The first metal 3D printed gun has been produced, according to this article. While plastic guns have been produced already, developing a metal version has proven to be more difficult. Upon initial inspection, I was not sure if I could trust this website, but after doing some research the site appears to be respectable and trustworthy. The article, written by Jeremy Hsu, was very interesting to me. Three of my blogs have been closely linked to 3D printing and the printing of guns is certainly a major event in the recent expansion of 3D printing technology. The article states that the gun was printed by a company in Texas, and was based off the 1911 Browning pistol. Below is a short video on the gun.

Up until now the only way to make guns was with a very elaborate setup and a permit to actually make firearms. Now almost any person with a 3D printer can print off their own right? Well, not exactly. In the article Solid Concepts, the Texas based company who built the gun, state that "industry-grade DMLS machines cost[ing] hundreds of thousands of dollars" would be necessary to produce the gun. So that eliminates most of the population from misusing this technology. But what about organized groups with much larger budgets?

As an industrial engineer this is a real tipping point for me. Most of what we do is aimed at making things cheaper and more accessible to the public. From a technical perspective this breakthrough is quite impressive. Most previous attempts to build a metal gun with 3D printing ended in dramatic failure, due mostly to parts that weren't strong enough. That is exactly what the Solid Concepts team set out to dispel. And dispel they did, the gun worked very well.

The technology behind this new gun is no doubt something to marvel at. Almost literally building something atom by atom is quite astonishing. However, I believe we need be very careful with this technology.  While it is impossible to stop all misuse of 3D printing, something needs to be done to make sure that tragedies are minimal. So while part of me is amazed that we have come to the point in technology where applications like this are possible, my instincts are that this could turn sour without some comprehensive regulation.