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View Full Version : Schumer: U.S. needs to block 3D plastic guns like ‘The Liberator’ from Defense Distributed



Teh One Who Knocks
05-06-2013, 11:16 AM
By Edgar Sandoval / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS


http://i.imgur.com/fGEJtVt.jpg

The future just got a lot scarier.

A Texas company is set to release blueprints for making a plastic gun with a 3-D printer — a development Sen. Chuck Schumer called “stomach-churning” Sunday.

Defense Distributed, a collective of gun access advocates headed by self-described “free-market anarchist” Cody Wilson, has announced it made such an untraceable gun with the new plastic-making technology. The nonprofit Texas group intends to post blueprints for “The Liberator” (pictured) online this week.

The Liberator may look like a toy, but “this gun can fire regular bullets,” Schumer said, calling for legislation outlawing the technology’s weapons potential.

The bill was drafted by Rep. Steve Israel (D-L.I.).

“Security checkpoints, background checks and gun regulations will do little good if criminals can print their own plastic firearms at home and bring those firearms through metal detectors with no one the wiser,” Israel said in a statement.

To Schumer, the ramifications of make-your-own untraceable and undetectable weapons are “stomach-churning.”

“Now anyone, a terrorist, someone who is mentally ill, a spousal abuser, a felon, can essentially open a gun factory in their garage,” Schumer said. “It must be stopped.”

Here’s how you can “print” your own gun:

* Purchase a 3-D printer for $1,000.

* Download free blueprints for Defense Distributed’s 16-component “Liberator.”

* Print out the hard molded pieces.

* Assemble.

Defense Distributed’s version of the Liberator reportedly didn’t violate the law because it included a 6-ounce piece of metal — but people printing out the 16 components at home could replace the part with plastic, Schumer said.

But Defense Distributed’s website says its gun project “might change the way we think about gun control and consumption. How do governments behave if they must one day operate on the assumption that any and every citizen has near- instant access to a firearm through the Internet? Let’s find out.”