1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tex Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tex Stuff. 3 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: I'm Jonathan Strickland and I'm Lauren, And today we wanted 4 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: to talk about a kind of controversial subject, something that 5 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: hit the news in early May of the idea of 6 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: using three D printers to print handguns, because someone's gone 7 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: and done that crazy thing, and to talk about what 8 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: the ramifications are, what the what, what was actually the gun? 9 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: And uh? And why are people concerned? And what are 10 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: the various things we need to take into account. But 11 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: before we get into all of that, I think it 12 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: benefits us to talk a little bit about three D 13 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: printing in general, just in case you aren't familiar with 14 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 1: the concept. Right and now, Jonathan and Chris did an 15 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: episode on three D printing way back in two thou nine. Yeah, 16 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: that was shortly after printing itself was invented. Um before that, 17 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: we just communicated by banging rocks together. No one was 18 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: alive then, yeah, well there was no no life. We 19 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: were alive, but anyway, no, no, no, no, no. We 20 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: did an episode on three D printing back in two 21 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: thousand nine, which was funny because at that point I 22 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 1: had never actually seen one in person. Now we have 23 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: one in the ophant, we have one in the office. Now. Yeah, 24 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:21,040 Speaker 1: we actually have a three D printer here that's very 25 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: very tiny and we can only print small stuff with it. 26 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: But it's mostly green because we haven't changed out the plastic. 27 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: But what three D printers do. They print stuff in 28 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:34,680 Speaker 1: three dimensions and they it's called additive manufacturing, yes, and 29 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: it's this is different from subtractive manufacturing. Subtractive would be 30 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: where you take a hunk of stuff and carve away 31 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: all the stuff you don't want. It's Michael Angelo's David exactly. Yeah, 32 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: you're you're you cut away everything that doesn't look like David. Right. 33 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: That's that's the sculpt sculpting point of view. You know, 34 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: to sculpt an elephant, you cut all the stuff away 35 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: that doesn't look like an elephant. But that's very wasteful. 36 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: It means that all that material you cut away you 37 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: potentially waste. By using editor of manufacturing, you're printing material. 38 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: In most cases, in consumer cases at any rate, plastics 39 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: in very thin layers uh in in in a predetermined 40 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: design exactly, and these layers can be a micron thick 41 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: or thinner if you've got very precise three D printing technology, 42 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 1: and you do this layer by layer by layer until 43 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: finally you have a full object. And it's doing this 44 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: with plastic and a binding agents so that the plastic 45 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: sticks together properly. Otherwise it would just fall apart and 46 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: crumble in your hands. But not not so useful. Useful. 47 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: It would be very pretty until you try to pick 48 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: it up. But the but the finished product winds up 49 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: being a single piece of plastic in this case. Yeah, 50 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: and we've got other there are other types of three 51 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: D printers out there. They're not for consumers that can 52 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: print in other materials. And we expect then the future 53 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: we're going to be able to do things like print 54 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: and metal, even to the point where we can print 55 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: circuit boards or human organs. Human organs using biological material 56 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: we can print it maybe glass, anything that would allow 57 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: you to print using a liquid. Uh, it would it 58 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: would all be potentially possible using this method. If you're 59 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: interested in that. We uh. In our other show, Forward Thinking, 60 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: we talked a little bit about that, So so look 61 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: that one up if you want to. Yeah, it's a 62 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: lot of fun. That was one of the earliest episodes 63 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 1: I had a lot of fun talking about that. So 64 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: what's the big deal with three D printing? Well, it's 65 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: it's an incredibly disruptive technology. Uh. And I don't necessarily 66 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 1: mean that in a negative way, but it does mean 67 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,799 Speaker 1: that three D printers have the potential to really shake 68 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: up the way the world works in many ways, like 69 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: manufacturing and distribution in particular would be very much affected 70 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: by three D printers. If you get to the point 71 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: where a three D printer is within the purchasing range 72 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: of your average computer user, then that computer user can 73 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: go out by a three D printer, bring it home 74 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: by the materials you need to be able to build whatever, 75 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: and then you can start constructing stuff out of your home. 76 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: You could download plans from the internet and build things. 77 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: And those things could be furniture, it could be toys, 78 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: it could be tools. Uh. And so that means that 79 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: you've got these manufacturers out there who design and build 80 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: stuff that suddenly have to worry about, well, is there 81 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: going to even be a market for my stuff anymore? 82 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: Or do I do I change my business models? So 83 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,600 Speaker 1: instead of selling stuff, I start selling plans for stuff. Right, 84 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: you start worrying a lot more about the intellectual copyright 85 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: of of the shape of a table, which is kind 86 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: of crazy, right, Like, you're no longer thinking I need 87 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: to make sure no one shoplifts this thing. You're thinking, 88 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: I need to make sure no one builds a plan 89 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: that allows them to to print the same as this thing. Right. So, 90 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: there are a lot of intellectual property concerns that come 91 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: up because of three D printing, and some of them 92 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:46,919 Speaker 1: are concerns that we never would have thought about before, 93 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: like how do you copyright a table? You know, but 94 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 1: that's a thing now. So one of the other questions 95 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: that came up pretty early on when three D printers 96 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: were starting to become uh, something that the general public 97 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: was becoming aware of was what happens when someone prints 98 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: a weapon using one of these things. And for a 99 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: long time, a lot of people are going like, oh, 100 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: that's years off, we don't need to worry about it. Yeah. 101 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:12,840 Speaker 1: Maybe back in two thousand nine Chris and I were 102 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: saying that, but two thirteen, hey, we're years off now 103 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: and someone has done that. Ye as of as of 104 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: May four, Star Wars Day, Star Wars Day, it was 105 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: what a what a bummer? Yeah, that's a nice choice 106 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: of words. There, Lauren, I could see you like going 107 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,280 Speaker 1: through your list. What word am I going to use? Uh? 108 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: Excellent choice. I agree. So we have a fellow by 109 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: the name of Cody Wilson who describes himself as a 110 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: co founder and chief evangelist of a group called Defense Distributed. 111 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: Very clever. Yeah, it's a nonprofit organization. Yeah, And he 112 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: he designed a gun that could be created using a 113 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: three D printer and a common naw uh from a 114 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: hardware store. And the gun is has sixteen pieces total, 115 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: one of those pieces being the nail. The other fifteen 116 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:12,840 Speaker 1: are all printed by a three D printer, a consumer grade. 117 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 1: I think he got it for eight thousand bucks on eBay. Yeah, 118 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: it was the Stratusist Dimension s ST three D printer, 119 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: which you could probably buy for a round ten thousand dollars. 120 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: He got a secondhand for eight thousand. And we'll get 121 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: more into the whole story of Stratisis and and it's 122 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: involvement in this, because it's an interesting part of the story, 123 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: but we'll save that for a bit later. So he 124 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: printed out these fifteen pieces. He got the nail to 125 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: be the sixteenth piece. The nail acted as the firing pin. 126 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: Now this is the part of a gun that strikes 127 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: the primer on cartridge so that it ignites, and then 128 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: the gases from the cartridge are what propelled the bullet 129 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: out of the barrel of the gun. Now it doesn't 130 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: technically need to be metal but um, but the kind 131 00:06:57,560 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: of plastic that they use is just a little bit 132 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,919 Speaker 1: too off to to strike it without deforming. Right. So 133 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: essentially what would happen is the instead of igniting the gas, 134 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: the firing pin was just sort of bending. So instead 135 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: of using that, he decided to use a nail uh 136 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: and uh and putting it all together. He wasn't even 137 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: sure if it was going to hold together or not, 138 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: but he assembled the gun using the pieces that he 139 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: had designed um. And he strapped it up to a 140 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: pole as I recall, and an aluminum a little bit 141 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: of scaffolding I think, okay, and uh, And he tied 142 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: a string to it and instead as far away as possible, right, 143 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: and used the string to pull the trigger uh and 144 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: had a successful test. It actually fired the bullet uh 145 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: and was and it remained intact. Um. That's one of 146 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: the things that was a big concern was that if 147 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: you have a gun that's essentially made out of plastic, 148 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: would it be able to withstand the the forces that 149 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: a gun experiences when you fire a bullet, And in 150 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: the case of this one, it seemed to do that. 151 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: And he also eventually tested it by firing it by hand. Um, 152 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: you know, it took some took some working up to 153 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: get to that part, right right. Yeah, during the initial test, 154 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: I believe they had a couple of successful firings. But um, 155 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: but then it it misfired, um, due to a misalignment issue. 156 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: And uh yeah yeah. Now they point out that the 157 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: gun that as it's designed, you could actually remove the 158 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: barrel and replace it with a new barrel. So uh, 159 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 1: if there were parts that were that would break down, 160 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: you could actually replace those parts just by printing out 161 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: new ones. But the gun itself wouldn't last for more 162 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 1: than a few shots. In fact, one expert I saw 163 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: said that, in his opinion, if you were using the 164 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: best kind of plastic possible, you might be able to 165 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,320 Speaker 1: get between ten and twenty shots. Before it just was 166 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: an unusable machine. Yeah, although, yeah, it is designed so 167 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: that you can snap parts in and out right, so 168 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: you just replace the ones that are not working anymore, 169 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: and then you could continue to fire, and it's supposed 170 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 1: to be relatively quickly to switch those parts out too. Uh. Well, 171 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: what Wilson also did was he ended up uploading the 172 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: design to Mega, which is kim dot COM's file sharing 173 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: It's really like a locker service where you can store files. 174 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,679 Speaker 1: They're encrypted so that no one can see what it 175 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: is that you are doing. Um. He uploaded that and 176 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: made it freely available to anyone who wanted to get 177 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: hold of this. Within two days, ten thousand people had 178 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,439 Speaker 1: downloaded it, and as of the recording of this podcast, 179 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: we're recording this on May nine. Forbes reported this morning 180 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,679 Speaker 1: that it had been downloaded more than one hundred thousand times. Now, 181 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: keep in mind, not everyone who downloaded that has access 182 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: to a three D printer. All Right, I'm sure that 183 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: a lot of that is curiosity. There has been so 184 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: much buzz about it on the Internet that I'm sure 185 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:57,319 Speaker 1: that a lot of people were just looking at it 186 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,160 Speaker 1: because they could. Yeah, I'm sure there's a percentage of that. 187 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,439 Speaker 1: That's just the press that we need to have access 188 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: to this so we can take a look at it. 189 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: But uh, and if you're curious about what kind of 190 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: bullet it fired, it was a thirty eight caliber bullet. 191 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: Uh and uh he they I've read that they've designed 192 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: the gun in such a way that you could change 193 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: out the chamber and barrel, which you could fire different 194 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 1: caliber bullets depending upon which ones you were using. But 195 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: thirty eight was what they used for their tests. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 196 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: they're for their successful tests. According to a Forbes Andy Greenberg, 197 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: who was on the scene for some of these tests 198 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: and has a couple of really great articles that we 199 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: did drawn extensively for for this podcast. Um, they switched 200 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: the barrel out for a rifle cartridge that made the 201 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: entire thing explode into trapnel. Now what was the name 202 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: of this gun? They're calling it the Liberator? Yeah, this 203 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,320 Speaker 1: this might be something that history buffs recognized from World 204 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: War Two. Um. During World War Two, the Allies, specifically 205 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: the United States, I believe, Yeah, they manufactured these one 206 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 1: shot forty five. There were one shot pistols, meaning that 207 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: you could fire them once and then that's it. It's 208 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: just not designed to shoot more than one time. And 209 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: the whole the whole purpose of this was to drop 210 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:14,679 Speaker 1: these forty five behind enemy lines and occupied territories occupied France, 211 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: right the idea being that that the French population would 212 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: suddenly have access to weapons, but you can only fire 213 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 1: at once. It really wasn't a practical weapon. In fact, 214 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 1: I don't think that the Allies ever considered it to 215 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: be something that would allow a real tied to turn. 216 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: It was more of an attempt to demoralize the Access 217 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: powers rather than to actually foment some form of revolution. 218 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: And propaganda was was a really interesting technology that was 219 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 1: used in World War Two. Yeah, so this is one 220 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: of those examples of propaganda that don't doesn't involve like 221 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: a song or a poster or a movie. It was 222 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: actually an act, and in this case, it was an 223 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: act of distributing uh, weapons of limited use to an 224 00:11:56,080 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: occupied country. And from what I understand, and it doesn't 225 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: look like it doesn't look like all of them or 226 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,959 Speaker 1: even most of them were ever actually distributed. It was 227 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,199 Speaker 1: a little bit of contention about whether or not they 228 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: were and to whom and when and how many, but 229 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,839 Speaker 1: and from why I understand most of them without every 230 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 1: But anyway, Wilson apparently wanted to to take that name, 231 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,440 Speaker 1: and uh, it kind of goes along with his philosophy. 232 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: But his philosophy is interesting We will cover that in 233 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: this episode, but I think we're going to save that 234 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: for the end because it's it's pretty it's pretty dynamic. 235 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: It is dynamic. It's intense, is what it is. So yeah, 236 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand folks around or at least a hundred 237 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: thousand people have downloaded these plans as of the recruding 238 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: this podcast. By the time this publishes, I'm sure that 239 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: number will be way bigger. YEA. Yeah, well, I mean 240 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: it's you could have everyone just lose interest, but I 241 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 1: don't think that's going to happen with this particular product. So, uh, 242 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: that's that's where the actual logistics are. That's you know 243 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: what the state of the gun is. This gun, by 244 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: the way, if you ever have if you haven't seen 245 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 1: a picture of it, it looks really clunky and it 246 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: has to be because that plastic has to be pretty 247 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,559 Speaker 1: thick to withstand the pressures. And we'll talk more about 248 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: what those actually are in the in the next section. 249 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: But um, it's not a sleek weapon by any means. 250 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: It is not, no, no, and I mean you know 251 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: the kind of plastics that are that are being used 252 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: are Um, it's it's a B S which is a 253 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: chrylum nitrial bet to dyeing styrene um. It's a it's 254 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: a thermoplastic blend. It's used in lots of everyday items 255 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: like like molded tool handles, electric shavers, lego bricks are 256 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: made of this stuff. So wow, And we'll talk a 257 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,680 Speaker 1: little bit about why that causes a concern, you know, 258 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: the materials used. But before we really get into the 259 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: concerns and and you know, the philosophy of of Cody 260 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:53,559 Speaker 1: Wilson and other elements and the response that we've seen 261 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: so far, and these are early days when we're recording this, 262 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: I think we need to take a quick break. Oh, 263 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: getting back into the subject at hand. There are a 264 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,080 Speaker 1: lot of concerns that come up with this idea of 265 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 1: being able to print a gun at home. Some of 266 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: these you might think of as knee jerk responses that 267 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,319 Speaker 1: that don't take everything into account, But I think there 268 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: are some concerns that are you can't just dismiss easily. 269 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 1: One is that if you're talking about a plastic gun, 270 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: let's say that a plastic gun is being used in 271 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: a crime. Uh, the concern is that you wouldn't really 272 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 1: be able to trace that gun back. You know, guns 273 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: right now have these grooves that are in the barrels 274 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: so that when you fire the bullet, it makes the 275 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 1: bullets start to spin, giving it more stability, but it 276 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: also ends up carving uh into the specific pattern. Yeah, 277 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 1: and so by looking at the pattern, you can identify, 278 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 1: depending on how what shape the bullets in, you can 279 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: identify the type of firearm that fired that bullet. If 280 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 1: you're talking about a smooth barreled plastic gun, there's no 281 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: way of telling. And even if it had some sort 282 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: of grooves in it, you could design those in such 283 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: a way where it's unique to your gun, but without 284 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: anyone being able to tell. But it could be designed. 285 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 1: It could be literally unique to your gun. No one 286 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: would know where to even start looking for that, because 287 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: if it's all just a file on your computer, how 288 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: would how would anyone know unless they're already watching you. 289 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: I'm not even gonna get into that because I think 290 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: that's what fuels the whole Liberator in the first place. 291 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: But the you know, that's that's the concerns that if 292 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: it was used in a crime, it would be very difficult, 293 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,480 Speaker 1: if not impossible, to trace back. Uh. They're also undetectable, 294 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: meaning that if you only have a tiny amount of 295 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: metal in them and you go through a metal detector, 296 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: the metal detector may not it might not pick up 297 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: that mail. Yeah. Now, now, in this case, Cody Wilson 298 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: was actually very careful about following the letter, if not 299 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: at all the spirit of the law in the creation 300 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: of this he um uh. He took his company to 301 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in 302 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: order to get a federal license to manufacture and distribute firearms, 303 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 1: and furthermore, put a small metal cube at completely non 304 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: functional six ounds metal cube into the gun to make 305 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: it detectable by metal detectors. Right, because the US Undetectable 306 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: Firearms Act makes it illegal to manufacture any sort of 307 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 1: undetectable weapon. Because this this isn't the first time that 308 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: a potentially undetectable weapon has been made. You can. They're 309 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: guns that use ceramic. There are other plastic weapons as 310 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: well that have used molded plastic as opposed to three 311 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: D printed plastic. But uh, that was a big concern. 312 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: So now he followed the rules. Wilson did. His His 313 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: version of the gun, in fact, had that metal in it, 314 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 1: so it was not undetectable. But here's but nothing saying 315 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 1: that someone who downloads that would still have the same Yeah, 316 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: follow the same rules. If you download the blueprint and 317 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: printed it out yourself, you could be you could just say, well, 318 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not going to put the metal slug 319 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: in there, and therefore it is going to be virtually 320 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 1: undetectable by a metal detector. And however, we should mention 321 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: that that those three D scanners that they've put in 322 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: a lot of airports would pick the gun up. It 323 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: would be able to recognize it on on your person, right, 324 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: So so if if you're using a three D scanner, 325 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:06,479 Speaker 1: it's still going to pick these things up. If you 326 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 1: are using just metal detectors, it wouldn't. So that that's 327 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 1: raised some security concerns obviously. Um and uh, you know, Wilson, 328 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 1: I think he took some perverse joy and the fact 329 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: that he was following the law while creating something that 330 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: is potentially incredibly disruptive. Absolutely, he's are we getting into. 331 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:33,920 Speaker 1: But I think it's fair to say that he took 332 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: some pleasure. And they did. They did install a metal 333 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: detector or walk through metal detector in their workshop for 334 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: testing to make sure that that that met those requirements. 335 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: Uh and uh So to get to other concerns, beyond 336 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: the fact that you can't trace it, you can't necessarily 337 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 1: detect it. Um. Another concerns there's there's no background check, 338 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: right if you download those plans, there's no control there 339 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 1: about who gets access to that gun. So in the 340 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,119 Speaker 1: United States, convicts can't you know, people who have been 341 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,640 Speaker 1: convicted of a felony, they can't buy a gun legally 342 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: in the United States. I mean, they could buy it illegally, 343 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: but you can't go through any legal means of buying it. Um. 344 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: That's what the whole background check thing is supposed to 345 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:22,239 Speaker 1: protect against in the United States. So this bypasses it. 346 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 1: If you are able, if you have the means or 347 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: the access to a three D printer, and you have 348 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: a criminal record and you otherwise could not legally buy 349 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: a firearm, you could make one yourself this way. And 350 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:35,960 Speaker 1: that's something that a lot of critics have pointed out, 351 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:41,600 Speaker 1: saying you have just invalidated this whole part of the system. Wilson, 352 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: for his part, not a big fan of gun control, 353 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:47,159 Speaker 1: that doesn't seem to be very concerned about that so 354 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: much though that in March he released a video of 355 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 1: UM a three D print aple UM a R fifteen 356 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: lower receiver, which is the part that's regulated. UM. The 357 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: rest of the parts you can purchase without without all 358 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:01,920 Speaker 1: that much trouble and UM and that hypothetically could lock 359 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: into these these other purchasable parts and uh. And thus 360 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 1: you know, like again bypassed by passing that whole problem, 361 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,160 Speaker 1: or what at what he saw as a problem. Uh. 362 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,160 Speaker 1: Other things that you have to keep in mind. Remember 363 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: we were talking about that plastic earlier, about how how 364 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 1: strong it was, and the type of plastic used and 365 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,560 Speaker 1: the type of printer being used. Uh. Jonathan Rally, who's 366 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: a three D printing expert UM, said in The Guardian 367 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: that that you have to be really careful because not 368 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 1: everyone out there has access to the same sort of 369 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: three D printers, were the same sort of raw materials 370 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: being used. And just because one printed gun was able 371 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,639 Speaker 1: to withstand the pressure and force that a that this 372 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: that the liberator did in the initial tests, it doesn't 373 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: mean that something that you print using a different kind 374 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,160 Speaker 1: of printer could do the same thing. UM. It may 375 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: be that the material you print is weaker than the 376 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,640 Speaker 1: one that that Wilson used, and Wilson. Wilson also did 377 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 1: treat the plastics after they were printed in order to 378 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 1: make them stronger, So you could potentially end up with 379 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: a device that could explode in your hand and cause 380 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: you huge amounts of damage, if not even kill you 381 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: right out, you know, out right. In fact, he said 382 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:16,199 Speaker 1: that it's far more likely someone will be injured by 383 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:21,360 Speaker 1: a failing weapon before anyone is ever deliberately shot by 384 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 1: so uh that that was his big concern was not 385 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,200 Speaker 1: only is it something that could potentially, you know, one 386 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 1: person could potentially used to kill someone else, it's something 387 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: that someone who's just curious about it could end up 388 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,239 Speaker 1: severely injuring themselves because the materials they are using just 389 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: can't hold up to the pressures and even even unit 390 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:40,680 Speaker 1: to unit um uh you know, and any anything that 391 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: you've printed like that could be misaligned, uh, you know, 392 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: on a relatively small scale that you might not be 393 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,120 Speaker 1: able to see from the outside of the right. Yeah, 394 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:50,920 Speaker 1: if you if your printer does not have the same 395 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: level of precision, then that could also be a problem. 396 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: Things could not be things might not be in the 397 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: right alignment because or if just something glorps into the 398 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: wrong place. That's you know that that could be warping 399 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 1: is an issue. There's also the problem that there could 400 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: be uh nylon plastic powder within the barrel itself, which 401 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: can be flammable and could actually cause an explosion in 402 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:13,439 Speaker 1: your hand because you know, you're talking about this intense 403 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: heat and pressure. In fact, let's talk about that for 404 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,240 Speaker 1: a second. According to the Guardian, the pressure inside a 405 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:22,439 Speaker 1: gun typically reaches about a thousand atmospheres and temperatures exceed 406 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:25,880 Speaker 1: two hundred degrees celsius when you fire off a gun. 407 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: So the gun the bullets flying out because of the 408 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,719 Speaker 1: expanding gas that is created when the primary ignites and 409 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 1: gets the propellant going right. So this expanding gas is 410 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: what pushes that bullet out. According again, according to the Guardian, 411 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,679 Speaker 1: about of that energy from the expanded gas transfers to 412 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: the bullet. Another thirty percent of the energy transfers to 413 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,399 Speaker 1: the barrel in the form of heat, and heat tends 414 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:55,360 Speaker 1: to weaken plastic. So if you aren't using heat treated plastic, 415 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: or you're using a weaker kind of plastic, that might 416 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: be enough for that gun to show are in your 417 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: hands or otherwise fail in a way that could cause 418 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 1: you some pretty serious injury. And uh, Philip Boyce, who 419 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,479 Speaker 1: was an expert with Forensic Scientific he's the one who 420 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,920 Speaker 1: said that with a really good plastic gun, you might 421 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:14,880 Speaker 1: get off as many as ten to twenty shots before 422 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: it failed. So beyond that, these guns aren't necessarily that accurate. 423 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 1: You know, if it's a smooth barrel gun, Uh, it's 424 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: not necessarily going to guide the bullet in any way. 425 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,200 Speaker 1: That's yeah. It would be one of those things where 426 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: you know, the closer you are, obviously are to whatever 427 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:35,880 Speaker 1: the target is the d're aiming at, the more likely 428 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 1: you'll hit it. But you might wind up just being 429 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: a you know, a stormtrooper. Yeah, lots of you pew 430 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,359 Speaker 1: very little actually, and when you've only got you know, 431 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,399 Speaker 1: up to ten bullets, that's not yeah. So so this 432 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:55,640 Speaker 1: is prompted many politicians and law enforcement officials to come 433 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 1: out and criticize this whole idea of three D printed guns. 434 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,680 Speaker 1: It's not a big surprise, you know. I mentioned earlier 435 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 1: that the printer that Wilson used was purchased the Stratusis 436 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,879 Speaker 1: Dimension S S T three D printer. Uh, they actually 437 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 1: were using a least one originally from the company. Yeah, 438 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 1: they leased it from Stratusis, but as of October Stratusis 439 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: figured out what they were doing and seized their property 440 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: back and said no thanks. Yeah, And you might say, 441 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: why would why do they care? They care because three 442 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: D printer companies, the companies that are designing these things 443 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 1: for consumers, Uh, they don't want the government to come 444 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: in and start regulating and legislating the stuff they make 445 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,120 Speaker 1: because that's going to affect their business. So it could 446 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: get really expensive, it could get to be a huge 447 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,159 Speaker 1: just licensing issue. Right. Uh, you guys might not be 448 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,119 Speaker 1: aware of this, but three ds are not three D scanners, 449 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:55,400 Speaker 1: but color scanners. Color scanners have have technology built into 450 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: them that will prevent them from doing things like copying 451 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: and reproducing current. See it's a form of DRM. Yeah, 452 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:04,920 Speaker 1: it's really yeah, it really kind of is. It's it's 453 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: this idea of protecting it so that, you know, counterfeiters 454 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: can't just sit there at home and scan and print 455 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 1: money because once scanner's got to be that specific, that 456 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,679 Speaker 1: became an issue. So you build that into the device 457 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: itself where it will not uh copy and print that 458 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: kind of thing. The same sort of thing may be 459 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,480 Speaker 1: true with three D printers. Politicians might say, you have 460 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,400 Speaker 1: to find a way to prevent people from printing this 461 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,879 Speaker 1: particular type of peace and then suddenly they have to 462 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,399 Speaker 1: implement that. That drives up production costs for the three 463 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 1: D printer side. It drives up the consumer costs for 464 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,360 Speaker 1: three D printers. That hurts the whole industry. That's that's 465 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: the viewpoint of the manufacturers and why they would not 466 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 1: be so keen on having their own materials made to 467 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 1: build something like a gun. So uh, So you had 468 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: the concern from the companies there as far as the 469 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: politicians and law enforcement goes. Law enforcement in the UK, 470 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:00,160 Speaker 1: the Metropolitan Police pointed out that making or own being 471 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,400 Speaker 1: a gun like this would be illegal unless you were 472 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 1: a registered firearms dealer with the proper credentials and quote 473 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:12,159 Speaker 1: unquote authorities. Otherwise it would just owning a gun like 474 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: this in the UK would be considered illegal. Um. If 475 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,240 Speaker 1: you used in a in any way, then that would 476 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: get you a pretty stiff penalty. Uh. In the United States, 477 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 1: there were senators from California, Senators and congress people, i 478 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: should say, uh, and council members in one case from 479 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 1: California Washington, d C. And New York who have all 480 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: expressed concern about three D printing gun printed guns, and 481 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 1: UH talked about getting coming up with legislation that can 482 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: prevent it, helping helping to revamp that Undetectable Firearms Act 483 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: that we were talking about earlier. This makes it complicated 484 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,719 Speaker 1: because there's really only so much that you can do 485 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,119 Speaker 1: from a legal perspective, like how do you how do 486 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: you prevent something that the cats already out of the bag. 487 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: You know, a hundred thousand people have downloaded this as 488 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:58,639 Speaker 1: of today when we're recording this, so it's you know, 489 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,640 Speaker 1: it's kind of hard to say, let's stop this from 490 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: happening now. It's we all know that once something's on 491 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: the internet, for Internet is forever. Yeah, So I did 492 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: want to mention that on the private side. Other there 493 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 1: were other roadblocks to the actual creation of this thing. UH. 494 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 1: Wilson had his crowdfunding campaign campaign through indie go Go 495 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 1: shut down um in August UM also to workshop spaces 496 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,359 Speaker 1: that he had been using denied him access after learning 497 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,639 Speaker 1: what he was up to. And furthermore, he originally had 498 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: some of these files up on thing verse by maker 499 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 1: Butt and down took it down. Yeah, the three D 500 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: printing community in general is reacting to this in very 501 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: much the same sort of way, saying that you know, 502 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: now you're bringing unwanted attention to our our our industry 503 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: or our hobby. Uh. You know, they've always said there's 504 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,159 Speaker 1: going to be a disruptive kind of technology, but they 505 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,200 Speaker 1: never thought of it in the terms of they didn't 506 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:58,120 Speaker 1: frame it in the terms of disruptive being potentially violent, 507 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: which is not what Wilson is saying, although he also 508 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: really deflects any kind of criticism that even wanders towards 509 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: the violence question. Uh, to the point where, Uh, there 510 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:10,919 Speaker 1: are times where I was reading some of his responses 511 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,439 Speaker 1: when I'm thinking, like this guy took notes in the 512 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 1: second Matrix movie and said, how can I talk more 513 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,920 Speaker 1: like the architect where I say a lot but don't 514 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 1: really say anything, or at least don't answer any questions. 515 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,400 Speaker 1: I think that's fair. You know, I've read it's it's harsh, 516 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: it's hard criticism that. But yeah, we've the two of 517 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,360 Speaker 1: us both have probably read a lot of things that 518 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,160 Speaker 1: that Wilson said. Well, not only that what he said, 519 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:37,880 Speaker 1: but what he wouldn't say, Like if anyone confronted him 520 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:42,800 Speaker 1: directly with questions about, well, what about folks who uh, 521 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:44,920 Speaker 1: you know, like convicts, are you saying that convicts should 522 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,440 Speaker 1: have access to weapons? And instead of answering that question, 523 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: he would deflect it into something else philosophical. So he 524 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:54,920 Speaker 1: he just refuses to answer those sort of things. Um, 525 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,159 Speaker 1: so he may very well have coherent and uh and 526 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: and a good strong argument for that sort of case, 527 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,679 Speaker 1: but he's not presenting it. So the recording of this 528 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,440 Speaker 1: podcast right right, maybe maybe by this afternoon he said 529 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,639 Speaker 1: something that completely addresses my concerns. But he's described himself 530 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: as a cryptoanarchist, which that already should kind of raise 531 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 1: alarm flags for certain people. Anarchy is a tough position 532 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:30,959 Speaker 1: to really defend. I think it is, and that this 533 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: is getting into into a personal personal philosophy here and 534 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 1: uh and and Jonathan and I are are a little 535 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: bit more touchy feely, We're okay. So the way I 536 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 1: view it is that he's taken a particular stance where uh, 537 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: he's really put a lot of value on the individual, 538 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 1: which I don't disagree with. I think, you know, individuality 539 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 1: is very important. Individual freedoms are very important, and of course, 540 00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 1: there's you know, all the different arguments you can make 541 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: about how if you trade liberty for security, then you 542 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: don't really have either. I've heard all these arguments before. Um, 543 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 1: but uh, you know, there he seems very dismissive of 544 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:16,080 Speaker 1: the idea of governments in general, so essentially saying that 545 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 1: the system is broken, and not only is it broken, 546 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:22,080 Speaker 1: but it cannot be fixed. That at this point the 547 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: government system is completely beholden to special interests and corporations, 548 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: it does not truly represent people, it's doing more harm 549 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: than good, it's getting more and more intrusive in our 550 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: daily lives, and and and there's no way to fix it, 551 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 1: and that therefore it must be destroyed from the inside. Yeah, 552 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: or at least at least ignored, right right, Really, he 553 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:46,000 Speaker 1: doesn't so much stepped outside of and said, yeah, he's 554 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: he's not necessarily condoning that we all rise up against 555 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: our tyrannical overlords, but necessarily more like, let's just not 556 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 1: pay attention to them anymore. Which, yeah, there's there's there's 557 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: a quote on the website of Defense Distributed where it says, 558 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: how did government's behave if they must one day operate 559 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,840 Speaker 1: on the assumption that any and every citizen has near 560 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: instant access to a firearm through the Internet. Let's find out. Yeah, 561 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: so I mean here, here's here's my view. The three 562 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 1: D printing of guns was something that was going to happen. 563 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: It was bound to happen, uh, sooner or later. It 564 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: just happened to happen in uh. And there is going 565 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: to have to be a reaction to that, Like, what's 566 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: the right way of handling this? The cavalier attitude of 567 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 1: Cody Wilson seems specifically geared to get a rise out 568 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:37,760 Speaker 1: of people. Absolutely, and and you know, like and he's 569 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: and he's so intelligently and he quotes these these really 570 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: great philosophers when he's talking about all of these the 571 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: you know, he talks about for co and how liberty 572 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: is under siege from the vast machine of the ruling 573 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: class control and and about you know, Milton and how 574 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: in order to be truly good you must be presented 575 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: with the freedom to be evil. Um. Right, We're getting 576 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:00,360 Speaker 1: into some clockwork orange type stuff at this point. And 577 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 1: it's and it's that kind of thing that you know, 578 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:06,560 Speaker 1: is intellectually delightful to discuss. But but when when you 579 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: get into practical matters. Uh, some problems rise up, right, right. So, 580 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: if we lived in a storybook world where governments were 581 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 1: the evil stepmother and we're all the perky little protagonist 582 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:23,720 Speaker 1: who the poor orphan, who's who's pure of heart and 583 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 1: has the best of intentions, that's one thing, right, that's 584 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 1: of course you want the protagonist to win. But reality 585 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: is way more murky. I wouldn't go so far as 586 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: to say government is inherently evil, nor would I go 587 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:38,440 Speaker 1: so far as to say individuals are inherently good. There's 588 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 1: so much shade of gray on all sides, of sides. Yeah, 589 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:43,240 Speaker 1: And it's it's really people that make up a government. 590 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:45,040 Speaker 1: Some people are good, some people are not so good. 591 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,520 Speaker 1: And and that's true within the population. We're within the 592 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:51,680 Speaker 1: ruling class, and some systems maybe they are Maybe they 593 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 1: favor the people who are not so good over the 594 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:55,560 Speaker 1: ones that are good. And that just means to me 595 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: that you have to fix the system. Now to Wilson, 596 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: it seems to mean you should abandon the system altogether. 597 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: I just don't understand what replaces it. Uh. And one 598 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,800 Speaker 1: of his quotes was it seemed very tongue in cheek 599 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: to me, but it was and I'm paraphrasing here, but 600 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: he was essentially saying that he was he would imagine 601 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: a future where, uh, the the individual citizen is making 602 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: everything that they need using things like three D printers, 603 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: and meanwhile, government funded drones are flying overheads searching out 604 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: all the dissidents, and that he's eager to see this 605 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,800 Speaker 1: future come to pass. And I'm thinking, I don't want 606 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 1: to live in the road warrior world. I look really 607 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: bad in spiky shoulder paths. I don't I don't want 608 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: to go to Bartertown. Master Blaster scares me so anyway. 609 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: But that's that's kind of like his his philosophy, and um, 610 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,360 Speaker 1: you know, I'm not gonna go any further about what 611 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: my own personal philosophy is. I think it's fairly clear 612 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: already from what I've said, but I only I definitely 613 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 1: find it troubling. But I mean, now it's a fact 614 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 1: of life, So now we do have to deal with it, 615 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:07,880 Speaker 1: and we were gonna have to deal with it sometime 616 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: or other. So it's not like I'm not going to 617 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: get too angry at Wilson for doing this because someone 618 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,960 Speaker 1: was going to right the way he's done it is 619 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: a little more snarky than I would have cared for, 620 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:25,080 Speaker 1: but you know, that's that's life. Um. So it'll be 621 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,640 Speaker 1: interesting to see how this, how this plays out, whether 622 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: or not, uh, it ends up even being a big deal. 623 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:35,200 Speaker 1: It's completely possible that this ends up being far more 624 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,560 Speaker 1: fuss than what it it's worth, right, especially for another 625 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: few years, you know, before before people have I mean, 626 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:43,480 Speaker 1: you know, right now, this kind of technology costs about 627 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: ten grand to get access to. It's way easier to 628 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 1: go ahead and get a gun, even illegally money. Yeah, yeah, 629 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: or I'm you know, like hypothetically you could make one 630 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:57,080 Speaker 1: yourself for under ten grand if I mean, that's you know, 631 00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,440 Speaker 1: it's a lot of knowledge that you have to bend 632 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 1: to that to you know, you know, file all the 633 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 1: metal into all the everything, you had to machine the 634 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: parts and everything. But um, but I mean, you know, 635 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,560 Speaker 1: people have been making their own firearms for what four years? Yeah, 636 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:12,600 Speaker 1: and it's and it's even legal to make your own 637 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: firearms under a very specific criteria in several countries and 638 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,879 Speaker 1: clean the United States. But so really, when you when 639 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:22,120 Speaker 1: you look at that level, it's not like, um, it's 640 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: not like this is the most unheard of thing in 641 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,439 Speaker 1: the world. It's new, which is part of why it's 642 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,600 Speaker 1: a little and it's it's digital, which which a lot 643 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,160 Speaker 1: of people get kind of titchy about, right, same sort 644 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 1: of thing that you know, the music industry, moving industry, 645 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,960 Speaker 1: television industry, they all got worried because it meant that 646 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,520 Speaker 1: you could distribute something on a much wider scale than before. 647 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:43,319 Speaker 1: But uh, yeah, we're not quite to the point where 648 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,840 Speaker 1: everyone's going to be printing out their own guns, especially 649 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:48,319 Speaker 1: with ones that are going to be reliable and not 650 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 1: just blow up, and the reliable enough to to actually 651 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 1: want to use. But it's it's an interesting step, it's 652 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 1: an interesting day, and I'm really curious to see how 653 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:02,000 Speaker 1: it turns out. Uh it's is uh something that will 654 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 1: keep our eyes on. Well, we'll definitely, I'm sure we'll 655 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,399 Speaker 1: do another episode related to this in the future and 656 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:11,319 Speaker 1: revisit the topic once things have really kind of shaken out, 657 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:13,080 Speaker 1: because you know, I know that it's going to be 658 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:15,960 Speaker 1: legislation proposed about this, and how that turns out we'll 659 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: all depend upon, uh you know, which politicians are the 660 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:23,239 Speaker 1: ones suggesting it, and however all the different lobbies follow suit. 661 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:25,280 Speaker 1: It'll be. It'll be interesting and a little bit scary 662 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 1: to watch. Yep, but that's the world we live in, folks, 663 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 1: Interesting and a little bit scary. Not all rainbows and ukuleles. 664 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:35,480 Speaker 1: Well it isn't my house, but well because I've got 665 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:39,080 Speaker 1: a ukulele rainbow collection at home. So al right, guys, 666 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:41,600 Speaker 1: Well that that wraps up this discussion on tech stuff. 667 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,120 Speaker 1: If you guys have any suggestions for future topics, I 668 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:45,640 Speaker 1: recommend you get in touch with us. We have an 669 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 1: email address It's tech stuff at Discovery dot com, or 670 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:51,400 Speaker 1: drop us a line on Facebook or Twitter. Our handle 671 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,360 Speaker 1: at both those locations is tech Stuff, H. S. W 672 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:56,920 Speaker 1: and Lauren and I will talk to you again really 673 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: soon for more on this and thousands of other topics. 674 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 1: Is it how stuff works dot com