The 3D Shot Heard Around The World

                The phrase “the shot heard around the world” officially has new meaning.  The phrase, which originally referred to the opening of the American Revolutionary War, now holds new meaning and a new threat.  With the emergence of the 3-D printer, there were many skeptical people whom speculated the dangers of a 3-D printer. The printer can print out 3-D objects from plastic and one of the biggest ethical dilemmas was the possibility of printing weapons.  Cody Wilson has achieved the task of printing one of these weapons.  After about a year of manufacturing with a 3-D printer of his own, he has created a handgun that shoots off .380 caliber bullets.  My original thoughts when reading about Cody printing the world’s first printed handgun were that the people who were skeptical were crazy.  I thought that nobody would waste a year nor the ten thousand dollars (at least for one of the cheapest models) for the opportunity to wield just a handgun.  I would have been more worried if it was producing bombs, automatic machine guns, biological viruses, etc.  Still, I understand the worry revolved around a technology that prints objects for anyone who owns it.

 Is a company who begins to sell 3D printers to the general public responsible for the attacks that the costumer may inflict?  This leads us back to the very controversial topic of gun control where one of the opposition’s strongest points is that “guns don’t kill people, the people who use them do”.  I believe the 3D printer companies would therefore make a similar argument that the printer itself does no harm.  The United States government does not allow printers like the ones that print our currency to be sold or even created on the market, so neither should they allow a printer that has an endless amount of printing capabilities to be available for the general public.  The possibility of any person creating guns in his or her own home is more threatening than the same person printing counterfeit money.  The bills Americans use every day are changed so often and those changes are kept so secret that is nearly impossible to intercept one of the algorithms that produces paper money.  On the other hand, it is not nearly as difficult to print a handgun with a 3D printer as it is to steal the algorithms and obtain possession of a paper money printer.

One of the biggest threats of a handgun produced by a 3D printer is that it is incapable of being discovered by a metal detector.  This poses a huge threat to society today mostly because many of the checks the American government has enacted are thwarted by a person with a 3D printer.  To purchase a gun, a person needs to have a license and a background check. With a 3D printer, all a person needs is plastic to produce a handgun.  To board enter security buildings such as an airport, an individual must have all of his or her bags scanned and walk through a metal detector.  Now, it is possible to pass through the metal detector with a gun and not be detected.  The safety of society is one of the most important questions that should be raised in considering the release of the 3D printer to the general public.