#2121: PlastiCalibre

There is a lot of rather overheated language being used in connection with a small group of nutters who claim to be able to make firearms using 3D, desktop printers.

First, I’d be surprised if even a very high-spec machine is capable of making a single-shot weapon that would work.

Even if that were possible, printing ammunition would be very difficult.

Why would anyone even bother, when you can buy a shotgun for a few dollars in many US states?

Today’s invention is for those who really think that home-printed guns are some kind of serious problem.

Since low-cost ammunition only comes in a very small number of diameters, each printer should contain, as embedded code, a routine which detects the design of a cylinder with one of these dimensions.

This would cause the machine not to accept any such design file for printing…or better yet, create the desired hardware using a slightly smaller diameter, making any kind of ballistic use impossible.

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