3D Printed Guns, The Myth!

An exploration into the myths of mass 3D printing of firearms.

As a Second Amendment advocate, I get really tired of seeing all the misinformation out there on “ghost guns” and the myth that anyone can purchase a cheap 3D printer and start cranking out weapons of mass destruction.

A ghost gun refers to anything that the federal government cannot track either because it contains no serial number or because there is no record of a transaction that would allow the feds to track down the owner if the firearm were ever used in a crime. Think about that for a moment. They claim not to have a gun registry yet they are concerned about whether or not a firearm can be tracked. This would tell me that they do have a registry of some sort or at least a paper trail that would allow them to track down an owner of a particular firearm. While this may sound good when it comes to solving crime, it is detrimental to our freedom if it were used in other ways, such as going door-to-door if there were ever a gun ban in this country. For this reason, certain political figures have demonized the creation and or ownership of untraceable firearms.

One of the myths out there is the so-called gun show loophole. The claim is that anyone from anywhere can go to any gun show and anonymously purchase a firearm with no type of background check. I would make the argument that a background check is a violation of the Second Amendment on its face but given the current laws on the books, the claim is absolutely false. What they are referring to is the chance that a good-ol’-boy outside might take a fancy to a gun that another good-ol’-boy may have and there is a private purchase or a trade that is 100% anonymous. The fact is that you don’t need a gun show to do such a private transaction in most states. Half the firearms I own I got through private sales that do not require a background check. This is either legal or illegal based on individual State laws, of course, but it’s still up to the seller to use common sense and due diligence to determine if the purchaser intends to use the firearm for nefarious purposes. I always showed my military ID in each case to reassure the seller that I was a legitimate buyer. I may do an article on that in the future.

The purpose of this article is to address the fantasy that a person can 3D print a fully functional firearm, as claimed by the liberal, freedom haters out there with minimal effort. During this series, I will document the process of printing a fully functional firearm, the cost, the time involved, and the challenges I will inevitably run into. From experience I can tell you that producing a firearm is neither easy nor cheap, at least compared to the preferred method of bad guys to obtain a firearm for criminal activity. People like myself who build guns do it out of their passion for building and the pride of hard work in producing a functional item.

For this challenge, I have opted to print up an AR-15 since I can make it in a variety of calibers. If I can make a functional firearm then I will start with a very small caliber (22 LR) and then swap out the internals to accommodate a larger caliber if it functions and manages not to break. Although I own several firearms that could be considered “ghost guns” due to how and where I purchased them, I only own one that is non-serialized. I purchased a polymer 80 Glock 17 frame as a gift to myself for my second deployment.

As it turns out, the process of building a Glock was more expensive, or at best, on par with buying one brand new. While the frame (which is considered the controlled item) was inexpensive, I had to have the tools and skills to complete it. This is an important factor that I will talk more about when it comes to 3D printing. The part I purchased was sent directly to my house with no background check because it was not a functional piece. It was not all that difficult to complete and I happened to get it correct on the first try. The problem was with completing the rest of the firearm. After doing hours upon hours (even days) of research on what parts work with what, I ended up spending about the same amount of money on the little parts to complete it as I would just to go purchase a brand new Glock. Building these things is truly a passion, similar to how a mechanic fixes up an old car to drive on Sundays to the local Sonic or drag races against other enthusiasts in order to challenge their skills and craftsmanship.

In the next piece, I will start with the cost and headache of getting a 3D printer up and running to the point you can actually print anything that meets tight tolerances, specifications, and strength required to have something go pew-pew without blowing up in your face. Stay tuned… this may take a while.