The relentless march of technology has given us the marvels of "3D Printing " which opens a whole new avenue of ability to design and produce "one off "items without the costs involved in former methodology. Now these machines are to be offered for sale in Australian with a price tag of just $1200. It is claimed that anybody owning one of these would have the ability of reproduce an exact copy of an AR-15 Assault rifle and the time involved would be just three hours - at a cost of $ 500.
Law enforcement is alarmed. It was an AR-15 Assault rifle used in the Port Arthur massacre that caused this class of weapon to be totally banned in this country. The founder of the company considering selling this machine here - Cody Wilson - is aware of it's capacity to produce firearms but says "Neither legally or morally do I have concerns about it ".
Unfortunately, machinery of this nature seems to fall betwixt and between the laws that apply. Many individual pieces of machinery could be used to make a firearm, but they are also capable of a host of other functions. They only cross a legal boundary when their operator decides to use them for a purpose that breaks an Australian law, and that is already happening. There is already a contraband industry churning out various weapons that form a black market in supplying criminals. Those people with a well equipped workshop that contains a metal turning lathe and other innocuous tools - and a flair for design - can produce anything from pistols to a very efficient light machine gun. The prospect of heavy calibre assault rifles being used on our streets is frightening.
The fact that this 3D printer gets a mention as a means of constructing AR-15 Assault rifles might be a promotional gimmick. To achieve that purpose, it would need to have such an assault rifle available to copy or at least the detailed drawings from which such a design would emerge. Should it come with the wherewithal to churn out such a weapon it would be a special purpose machine that could be stopped at the border and declared an illegal import.
It all boils down to the purpose for which it is used. There seems no doubt that 3D printing is a new industry that will find a place in the manufacturing spectrum. Such machines are already here in Australia and initially they made news overseas when someone used one to produce a plastic pistol. It was crude - and potentially dangerous - but since then the process has been refined and there is promise that the 3D option will find it's way into everything from the development of human body parts to industrial innovations that are otherwise beyond our ability.
We would be wise to treat the import of these machines with care. They are a new innovation and it is likely that human ingenuity will discover an ever widening field of application - and some of this may be less desirable. It would not be unreasonable to require them to be licensed, hence the government would have the ability to know where and in what numbers they exist in the community - and whose hands are at their controls. Such licensing would require notification in the event that ownership changed.
There is also the probability that this Cory Wilson is a very canny businessman. The reference to his 3D printers ability to copy assault rifles pricked the ears of the media and the message that he intends to offer 3D printers in Australia for just $1200 got a mention in most of this country's newspapers. The wonders of Google and the Internet would enable prospective buyers to quickly make contact with Mr Wilson, and it is likely that without any further business expense a waiting market will beat a path to his door.
The intent to which new innovations are put depends entirely on the objectives of the purchaser !
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