The Imura Revolver 3D Printed Gun

[Feign]

Well, being it such a polarizing issue, you have to expect that people will at some point not make the distinction between hobbyist and monster. To many people the weapon itself is the evil, rather than the wielder, and by extension, the knowledge of the weapon, or even the interest in the weapon are evil. It's a different mindset than you or I have, but civil discussion can still be had if the moral issues can be agreed to be disagreed upon. All our points of view have skies that are blue.

As for the question of "why" there's a good quote that I heard reciently that I'll paraphraise: "I hope I will never need a gun. But if I ever do need a gun, I'd better have one. Which is a good reason to have one."

EDIT: Oh yeah, I had a point I was going to make:
WarFairy, you and others have to know that the hobby of printed guns doesn't sway the gun control people. Fear is their number one tool, and the media around this makes more of it. The worst case scenario of the public attention to the hobby is the regulation of 3D printing as a method of making guns in places that regulate guns. Why draw attention to it? I mean, I have no real issue with gun hobbyists, but the more attention it has, the more fear the regulatory crowd has to throw around to harm the industry.

[WarFairy]

Well, being it such a polarizing issue, you have to expect that people will at some point not make the distinction between hobbyist and monster. To many people the weapon itself is the evil, rather than the wielder, and by extension, the knowledge of the weapon, or even the interest in the weapon are evil. It's a different mindset than you or I have, but civil discussion can still be had if the moral issues can be agreed to be disagreed upon. All our points of view have skies that are blue.

As for the question of "why" there's a good quote that I heard reciently that I'll paraphraise: "I hope I will never need a gun. But if I ever do need a gun, I'd better have one. Which is a good reason to have one."

EDIT: Oh yeah, I had a point I was going to make:
WarFairy, you and others have to know that the hobby of printed guns doesn't sway the gun control people. Fear is their number one tool, and the media around this makes more of it. The worst case scenario of the public attention to the hobby is the regulation of 3D printing as a method of making guns in places that regulate guns. Why draw attention to it? I mean, I have no real issue with gun hobbyists, but the more attention it has, the more fear the regulatory crowd has to throw around to harm the industry.

It is a massively polarizing issue, and I know most people on one side or the other won't be swayed. All I can do is portray myself as I am and hope that the Monster I'm portrayed as by certain people comes to be seen as the smoke it really is. I just make things and teach other people how to make things. That's really all. I have no desire to ever harm another living creature in any way. Its just bad karma.

As far as politics go, I try to stay out of them. I don't try to draw attention in the slightest. People make of my designs what they may, and a few of them got posted around. It was never my intention to be on any politician's radar what so ever, or to have articles written regarding the designs. I just want to design and test things that I think need to exist. Whether people fear or like what I do is entirely out of my control. If a local, state, or federal government decides that my hobby is so heinous as to constitute a crime, then so be it.

The data isn't going anywhere. It is out there for the world to see, hosted in a thousand little places all over the net, and in even more hard drives. Information wants to be free and I have no intention on ceasing my efforts to to spread knowledge. Be it test data, CAD data, or blueprints scrawled on napkins, the data will flow.

[ZariusCorten]

From a mechanical standpoint, your best bet is to start with a known-working model, then design parts to mimic those functions. Frequently, the only reason for things to be designed as they are is because we didn't have 3d printing until recently, and subtractive or molded/cast manufacturing can't produce things with the same detail. Start from a working model, redesign.

And to those implying that it's a matter of "wanting to kill people", allow some clarification: Most of us don't *want* to kill people. But when you live in a dangerous area or you have valuables, you need to be able to protect yourself. And when your only options are a half-brick in a sock or an extremely expensive gun, the problem comes down to money. Some of us are just broke. I'm fine with a .22. As a smaller person, a .38, a .357 mag, etc are just too unwieldy for me. I LIKE smaller weapons. I'd rather stick to my blades, personally, but if someone attacks me with a gun, even Ghandi agrees that it is right and just that I defend myself with my own gun.