DA: Teen arrested after threatening to ‘shoot up’ Cape Cod school – When police searched his residence, the man had a 3D printer capable of making weapons, according to prosecutors. [More]
And now, the rest of the story:
Charges dropped against Falmouth 18-year-old accused of planning school shooting – The “suspicious” male seen at a local elementary school was actually not Fotheringham, according to his lawyer. [More]
Hey, can’t be too careful with 3D printer owners… and Fightin’ Bob Galibois is determined to press on…
[Via Edmund M]
Haven’t we heard politicos demand licenses for printers and fed installed firmware to prevent printing anything that might look in some way, shape or form like a weapon?
My sociability quotient is dropping day by day…oops that might be taken as a threat indicator.
Turns out he also had a car capable of driving to New Bedford High School and buying a gun from the Latin Kings. We can’t have that!
… the man had a 3D printer capable of making weapons….
Which is to say, the man had a 3D printer.
As Henry points out, he also had a car, which is no doubt capable of drunk driving and drive-by shootings, too. Probably a few knives in his kitchen, too, capable of stabbing and slashing orphans, nuns, and elementary school kids.
A 3D printer means nothing; they’ve become extremely common — my area’s F*c*b**k Marketplace site has no less than three for sale at any given moment, usually because the current owner upgraded and doesn’t need the old one anymore, not because they gave up on it. As equipment-centric hobbies go, the bar for entry on this one is extremely low.
And “making weapons” is extremely vague. To my knowledge, there’s still no hobbyist-grade 3D printer that can make a functional firearm or firearm part that will function reliable for more than a few shots, if that. The plastic just isn’t solid enough to withstand the heat or pressure.
But leave it to the press to put the most fear-mongering spin on it, that could later be used as “fact” to restrict or prohibit home-based hobby parts fabrication and proof-of-concept manufacturing and innovation.