Death in 3D Printing

The killer of the UnitedHealthCare CEO used a gun that was at least partially 3d printed. 3D printing is the use of a machine to print three dimensional objects in a manner similar to how you would print a letter or banner. It is generally considered cheaper than other production methods, and for certain circumstances, it can be a good replacement even in actual industry. You can, of course, use it to print certain parts necessary to making a gun. The question, then, is does the combination of the coverage of the shooter’s weapon and the “I’m not saying I approve, but I understand” coverage result in more of these shooters and more shooters in general using these 3D printed guns.

I don’t think so — largely because I don’t think shooters have an issue getting guns.

3D printed guns are often called ghost guns, largely because they can be made without identification marks. Now, note the word “can” there. That is a choice, something that the people who make the 3D printing machines and the printers of the components themselves make. It is perfectly legal to make most kinds of 3D printed guns as long as you follow the law: that includes the fact that it can only be made for private use, cannot be sold, must be detectable by security scanners (think airport detectors, etc.) and, in some states, have to contain a serial number. In theory, then, anyone can print these guns and use them, even people who are not legally allowed to possess weapons (you will have an extra charge added onto your list if you commit a crime with these guns, but that doesn’t do anything up front to prevent their use or creation by people who should not have anything more dangerous than a short piece of string). So, what, then, is to prevent a flood of these weapons leading to even more killings?

First, they are not especially good weapons. Since they are made of plastic, critical components wear out faster than normally manufactured weapons. This has improved, but it’s still not, in the long term, as good a deal. Second, 3d printing is still somewhat complicated, expensive to get going, and not always reliable. Again, all of these elements have improved since the advent of 3D printers, but none of them have really been eliminated. Finally, and most importantly, it is already incredibly easy to get a gun in this country.

After Sandy Hook, the gun industry decided that it was going to use dead children as a sales point — it was going to push back against all gun regulations, use the fear of death (ironic since murder as a crime has been steadily decreasing since we got rid of lead in our paint and gasoline with an occasional blip like the pandemic) to hype their products. And it worked — sales went up, regulations disappeared or were loosened, and deaths by firearms in 2022, the last time we have reliable data, were higher than they had been in 30 years. The approach was a failure if you cared about anything other than the bottom line of gun manufacturers.

Getting a gun is simply easy in this country. The vast majority of weapons used in mass shootings were obtained legally. Another reminder, if you need it in the age of Trump and Dobbs, that just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. If you want a gun to commit a murder, in most states, no one will do anything to stop you. There is no reason for 3D printing of guns to take off because we are in thrall to an industry that wants to see as many of as possible threatened by a weapon. You don’t need to make something that a manufacturer is eager to sell you.

There will likely be new regulations at least discussed since the shooter used a 3D printed gun. If any of them get passed, a long shot in this age, they will liekly be minor, but even still make it less likely that these remain untraceable. However, any such discussion is of minor importance compared to the fact that we do not regulate guns the way we should in this country. As problematic as 3D printed guns can be, they are not the problem. Our collective shrug at the killing fields the gun manufacturers and their pet politicians and judges have allowed this country to descend into are. Real gun regulations are the only way out of world where mass shootings occur once every eleven weeks, give or take. Until we do something about that problem, no one can feel safe in this country.