Sep.15, 2013

The first 3D printed gun will soon arrive in a museum! As part of London Design Festival which begins this weekend, London's V&A Museum has acquired two prototypes of the Liberator gun, one disassembled weapon and a number of archive items to add to its collection of 3D-printed objects.

The museum believes the first fully 3D-printed gun which was developed by Cody Wilson and successfully fired in the spring, is the clearest way to illustrate the potential effects of the 3D printer and the issues that lie ahead.

"So far people have focused on the ability to print out things at home, such as toys, but this seems to be only part of it. In my view, the gun blew all that away. It showed the fuller implications of the dissemination of the means of production. Everybody is now potentially a manufacturer." said Kieran Long, a senior curator of contemporary exhibits to the guardian.

The museum has a licence to store guns and a team of art handlers who have experiences in importing highly unusual objects. While on the other side, Wilson, who has a licence to make guns, is still waiting for an American licence to export his 3D printed gun to UK.

"When we asked him to come over he said he couldn't because he might be arrested. There isn't a law that covers this clearly," said Long. "There is no legal framework yet for this kind of activity."

"He cannot get an export licence and until we hear about that we will display a London-printed stand-in." said Long. V&A Museum sought help from a central London 3D-printing company, but the company only agreed to "make most of it and then make the rest of the components as plaster models."

"It shows we are right at the cutting edge of this technology now and people are having to use their own moral compasses until the law catches up," said Long.

 

Source: theguardian


Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

 

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Jeff wrote at 9/16/2013 5:58:27 PM:

"people are having to use their own moral compasses until the law catches up" New flash, people have to use thier own moral compassess regardless of what the law says.

Chris wrote at 9/15/2013 12:24:04 PM:

The paranoia over 3D printed guns is astonishing.



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