at least those in the news.
I think he just described why all firearms are so simple, even modern manufactured ones.
Yes, you have a pipe that pushes a projectile out of the end with the help of rapidly expanding gases. That’s all guns ever were. No room for magic when you explain the simple physics behind it.
I’m waiting to see what happens when someone takes a picture of a Liberator in the middle of London or Tiananmen Square.
Honestly if we had a president who believed in America and wanted America to succeed, then liberators hot off the presses would be showing up within hours of upload in China and Iran. Sadly we have one who just thinks America is broken and wants it to fail.
I thought that as well, it felt almost like an explanation of firearms to those who arent aware of their mechanical workings. But it IS an english paper, just sayin.
My friend has this exact model of revolver and, amusingly enough, uses it as his carry piece. He calls it his “bootlegger gun”, as he imagines it might have been tucked into the boot of a moonshiner or some other ne’er-do-well back in the day.
More of the same from the UK’s far-left Guardian:
http://m.guardiannews.com/technology/2013/may/09/3d-printed-guns-user
In a nutshell: “Try to fire it and you will die! Well…maybe. We think.”
The new school will be like a bunker – bullet proof glass, steel reinforced doors, 24 inch thick walls, alarms, surveillance cameras. Fix the problem? Maybe in Newtown, but tragedy will just move to another venue.
Watched last night and couldn’t figure out why Vince would just happen to have the barrels that Will needs. Real stupid
All products started like this. POC..proof of concept. In today’s society of fast moving thinkers, advanced manufacturing technologies, and the relative freedoms of American entrepreneurs, this was bound to happen. You can’t stop this Blue Train now….
So protests are now considered civil disobedience? So who rewrote the constitution when I wasn’t looking?
I kind of want this to go down so he can throw a fit and potentially stain his underwear.
Well, protest marches in defiance of local ordinance are in the same family as civil disobedience – in addition to being protests.
Hahahaha that’s funny.
I see, when the left marches for homosexual rights its a good thing, when the right marches for a constitutionally guaranteed right its a bad thing. Hardly seems fair, hopefully we can tell them in 14 we don’t play that no mo, Randy
At what point can someone make a citizens arrest for treason? Anyone but especially an elected official who is calling for blatantly unconstitutional laws deserves to be arrested and tried for treason.
Something to note: Craig Lowe was just voted out of office, in one of the most liberal cities in Florida and replaced by a Tea Party guy! Seriously, Gainesville is MAYBE outranked in liberalism/antigunism by West Palm or Miami.
Bah! It is a bullshit crusade that has a side effect of limiting ammunition.
Hey look, it’s the drunken bum mayor of me old hometown. There’s some great video on youtube of this guy drunk and singing Sinatra in some local bar, and some other video of him meeting with people who are handing him money for his campaign in exchange for promised preferential treatment in city contracts. With any luck he’ll be out of a job after Tuesday’s election.
Sounds like a conversation with the “Men from Washington” in Atlas Shrugged.
Who is John Galt?
I still have the 3″ Bulldog that I bought new in the ’70’s. I bought it to carry in a pancake during my solo fishing trips into the wilderness. In order not to excite the game wardens, I kept the 1st 2 cylinders loaded with #8 shot capsules.
I was told back then was that it was developed for the Sky Marshalls’ use inside planes, under the premise that the heavy, slow bullet would not exit a body and pierce the plane’s skin. What BS – that bullet would go through 12 guage aluminum like crap through a goose.
The little gun has had literally thousands of rounds through it; I can shake it and things rattle inside. Did a trigger job and the accuracy was/is phenomenal. Back then I could place 3 of 5 shots on the paper at 100 yards, even with the fixed sights. Shot it so much everything became instinctive, never even conscious of aiming.
So, today, it rests in the night stand. Last week, I loaded some ammo for it, as I have not fired it in over 20 years ! Wonder if I still have the touch ?
My old chief jumped at the chance to go to Wash for a photo op back in the day to promote the Brady bill.
It was all for self aggrandizement. All for his résumé. He didn’t know the first thing about the bill.
Tese guys don’t look happy at all.
One is a corporal and another is a sergeant, no stars on collars or epaulets.
Ergo: told to be there.
A right does NOT need protecting unless someone is trying to take it!
Common sense? That would have meant not rehiring Obama. That would mean not going after good citizens because of what one wacko did. But then, common sense isn’t all that common.
Too bad this is in LA, you could not carry a gun even if you got one. Loaded, unloaded, open carry or concealed. They will continue to let citizens die rather then have the option to defend their lives.
I also hate to say this as well, but even if she valued the 2nd amendment, the people she chose to live around and with did not, nor the right to defend your self. (mace, taser ect is all regulated in CA) Her community signed and approved her death warrant.
Yet one more paralel to the Glock scares 20 years ago. The difference being where the glock was actually able to back up said threat by being effective, if not invisible, this might well be invisible but far from effective.
just thought I would put my two cents in here real quick. I have been playing the COD games since the first modern warfare and yes talking about the campaign and such it has gone way down in entertainment value but these types of games are made for multiplayer not campaign. So that being said they focus on keeping the multilayer playing over the campaigners seeing how it is a way better market plus to fix the voice problem you had you can turn voice and game effects up and down so I don’t know why you had a problem but I am on xbox not comp so idk it could be different.