XPost: alt.society.liberalism, soc.culture.usa, alt.politics.obama   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: dead@gone.com   
      
   An ineffectual and silly move by the government. The blueprints are all   
   over torrents, and probably Usenet as well.   
      
   That said, it's worth noting that the 3-D gun uses a NAIL for a firing   
   pin, and the guy who developed it test it by tying a string to it and   
   pulling the string to trigger it--from twenty feet away.   
      
   On Sun, 12 May 2013 17:31:25 -0500, Dänk 42Ø wrote:   
      
   > Plastic gun blueprints censored by U.S. government By Dänk 42Ø 12 May   
   > 2013   
   >   
   > The U.S. Defense Department has ordered the removal of 3D-CAD blueprints   
   > on Defcad.org for all the components needed to "print" a working firearm   
   > made from plastic.   
   >   
   > DoD claims it violates arms export laws, which is the same argument it   
   > uses to prohibit export of cryptographic software, with the predictable   
   > effect of causing everyone to download it from non-U.S. servers,   
   > effectively destroying the American digital security industry.  (In   
   > fact,   
   > there is so much paranoia about American encryption software containing   
   > NSA backdoors that it has become an international pariah.)   
   >   
   > Pirate Bay lists torrents for all the files removed from Defcad.org, and   
   > now they are more widespread than ever!  The attempt to censor this   
   > information has only made millions of people who might not have cared   
   > before more curious than ever to try it for themselves!   
   >   
   > The hysteria that passes for the American gun control "debate" is now   
   > moot, because anyone with access to a 3D printer (which are getting   
   > cheaper by the day) can construct a working firearm.  I'm sure that   
   > plastic guns are not nearly as durable as metal ones, but even if they   
   > can only fire a single round before destructing, it doesn't matter   
   > because you can just print another one!   
   >   
   > I'm not sure this is such a great thing, but science, technology and   
   > especially information can't be stopped.  Censoring these blueprints   
   > only makes people want to try printing their own guns even more.   
   > Banning 3D printers won't work, because all the components (liquid   
   > acrylic, lasers, and robotic control) are readily available on the open   
   > market.   
   >   
   > There is an episode of "Outer Limits" called "Final Exam" which deals   
   > with a similar subject, cold fusion.  Everyone believes cold fusion is   
   > impossible until a student takes a college class hostage and tells them   
   > that he has discovered the secret of cold fusion and shows them a device   
   > which claims is a thermonuclear cold fusion bomb.  The secret was so   
   > obvious that he was surprised nobody thought of it before!  And so   
   > simple that even a child could make a thermonuclear bomb with materials   
   > found in any household in the world.   
   >   
   > He explains that scientific discovery is inevitable, that even had   
   > Einstein died before discovering relativity, that someone else would   
   > have a few years or decades later.  Once the science and math reach a   
   > certain stage, it is impossible to avoid reaching a conclusion from it,   
   > which is why so many scientific discoveries occur almost simultaneously   
   > around the world.   
   >   
   > Authorities don't believe him, so he gives them one of his bombs to   
   > examine, and it explodes in the underground lab (technicians who didn't   
   > believe it was real started to tinker with it) and NOW they take him   
   > seriously and agree to his demand to execute five people who had wronged   
   > him in the past.  As he waits, he rambles on about how the reason we   
   > never hear any radio signals from space is because sooner or later every   
   > intelligent alien race reaches roughly 20th century earth technology,   
   > discovers cold fusion, and blows itself up!   
   >   
   > The story ends with him being killed by a sniper, and as he lay dying   
   > they ask him the secret so they stop others from building bombs, and he   
   > tells them it is too late; the materials are too common, and someone   
   > else will soon have the same realization.   
   >   
   > Flash forward several years, in another college science class where the   
   > students are taking a final exam with the question: "Explain in your own   
   > words why cold fusion is impossible."  One guy reads it, thinks for a   
   > moment, then gets up and walks out.  The professor asks him where he's   
   > going, and he tells him not to worry, that he'll be seeing him again   
   > real soon!  Bwahahahahaha!!!   
   >   
   > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Exam_%28The_Outer_Limits%29   
   >   
   > "They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.   
   > But what of the man who possesses too much knowledge?"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)