A few quick thoughts on 3D Printed (3DP) guns, now that Defense Distributed is on the precipice of being able to distribute gun designs on their site, although as of August 1, 2018, they were halted from distribution by a temporary restraining order from a federal judge.
These files have been available for at least a few years and despite their availability, very few users have actually been able to successfully print and shoot a 3DP gun. To be specific, these files allow users to print the receivers for guns, not a ready-to-fire weapon. They still require further resources to be used as weapons. Here is a great explanation of what those files actually enable.
The machines needed to print these gun designs are prohibitively expensive, thus it’s still much cheaper to purchase an actual gun at a pawn shop or some other reseller. For reference, one manufacturer of machines that can handle these files, MarkForged, has a starting price point of $3500+.
