The Arms Race

The Ultimate Freedom Factory - But For Whom?

It's been a while since 3D printed guns ("3DPW" 3D Printed Weapons) first got the media in a froth of apprehension and consternation. But it's also been a bit quiet since then. What's the state of play these days? Should we be worried? 

The Liberator was the first such weapon, I seem to remember that it was a hit and miss affair and failed after just a few rounds, often catastrophically. But its purpose was probably in the name. A thing you might print if the Horde was flowing over the country pillaging and murdering, you wanted to Get Out Of Dodge (="GOOD", a lovely old prepper acronym if ever there was one) and just needed maybe one or two shots just in case. 

I'd almost class it as an improvised weapon (much like the many martial arts weapons that were made from whatever was to hand, a scythe or a hay fork) of necessity and last resort. But it has to be made with forethought, unlike picking up a spade, realising the edge is sharp, and swinging it at that pesky intruder.

It turns out, someone should be worried. Not sure if that includes the majority of us or just law enforcement, but the state of play has changed quite a bit. The flavour of the month appears to be the FGC-9, but it's not the only kid on the block. 

One worrying thing about 3DPW is that they don't have to look like a weapon - take a look at this news clipping of an FGC-9 seized by police in Western Australia. I've legit had Nerf blasters that looked more real than this. Now look at the toy pistol that got Tamir Rice shot. Compare the pair, as it were. 

I'd be inclined to be more scared of the latter than the former, that's for sure. Now for something more worrying - 3DPW factories. All you need is a 3D printer, a few other tools, and you have a side hustle. . .

The most recent designs have been thought out by gunsmiths and engineers, and use bits you can buy at Bunnings or Mitre10 with a few plumbing supplies thrown in. You may need a few specific tools but they're freely obtainable. You either need access to ammunition or a better 3D printer and some explosive to make some. But it's not a huge stretch, and with seemingly so many people out there willing to risk getting caught, it's just a matter of time before someone gets one and uses it to settle a score.

THAT is a thing I'd worry about. But - and this is just a random shower thought - why do spammers and phishers not bother to make something convincing? 

"My Dear, I am write this to you because am an executive of the last will of Prince RajaBigButt . . ." sound exactly like what it is, a person in a country that doesn't speak English using random phrases they've picked up and trusting that syntax and grammar won't be as important to you as the $64 million dollars that they're going to give you. 

Or unconvincing, as the case may be? Look at the "NerfFGC-9" [tm:me - obviously😀] found in WA again, then compare to this underground factory product. Those are made to intimidate, so their market is gangs, perhaps. - - - - But if I was printing these, I'd use the bright children's toy colour scheme. And also be designing cartoon-y style covers to put over the damn things, and making them look more like a fanny pack or a kid's Transformers[tm] robot. 

Not Just Pew Pew Pew

And of course, explosives-powered weapons are just one kind. A person can print this crossbow pistol without needing bowyer's skills. Limbs (the springy arms that make the crossbows go) aren't generally prohibited and thus easily obtainable. 

I have a pair of bows, legal here in Victoria. Either one could do damage (they're both commercially-made albeit very inexpensive) but they are legal. But if I used the limbs and pulleys off the compound bow and used a set of plans to 3D print a body, I could turn it into something illegal. And even if the compound bow was made illegal, the limbs would probably still be legal to buy.

Realistically, no legislation is going to stop this tide from rolling. Everyone feels a need to secure themselves. I lock our gates and doors every night because there are people out there that might otherwise walk in and create a dangerous situation. I know that some of them have lockpicks. 

Thirty years ago you'd have been thrown in jail for a period of time just for owning a lockpick set, and it would have been a case of make your own or buy them on the black market. Now, you can openly order them from stores online, just don't get caught with them when you're outside your own home. 

That's the truth of how difficult it is to legislate such things.

This is going to go the same way, there's really no stopping it. Can you imagine? "FBI! Hand over that 3D printer and that Pokemon Charizard model!" It's not going to work. Much like you can't really stop anyone from having a steak knife in the home. What you can do is educate people to just, you know - not print dangerous stuff or use stuff in a dangerous way.

The thin fuzzy line is vague - what about a 3D printed knuckleduster? A 3D printed ring with pointy bits? Or even some longer pointy bits like cosplay swords and spears? 

Also - beep! zzaapp! ka-zing!

And that's of course not all, at all. A cutting laser for your CNC machine can be had for as little as $200-400. It's enough to blind people for miles around you, and can even be lethal under the wrong circumstances. Then there are the people that are building honest-to-dog railguns and similar electric/magnetic launchers. Those devices aren't quite at the point of taking down an aircraft, but are definitely getting to the point of being able to cause injury if aimed at a soft body. 

One can print a matte black stock and barrel for the laser and a pack of 18650 lithium cells, or make it look like a cute yellow duckie for all I know. The point is that it's easy enough to do either, and you should expect to see it happening. I could - right now - draw you a diagram of how it would work at a distance with a lethality that would give smaller pistols a run for their money. But I won't. 

Flying Monkeys With Kaboom

And let's not get into 3D printing and drones . . . The absolutely most horrific scenario I've seen about this was mentioned in something innocuous like TED Talks. The speaker showed a totally theoretically scenario where a tiny little drone with a connection to an AI server was tasked with finding a particular face, getting close to it, and then blowing itself up. 

The speaker then went on to explain that the Military was sponsoring this research with the purpose of making tens of thousands of these devices, flying them into a zone of interest, loading the AI server with a certain - racially derived - set of features, and then airdropping them wholesale out the back of a Hercules . . . Imagine if they preloaded Aryan blond hair blue eyes as the template and unloaded a few hundred thousand in a long sweep along the Rhine river . . . 

And before I get anyone saying that this use of AI puts it beyond the average hobbyist, let me tell you that you can get so-called "edge" AI into a single tiny chip and train it in one download, or a million of those tiny little chips in one download that's no longer than for one device.

I have printable drones, can build them for very little, and they'll carry a camera for first person view (FPV) and a board that'll run that image recognotion is available for under AUD$20, the AI image detection doesn't care what I build or what I do with it. I could print a dozen of these things and asemble them, prime them with the face of my adversary, and release them one by one near that person until one got close enough to their face to blow both up.

Think this is far-fetched? Please - think - again.

Conclusion

Whatever's to hand, someone will find a way to abuse it, use it to abuse another person, or commit some morally reprehensible crime with it. If they're of a mind to, are pushes to their limit, or have really poor impulse control. 

My point in publishing this isn't to give a how-to like Ragnar Benson's extensive bibliography of making things go boom - after all, that's all been done. My point is that there are people out there that are actively engaged in turning The Excellent Daily Doodad into The Evil Doomsday Device, and then capitalising on that person with poor impulse control. 

So what purpose has my article served?

Well, if you hear about or see some unusual criminal activity now, you may be able to connect the dots to something I've mentioned. You may realise that someone's released Flying Monkey Face Exploder Drones, and take evasive action by wearing a cardboard box with a single eyehole on your head so as to not look like a human being. 

You may realise that the green sweepy thing that's making cars crash is being caused by some kid with the ultimate laser pointer blinding people on the freeway, and find the darkest sunnies you can. And that person in the bank pointing a plushie toy looking thing's backside at the teller? Call the cops now and don't go in there!

As with all things of this nature - do not try any of these things at home - because they are dangerous. Also, your mileage may vary with regard to the remedies I've described, and if FMFE drones kill you because the person that made them just hates people with big butts and you're callipygiously blessed that's not my fault. Read the room. 

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