California high school shooter used untraceable 'ghost gun,' sheriff says

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Welcome to the future. 3D printing is here to stay. With little help from powder metallurgy… I say small arms are not the most dangerous things that can be printed.

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They didn’t say it was 3D printed though. 3D guns suck in reality. Good for 1 shot if you are lucky. There’s a great video on a guy who printed one and it exploded at the range. Certainly if you use a metal barrel you can have a longer life but they are not designed to hold 10 rounds.

I 3D print stuff frequently and I would never print a gun that’s not reliable. You just can’t do that with a home printer.

Much ado about nothing.

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I’ve seen a 3D printed AR at the range and it worked beautifully!

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The new metal 3D printers have started coming down in price (I know people that have them) and can make things very reliable.

I do NOT know of anyone that has or has tried to print a firearm or any firearm parts, but I am sure it can be done at home by people that know what they are doing.

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The story is about ordering parts not printing parts.
You can legally buy or make all of the parts to make a firearm and build your own under federal law.

A license is not required to make a firearm solely for personal use. However, a license is required to manufacture firearms for sale or distribution. The law prohibits a person from assembling a non–sporting semiautomatic rifle or shotgun from 10 or more imported parts, as well as firearms that cannot be detected by metal detectors or x–ray machines. In addition, the making of an NFA firearm requires a tax payment and advance approval by ATF.
[18 U.S.C. 922(o), (p) and (r); 26 U.S.C. 5822; 27 CFR 478.39, 479.62 and 479.105]

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One must be careful to understand what parts do what if building a 80% AR for personal use. If you follow “SOME” instructions you will end up taking out the metal and drilling the hole for the “Auto Sear”… It’s the hole OVER the selector switch.

In chatting with my local ATFE guy, doing that modification shows “intent”. That said if you have the M-16 trigger parts and BCG installed it is not, some commercially manufactured civilian rifles came factory with them (Colt). That said if you had the 3 round burst bits you might be in trouble as they are very specific to military rifles, never offered on the civilian market and therefore NFA.

If you want to build an 80% lower be aware of the rules and regs that go with them.

Cheers,

Craig6

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Under CA law you must file for a serial number, once approved and issued you have a time period to have the serial number issued to be engraved per regulation for size, depth, and material if polymer and provide photographic evidence of being completed and complied with to a database with the CA DOJ when dealing with 80% firearms.

Yet with pistols they are nearly sending an rsvp for the CA DOJ to come pay you a visit and to fishing to see what else you have. Here’s a link to the requirements.

https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/consumer-alert.pdf.

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I’ve heard many accounts good and bad regarding 80% polymer AR lowers, I’ve not heard or seen any 3D printed accounts.

The stress point is at the rear take down pin hole near the buffer tube mounting hole. If dropped, or stressed side to side they can crack and break off. Over time the recoil can cause this to stress and crack, then break as well.

Folks with .22LR dedicated builds say they’ve had years of use with no issues.

My brother in law has some fancy 3D printing equipment and he’s pretty good at making things. I asked him about printing files and he said wouldn’t trust them. I would be hesitant myself.

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If I read things correctly he used a .45 which means he either had a 1911 or Glock 80% lower, not an AR lower. Whether polymer or steel if in CA he violated the law by not jumping through the bureaucratic hoops to get it serialized. Or as is more likely the case, his recently deceased father did.

Cheers,

Craig6

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Give it 10 years. Just sayin’

https://www.raytheon.com/news/feature/print-missile

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He was 16 in order to have a firearm in your possession you must be 21 be it a long arm or a handgun under CA law. So on that premise alone regardless of 1911 or P80 it is illegal for him, as it states you must be of age and legally able to do so/not be a prohibited person.

Any way you cut it, there’s a parent who is most likely responsible if not both of them. The Dad when he was alive, and Mom for sure as the Sheriff Deputies recovered registered and unregistered firearms from the home, along with parts.

We have safe storage laws if they are minors in the home intended to keep them from unauthorized or accidental access. So far we’ve heard nothing of her being charged. Instead they’re fueling the ghost gun 80% and 3D printing hysteria.

In fact with my purchases that I made this weekend along with my ID and other supporting documents I now keep my make and model information as I have to fill out a safe storage affidavit ensuring it meets the criteria as a CA DOJ approved firearms safe.

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:woman_facepalming: dude I am so sorry y’all have to go through all that. :frowning_face:

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