14 DAY TRIAL // You'd think that guns aren't something you can just order on the Internet, not without legal permits to own one and a bunch of paperwork, but when it comes to the Ruger Charger pistol, that's not actually true, as long as you own a 3D printer.
The Ruger Charger is a gun that has 10-round flush magazines but can accept larger magazines, of 30 rounds or more. It is as dangerous a pistol as people are likely to find it.
A person by the alias of Buck O'Fama was able to assemble the handgun out of parts ordered individually on the Internet, without any need for legal papers of any kind.
The only component he did not find was the receiver, but he solved that problem by 3D printing the element and, thus, completing the firearm.
The result was something much more dangerous and long-lasting than the Liberator or other pistols made wholly out of 3D printed plastic.
And the chilling part is that anyone, from the average man to dangerous criminals, could duplicate this feat and produce a fully functional gun in the same manner that O'Fama demonstrated.
O'Fama was kind enough to demonstrate the efficacy of his fully assembled Ruger Charger by firing 30 rounds on video. He also holds a fairly liberal view on gun ownership and use, claiming the fundamental human right to defend one's family as the reason he would just 3D print another gun if someone took him the first away.
Considering the rapid rise of metal 3D printing, it's just a matter of time before one of those starts being used for gun production rather than plastic FDM ones.
Even then, though, people who can only afford cheap, small-format 3D printers can make their own guns. O'Fama himself used one, and made the receiver from 2 parts he then crazy-glued together.
The issue of 3D printed weaponry is one that has been stumping and alarming the world at large for months at this point. In some parts of the world, the technology is used for proof of concept and scientific research, while in others it has led to arrests.
Some Australians want all 3D printed weaponry banned, not just from being printed but from being owned at all. In fact, some seek to make even the distribution of 3D virtual gun models illegal. All in all, no nations have truly decided on a way to “deal with” the issue of 3D printed firearms.