Interesting!!

[Netpackrat]

3D printing is eventually going to make everyone with a decent garage workshop Springfield Armory or Sturm Ruger.

And coincidentally where those two manufacturers are concerned, finally settle the old "forged vs. cast" argument by coming up with a material that is inferior to both.

[Aesop]

I was actually referring to the military arsenal, not the Geneseo IL neo-manufactory, but I give you full props for the riposte.

And over time, I expect home production will be using materials superior to any of the three.

For comparison, three to five years ago, a 4K film-quality video camera could only be bought by a studio with a budget like Paramount's, for $$$K.
Today you can get one on a drone that flies, for under $3K.

I expect materials production will undergo a similar improvement in capabilities, even if not at the same cost ratio.

And not least of which because once you get people used to the idea that they can crank out a piece of material at home with CNC precision, they'll go from doing it in plastic to wanting it in steel, and with about the same diligent respect for governmental licensing requirements as one sees now with the GMRS radios.

The genie is never going back in the bottle, and I only hope I get to see the apoplexy at BATFE when that realization fully dawns.




Someone in Congress could hasten the inevitable by merely making BATFE the folks (like the FDA started out) who insured the safety and functionality of the products under their purview, and minding their own damn business about who buys or sells them. Just sanction people making unsafe products, with appropriate criminal penalties only for criminal use or negligent manufacturing.

We somehow survived the entire 19th century unscathed without anyone telling anyone else who could distill alcohol, buy dynamite, or own Gatling guns, which is all BATFE is concerned with.
It's ridiculous that anyone thinks the government should be in charge of that now, or that the restrictions have somehow engendered less criminals rather than more.
Just as it's notable that we got from DaVinci's wings to the Spad without any assistance or interference from the FAA.

[Netpackrat]

Someone in Congress could hasten the inevitable by merely making BATFE the folks (like the FDA started out) who insured the safety and functionality of the products under their purview, and minding their own damn business about who buys or sells them. Just sanction people making unsafe products, with appropriate criminal penalties only for criminal use or negligent manufacturing.

You and I both know exactly how that would wind up being implemented. Talk about fulfilling their wildest dreams. Better to have a few shooters in need of plastic surgery each year, than to give them that sort of authority to disapprove designs.