Ask Lemmy

Exactly. People will cite the fact that gangs smuggle guns all the time. And that is true, organized crime outfits absolutely can smuggle guns. And yes, it is also possible to make a gun from a 3D printed gun frame and parts anyone can buy on the net. And you can make your ammunition. But that really doesn't translate to 16 year olds being able to get their hands on semi-automatic rifles and large quantities of ammunition. Just think for a second, actually think mechanically how that would work. Imagine we're in a country with widespread gun control, (but still with illegal weapons to be found/made), and we have some 16 year old white suburban kid looking to get a hold of a gun.

So we have our would-be school shooter, trying to get his hands on a gun. What are his options? Maybe he tries to buy one. He asks the guy he buys weed from if he knows how to get a gun. Do you think any dealer slinging weed to high school kids is going to want to help him with that? They're probably a student at that school. And criminals aren't complete idiots. What gang of hardened criminals wants to sell a rifle and ammunition to a random white kid from the suburbs? You know exactly what it's going to be used for. Gangs may be willing to take the risk of trafficking weapons to arm themselves, but they don't just sell guns to any random person looking to buy, let alone to someone that is clearly planning to do something horrible with it. In reality, if our would-be shooter actually manages to meet the kinds of people that traffic weapons, it wouldn't work well for him. At best, they turn him into the cops themselves. At worst, a 16 year old from the suburbs disappears never to be heard from again.

Ok, so if he can't buy one, can he make one? Maybe. But they would have to have an extremely a home life unmonitored to the point of violating child neglect laws. People can make quite functional 3D-printed gun frames, but it's a skill you develop. You have to go through multiple cycles of printing, fitting, reprinting, reprinting, etc. If you actually want to have a weapon that works, you essentially need a workshop. And specifically a workshop that no one but he ever accesses. Maybe some kid out on a farm could manage that if given a high degree of independence...maybe? But if you look at the home life of the typical school shooter, it is simply not the kind of environment that would be conducive to running an elicit weapons workshop. In all but the most extremely neglectful homes, a parent is going to see them working on firearms and immediately freak the fuck out. It's just really hard to hide the kind of setup needed to make a 3D printed gun. This setup is not beyond what can be done in a domestic hobby workshop, but it is not the kind of thing that you can easily hide or disguise. In the case of our hypothetical 16 year old, they would try to setup the equipment necessary. But they would be quickly caught. Oh, and then we need to include the whole elaborate mini forge setup needed to actually make your own rounds...

TL:DR: consider the mechanics of a hypothetical 16-year old shooter actually trying to obtain a semi-automatic rifle in a world with strict gun control. Considering either the "buy it" or "build it" scenario, it would be extremely rare for any 16 year old to be able to obtain a gun. And this is true even assuming that gun running and 3D-printed guns continue to exist.

it's not 'zero oversight', you have to get a background check and wait 2 weeks to get your gun even though you passed (this bit is kinda pointless), and other stuff as well depending on where you are and where you're getting it. all that is irrelevant though because all a gun is is a tube with a stick in the back that hits the primer on the bullet, meaning all you need to make one is some pipe and a drill. also once again, see drugs for an example of how people will continue to attain illegal things even though they are illegan.