3D printed assault rifle – is it time to be afraid?

Have you ever wondered about the different possibilities that are associated with a 3D printer? Apart from printing keys that will allow you to escape from being handcuffed, there is the possibility of something even worse potentially (depending on which side of the divide you are on), which is to print out an assault rifle for your own use. This is exactly what someone managed to do, where amateur gunsmith “HaveBlue” printed out the lower receiver portion of a gun after assembling it onto a .223 upper. Apart from that, HaveBlue did claim that there are a few kinks involved as the rifle functions similarly like a real one.

It must be said that HaveBlue did not just print a 3D rifle, but he also wanted to experiment with the amount of “censorship” online on 3D sharing sites such as MakerBot’s Thingiverse, as to whether such weapon designs would be allowed to have an online presence. What do you think? I suppose it is only a matter of time before someone comes up with a fully working 3D printed firearm, no?