Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Counterfeit money causes economic harm. However, 3D printed counterfeit
goods and unauthorized weapons could cause bodily harm. One of the irst
moral skirmishes in the 3D printing community took place in 2012 on a ile-
sharing site called Thingiverse.com.
A Thingiverse.com user uploaded a design ile for a 3D printed rile part that
could be made out of plastic on a consumer-scale 3D printer. The uploaded
design ile enabled people to skip a critical part of the control process of getting
a license to carry a gun. This particular gun part was the only piece of this
rile model that required that its users undergo a background check. In other
words, by 3D printing this gun part, a person could sidestep gun control laws.
The law didn't get involved in the Thingiverse situation. Instead, the 3D
printing community's response was to ponder the issue. Eventually, after much
discussion, the decision was made to ask that the gun part's designer remove
his ile from the website.
A .22-caliber gun manufactured partly with 3D-printed plastics
A few months after that first case, a gunsmith by the online name of
Haveblue fabricated a functioning irearm made partly out of 3D printed plas-
tic parts. The .22 caliber gun was a hybrid of 3D printed and commercially
