The blueprint used to produce a
3D-printed plastic gun has been
downloaded about 100,000 times
since going online earlier this
week, according to Forbes.
Defense Distributed told the news
site it was surprised by the amount
of interest its Liberator gun had
generated.
Earlier in the week, the company
demonstrated the firearm being
fired
But even before any more guns
come off the DIY printing presses,
there are moves afoot to ban it.
Metal detectors
Californian senator Leland Yee said
he wanted a law passed to stop the
manufacture of 3D-printed guns.
"I plan to introduce legislation that
will ensure public safety and stop
the manufacturing of guns that are
invisible to metal detectors and that
can be easily made without a
background check," he said in a
statement.
According to Defense Distributed,
most of the 100,000 downloads have
been in the US, followed by Spain,
Brazil, Germany and the UK.
The blueprint has also been
uploaded to file-sharing site the
Pirate Bay, where it has become the
most popular file in the site's 3D-
printing category.
Firing pin
It took Defense Distributed eight
months to produce the firearm,
which was assembled from separate
components produced on an $8,000
(£5,000) 3D printer bought from
auction site eBay.
While downloading the blueprints
may not be illegal, any UK citizen
who made and owned such a
handgun could face arrest, according
to the UK's Metropolitan Police.
"To actually manufacture any type of
firearm in the UK, you have to be a
registered firearms dealer (RFD)," it
said in a statement.
"Therefore, unless you are an RFD, it
would most definitely be an offence
to make a gun using the blueprints.
It may be legal for an RFD to
manufacture a gun this way, as long
as they had the necessary
authorities."
One of the biggest headaches for law
enforcers is the fact the gun is made
from plastic - with only the firing
pin made from metal.
New York congressmen Steve Israel
and Chuck Schumer have sponsored
legislation aimed at adding a 3D-
printing provision to the US
Undetectable Firearms Act, which
requires all guns to be detectable.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22464360