BAM! You MUST Read This Excellent Thread On The 3D Gun Hysteria

Everyone is currently freaking out over 3D guns.

Exhibit A:

If we don’t scream and yell, any person will be able to start printing 3D guns this Wednesday, August 1st. Jeff sessions can stop this. Pls sign this petition. https://t.co/435Gc4npqz

— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) July 30, 2018

Exhibit B:

My latest Op ED for CNN:

A 3D PRINTED GUN IS DOWNLOADABLE DEATH https://t.co/byl0u7gned#NoRA

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) July 30, 2018

Exhibit C:

Hope y’all are ready to get searched considering 3-D printed guns cannot be detected by a metal detector.
The real question is how many terrorist attacks are going to happen with 3D printed guns until congress realizes their mistake. #Stop3DPrintedGuns

— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) July 28, 2018

Trump’s even jumping into the fray.

I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018

If you’re confused by all of this, please read this thread from The Washington Free Beacon’s Stephen Gutowski. He explains what’s going down in a convenient and digestible way.

Nearly everything you're hearing about 3D printed guns right now is false.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018

Gun blue prints are and have long been readily available on the internet. A simple Google search shows this. The thing every politician, activist, and media personality warns will end the world tomorrow has literally been happening everyday since these blueprints were created.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018

It has also been perfectly legal for law-abiding Americans to download and print or mill these designs the whole time as well. It has also remained illegal for prohibited persons to build firearms with 3D printers or by any other means as well.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018

The vast majority of 3D printed gun designs are not undetectable to metal detectors. The majority are mostly made of metal because most of their parts have to be sourced from actual firearms manufacturers. Under federal law it would be illegal to build a gun that's undetectable.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018

The case everybody is talking about centers around the State Department's claim that posting gun designs on the internet constituted exporting firearms to foreign entities in violation of ITAR. https://t.co/39Gb1eWQ3j

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018

The State Department only ever made this claim against Cody Wilson, the most famous person associated with 3D printed guns, and his group Defense Distributed. They don't appear to have taken action against all the other Americans posting gun designs online.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018

Nor was there ever any claim that law-abiding Americans who downloaded and used the designs were in violation of any law. Furthermore, Americans have legally built their own firearms for personal use since the country was founded. This isn't new.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018

Anyway, I've got a comment request in to the NRA about the President's confusing tweet and I'll be interviewing Cody Wilson again later today. pic.twitter.com/vlQDVuMuqx

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the NRA didn't know this tweet was coming. It'll be interesting to see what they say about it if they say anything at all. pic.twitter.com/sxHKG482ob

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) July 31, 2018

I’ll be interested to see what they have to say too. There’s just so much misinformation floating around. And, uh, The New York Post isn’t really helping.

Over 1K people have downloaded plans for 3D-printed assault rifles https://t.co/dRT6f2eupD pic.twitter.com/duwaQzgjVR

— New York Post (@nypost) July 31, 2018

Suuuuure. That’s an “assault rifle.” LOL.

Anyway, I really love how Ben Shapiro summed this up.

Trump himself talks about 3D plastic guns “being sold to the public.” But any person or business who engages in the sale of firearms must already be licensed. And a person who buys a firearm from a licensed firearm dealer has to pass a federal background check.

And 3D guns are notoriously unreliable — they break down easily, they’re extraordinarily expensive to produce (the printers themselves run up to $100,000) and they aren’t nearly as accurate as manufactured weapons as a general rule.

In other words, half of what you’re hearing just isn’t so. We’re not going to see people everywhere casually building “undetectable” 3D guns. That’s simply irresponsible to say.