If humanity is good at one thing, it’s taking seemingly innocuous technological innovations and using them for evil.
The newest victim of our baser human instincts? 3-D printing, the snazziest reinvention of an office supply since the electric stapler, and now, according to a Vice documentary, our newest way to manufacture illegal guns and drugs. Good work, humanity.
3-D printers, which have been hailed as the future of manufacturing, are able to “print” 3-dimensional solid objects by weaving together plastic polymers into any shape the maker desires. And hey, guess what shape Americans like the most?! Guns.
Last week, the first fully functional handgun was created using 3-D printing. Since these guns are made of plastic, they can pass unrecognized through metal detectors, which has left law enforcement worried about how the new method could impact the illegal arms trade.
In an equally predictable act of lefty reactionism, yesterday, Senator Chuck Schumer proposed a bill entitled the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act, that would ban the 3D printing of guns.
“A terrorist, someone who’s mentally ill, a spousal abuser, a felon can essentially open a gun factory in their garage,” Sen. Schumer said. “And the only thing they need a computer and a little over a thousand dollars. No background check and you don’t even need to leave your house to make hundreds of these guns.”
Hopefully the bill passes, and 3D printing can go back to being used what it was rightfully intended for: making miniature replicas of your own head.
