If one University of Texas law student gets his way, a new generation of firearms could be downloaded and fabricated by anyone, anywhere with access to a 3D printer.
Wilson, with the help of a couple of like-minded gun enthusiasts, has combined open-source rhetoric, wiki-like accessibility and Second Amendment principles into Defense Distributed, a project that aims to arm we the people — all the people — with cheap, easy-to-reproduce guns.
The concept started in February, blooming from a conversation with friends about combining crowd-sourced technologies and rapid prototyping as a way to get weapons into the hands of anyone who wishes to legally own them.
“I wish there was a neat story where the clouds parted, but I was just talking with a friend. We were just looking for something interesting and creative to do. And we both kind of lean towards the libertarian sides of things, and we have an attitude of openness and collaboration and sharing, so it comes from that,” Wilson told The Daily.
Right now, Distributed Defense is looking to raise $20,000 to finance design of a printable blueprint for a gun, buy a StrataSys 3D printer to fabricate a working prototype, and hold a design contest to encourage would-be digital gunsmiths.
