I think 3D printing is cool. Just to have the ability to create stuff in your own home is fun. I have a friend who loves to make stuff with his 3D printer. The quality is not particularly great and everything comes out just one colour. I expect it is because he is using a very low end printer.
Apparently it will be possible to 3D print houses fairly soon. So the world of 3D printing is quite exciting. I think the industry can grow much faster if it remains open source. Sadly, this sort of thing is always open to abuse.
Fear of people 3D printing guns should not be used as an excuse to attack the promising 3D printing industry.
The cost of a 3D printer capable of printing a functioning gun is going to be very high. I also suspect the quality of 3D printed guns would be very low. There is a lot of quality engineering that goes into making a reliable gun. Guns also need to be very durable and 3D printed plastics are not designed to endure explosions and constant moving and rubbing of the internal mechanism (think of friction of plastic on plastic). Cleaning plastic is also going to be far more troublesome than cleaning metal.
Supposedly high quality American guns have reliability issues, they jam frequently if they not are not constantly cleaned. The famous M16 is notorious for jamming. Then again, the kalashnikov does not have that problem. So if your best American guns are not that reliable, imagine how bad a 3D printed gun is going to be. In short, nothing to worry about.
@honeybee, just out of curiosity, would you ever consider printing a 3D gun?
I have never felt the need to carry firearms, so the answer is no.
That's good. You write a lot about guns so I thought you might be a gun person. You are such a mystery man. Your posts are also a daily must read for me.