Neither the gun nor the switch is 3d printed in that video.
But to answer your question, you can make a firearm from actual trash if you're sufficiently motivated. Look at the different guns Abe's assassin made from a couple of years ago, he even made his own ammunition because of it's lack of availability in Japan. Is the point of gun control as it currently stands to limit access to firearms period or to limit their access to good and more easily available weapons? I would say it is realistically the latter, though crossbows and air rifles are completely legal for people who are barred from owning firearms to obtain and use which sort of invalidates that too.
Not to mention that under US law black powder guns are not legally considered firearms.
While that's technically a loophole, it's left in place to allow poor people in rural areas to supplement their food budget with hunting even if they have a felony conviction.
Which, tbh, many felonies shouldn't be felonies and nonviolent felons should have a path back to rights both ballot and (normal centerfire/rimfire) bullet, imo
Any competent person with $50 and access to a hardware store can build functional firearms. This didn't start with 3D printers.
It is 100% legal in the US to build ones own firearms for personal use. Only a few states have put any additional requirements around it.
Building new full auto guns is already illegal without the proper federal licensure. It was already possible for motivated bad actors to ignore this law if they want, even before 3D printing became a moral panic.
There is already zero point to gun control. Can't stop the signal.
That seemed random, and it kinda was: uneducated(!) guess on how long it will take the technology to both develop and popularize to the point the average kindergarten massacre* is committed with a 3D printed gun.
Is 30 years long enough for there to be a decent likelihood we’ll be able to print the switch and firearm from that video? Thanks for your responses, I can tell you know your stuff.
* to be clear, being forever upset about Sandy Hook has no bearing on my respect for responsible gun owners, presumably the vast majority
You can already easily manufacture your own firearm with a combination of 3D printers and some metal working tools. Or just buy the barrel pre made and that's 99% the effort.
More importantly, makes it harder to advertise & discourages printed parts & guns, leading to lower availability. I imagine most guns used in crimes were Initially purchased legally. I also imagine over time this will shift.
Well yes, but that doesn't affect people who plan to murder with them of course, the added time for doing it with a "machine gun" specifically is nothing compared to already getting life, the death penalty, shot by cops, or suicide at the end of their spree killing.
Though no, guns are legal to print, the switch is defined as a machine gun by the ATF and that is illegal without the proper licensure. You can print a glock no problem, but you can't sell it or make it full auto.
Most guns used in crimes were indeed initially purchased legally, but then stolen or sold illegally through a process called "straw purchasing." The ATF reports avg "time to crime" (from buying in-store until found at a crime scene) of guns they find is 11 years and the overwhelming majority were straw purchased. Now, it's important to note that this isn't to say that most guns bought have 11yr before a crime happens, rather that most guns involved in crime (which is a fraction of a percent of all guns sold/owned) took 11yr to get there.