It's just as we suspected and feared. After the first 3D-printed gun was created and released by a company called Defense Distributed, copycat firearm printers are popping up. A man who goes by "Joe" has created a newer, sturdier and cheaper 3D-printed gun that he calls the "Lulz Liberator," and now there's a video of the gun firing.
The Lulz Liberator is scary for a few reasons. First of all, it is ridiculously cheap. It cost $25 to print on Joe's $1,725 3D printer, Forbes reports. It's also robust. This gun seems sturdier than the original 3D gun. "One plastic barrel survived eight shots," according to the YouTube video's description. The technology has already come pretty far in just a few weeks. Imagine what a few years will bring?
In May, Defense Distributed, the company that created and disseminated the first 3D gun blueprint, was forced to take the blueprints off of its site by the U.S. State Department. The gun blueprint then quickly found its way to Pirate Bay, where it has remained ever since.
"I'm not an anarchist," Joe tells Forbes, "but I don’t like the idea that the government is telling us ‘You can’t have that.’” Thankfully for us all, Joe has yet to release the blueprints to the public.