Can Your 3D Printer Refuse to Print a Gun?

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In one of the forum threads here there was a discussion about regulating 3D printers to not print firearms. I was reading Open Source Defense and they linked to an article about it.

https://all3dp.com/4/can-your-3d-printe ... dium=email

The short answer is not really. One of the major points is much of the software available to run 3D printers is open source and the end user can easily insert or delete that portion of the code.

Re: Can Your 3D Printer Refuse to Print a Gun?

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BKinzey wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2024 3:01 pm In one of the forum threads here there was a discussion about regulating 3D printers to not print firearms. I was reading Open Source Defense and they linked to an article about it.

https://all3dp.com/4/can-your-3d-printe ... dium=emailsnow rider 3d

The short answer is not really. One of the major points is much of the software available to run 3D printers is open source and the end user can easily insert or delete that portion of the code.
You're right—the idea of regulating 3D printers to prevent firearm printing is challenging because of how 3D printer technology works, especially with open-source software. Since a lot of 3D printing software is open-source, users can modify or bypass any restrictions, including potential "safety" codes meant to block firearm designs. Additionally, printers rely on generic file formats like G-code, which are not designed to interpret or restrict specific objects. So even if restrictions were attempted, knowledgeable users could remove or alter them fairly easily.

Re: Can Your 3D Printer Refuse to Print a Gun?

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emotionalwhole wrote: Fri Nov 01, 2024 9:42 pm
BKinzey wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2024 3:01 pm In one of the forum threads here there was a discussion about regulating 3D printers to not print firearms. I was reading Open Source Defense and they linked to an article about it.

https://all3dp.com/4/can-your-3d-printe ... dium=emailsnow rider 3d

The short answer is not really. One of the major points is much of the software available to run 3D printers is open source and the end user can easily insert or delete that portion of the code.
You're right—the idea of regulating 3D printers to prevent firearm printing is challenging because of how 3D printer technology works, especially with open-source software. Since a lot of 3D printing software is open-source, users can modify or bypass any restrictions, including potential "safety" codes meant to block firearm designs. Additionally, printers rely on generic file formats like G-code, which are not designed to interpret or restrict specific objects. So even if restrictions were attempted, knowledgeable users could remove or alter them fairly easily.
This relates directly to the Four Freedoms as outlined by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation.
  • The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
  • The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
  • The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2).
  • The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
That's the importance of Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS). It gives you that freedom, and I'm glad that 3-D printer makers are going F/OSS with the software that controls them.
"SF Liberal With A Gun + Free Software Advocate"
http://www.sanfranciscoliberalwithagun.com/
http://www.liberalsguncorner.com/
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