With the advent of 3D printing opening myriad possibilities when it comes to cottage industries and mass production alike, it can still present some morally murky dilemmas, like the dissemination of firearms. Now, a region is Australia has decided to take a legal stance on the matter with a new law that prohibits having or owning a 3D printer file of a gun.
The Firearms and Weapons Prohibition Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 proposes that "to create a new offence of possessing digital blueprints for the manufacture of firearms on 3D printers or electronic milling machines" and is an amendment to the country's Firearms Act of 1996, which was enacted after a spree-killing which left 35 people dead and 23 wounded in the city of Port Arthur. Martin Bryant, the perpetrator of the attacks, was given 35 life sentences to serve without the possibility of parole.
New South Wales, an Australian province, has adopted this policy with according punitive measures that can land offenders in prison for up to 14 years if convicted.
The law exempts those in possesion of 3D gun blueprints from punishment who are using them or intend to use them for research or for "public benefit" (like police officers), if they have the evidence to back it up. Otherwise, the rules remain the same.
The reason 3D-printed guns are such a hot-button topic for law enforcement is due to their sheer untraceablility: while normally manufactured guns come with a serial number (or even in some cases, a gun-tracking chip), one-off 3D-printed guns can be virtually impossible to link to an owner if not enough discernible forensic evidence is left behind.
The amendment also proscribes manufacturing guns via advanced electronic milling, aka using an electronic milling machine to fashion the usable parts of a gun from a block of metal for self-assembly—so while the law doesn't prohibit putting those pieces together, it makes having the means to do so concretely illegal.
Via: Popular Science
Photo: Mirko Tobias Schafer | Flickr
