Homemade 3D-printed firearms as a challenge to the open Internet

Over the past two decades, the pace of development and adoption of technology has increased dramatically. Technologies have become available to mankind, the introduction of which into industry and everyday life was only worth dreaming of before, and now they have not only become a reality, but also continue to develop and improve. One such achievement of scientific and technological progress is 3D printing. The most widespread and developed 3D printing technology involves the layer-by-layer formation of a product according to a given 3D model using a melted plastic rod. The technology is fully automated - control is carried out from a computer, and for printing, in addition to the printer itself and the plastic for it, software is needed, including those available in the public domain, as well as a 3D model of the desired object. The availability of 3D plastic printing technology over the past 10 years has greatly increased, and the number of specialists working in this field, or simply considering it as a hobby, has also increased. At the same time, the scope of 3D printing is very different - from souvenirs, toys and jewelry, to serious solutions in the industry. Do not stand aside and areas, the work on the manufacture of parts in which is associated with serious legal regulation, and sometimes illegal. This article discusses the issues of 3D printing of weapons - a brief overview of the key events that have taken place in this area is given, the main moral, ethical and philosophical problems that arise in this area are identified, and their discussion is given. The development of 3D printing technologies and their introduction into everyday life, of course, has made it possible to improve and simplify the lives of many people in different areas of their lives. Despite the fact that the article deals with 3D printing with plastic, even today printing technologies with metal, ceramics and composites are becoming more accessible, and the time when metal 3D printing will become available at the household level is not far off. Along with the development of 3D printing technologies, social and legal problems arise, which are impossible and simply dangerous to ignore. The example of 3D printed weapons is one such example. As shown in the article, the situation with the 3D printing of weapons has more than a decade of history, while, despite the absence of any crystallized legal mechanisms for its regulation, the situation does not get out of control. The main reasons here are the internal regulation of the issue by the Internet, and the concern on this issue arises primarily due to the overly idealized and simplistic public perception of the 3D printing process as a whole. The author declares no conflicts of interests. The article is a review article and considers the current state of 3D printing of weapons, the author does not call for the creation and distribution of weapons, ammunition, as well as their computer models, and also recalls that the development, production and storage of weapons and their main parts are subject to licensing in accordance with Russian legislation on licensing certain types of activities. The illegal manufacture, alteration or repair offirearms, and the illegal manufacture of ammunition are criminal offences.

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