JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – They’re untraceable, undetectable, and unavailable now that a federal judge blocked a company's plans to publish blueprints for 3D printed guns.
It’s a controversial issue that one 3D printing company in downtown Jacksonville has kept a close eye on.
Forge Jax, specializes in making 3D prototypes. They have never used their 3D printers to make a gun and say they never will.
Adam Dukes is Forge Jax’s co-owner. He and his colleague make 3D printed products every day- anything from small bridges to dogs. The items are designed on a computer and built from the bottom up, layer by layer, using plastic.
When it comes to 3D printed gun, Dukes says his concern is practicality and safety.
“I definitely would not fire a 3D printed gun, I’d be worried about my own safety,” Dukes said. “Making a gun with a 3D printer is kind of like using a screw driver to hammer a nail in- like you can probably get the job done but it’s not going to work very well and you might injure yourself,” Dukes added.
Forge Jax says they’ve never made 3D printed guns and they will stick to other 3D prototypes.
Cost is another issue.
3D printing is expensive and time-consuming, said Dukes and it costs more than buying a legal gun.
The Jacksonville Public library also offers 3D printing services, but according to the library’s website, you’re not allowed to print anything unsafe, harmful or dangerous.
Judge blocks release of blueprints
The blueprints for 3D guns were expected to be available for download on Wednesday. But a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, to stop the release.
Despite the temporary ban, blueprints were released over the weekend by a Texas-based company, Defense Distributed. By Monday, the site showed more than 12,000 downloads of seven gun models. The guns, if allowed, would be untraceable without a serial number and would be able to pass through metal detectors without setting off alarms.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams says making a 3D printed gun is illegal.
While providing the blueprint design information online is not illegal, creating one of these devices is in direct violation of the federal firearms law. If someone builds a device, they will be subject to the federal laws that are in place.
In a message posted by Defense Distributed late Tuesday night, it called on supporters to quote “un-censor the site.”
The legal battle all began in 2013, with the release of a gun called “The Liberator,” which has already been downloaded a million times. The single-shot pistol is made almost entirely out of ABS plastic- the same material used to make Lego bricks.