Technology
Plans for 3D ‘ghost guns’ can now be posted online legally – and ANYONE can print deadly weapon out at home
IT is legal for plans of 3D ‘ghost guns’ to be posted online, according to a US court ruling.
A federal appeals court ruled that the guns can be printed and assembled by people at home without US State Department approval.
Plans for the 3D guns appear online[/caption]
A recent Sun investigation found criminals are flooding British streets with 3D printed guns in an “unprecedented” security threat.
British police have been ordered to search for the futuristic devices in every house they raid no matter what crime has been committed in a ramped up response.
In the US, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated an order originally from the Trump administration that says the 3D guns should be removed from the State Department’s Munitions List.
That means people in the US will be able to legally search online for the 3D gun designs and just need a 3D printer to make them.
People can also buy the 3D gun parts online and then assemble them at home[/caption]
California, along with 21 other states and the District of Columbia, has previously sued about this issue.
There are fears that the unregulated 3D gun plan could put guns in the wrong hands.
Judge Robert Whaley voted against the final ruling because he said ghost guns are “a serious threat to public safety”.
He also noted the 3D printed weapons have been linked to several mass shootings in the US.
According to official figures, a third of guns seized in California in 2019 were ghost guns.
The guns get their name because they’re made at home and are not regulated.
The weapons don’t have serial numbers like regular guns so are harder to trace.
Laws in California require everyone making a firearm at home to get a serial number for it from the state Department of Justice.
However, there are fears the rules aren’t being closely followed by everyone.
What is a 3D printer?
Three-dimensional printing allows people to create a huge range of solid objects with a special printer.
It involves using a digital file to layer plastic into three dimensional solid objects.
To create something, you have to download the file and have advanced computer software for a special printer to interpret it.
The model then needs to be “sliced” into thousands of horizontal “layers” with different software. The printer then builds the object layer-by-layer.
The printing process works by dripping tiny beads of hot plastic on top of one another, following a pattern laid out by the blueprint diagram.
3D printers can be bought for use at home, or you can go to a 3D printing service.
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In other news, Japan has said radioactive water waste collected at the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster will have to be dumped in the ocean.
the Russian Defense Ministry has even released a video showing the first test of a weapon that creates “radioactive tsunamis.”
And, a deadly toxin created by algae has been found leaking into the air for the first time ever, according to a new study.
What are your thoughts on 3D ‘ghost guns’? Let us know in the comments…
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