Report: 3D-printed handgun project faces setback with revoked printer lease: Remember the guy trying to print an open-source gun with a 3D printer? Forces have aligned to prevent this.
[…] Stratasys has voided the lease for the printer Defense Distributed had rented, and sent representatives to physically reclaim it last week.
Further, Beckhusen reports that a visit to the Austin, TX branch of the ATF turned into an unexpected questioning session for Wilson when he went down to investigate the legal requirements of the Defense Distributed project.
Beckhusen also writes that, according to Wilson, “the ATF believes he’s not broken any laws, and that the agency believes 3-D printed guns fall into a regulatory gray area, but that he still needs to get licensed if he’s to manufacture a weapon.
So the government didn’t stop him, but the printer company is not taking any chances.
I predicted something like this:
How long before 3D printers become regulated? When objects can be created at will, and governments don’t want you to have some of those objects, will they clamp down on the means of production?
It’s a whole new world.