A company called Defense Distributed has announced that it is licensed to sell guns and ammunition that it prints from a standard web printer. The internet, true to form, has taken that information, shot it full of hype, and created a nightmare resembling a cross between Mad Max and Triumph of the Will. And why not? This is beginning of guns from your Lenox! Social media is abuzz with fears that criminals will print them, gun nuts will print them, and as soon as the internet can decide which political party most closely resembles the Waffen SS, they'll probably will be accused of printing them too.

Of course, most of this is terribly overexaggerated. But there's a hint of truth. And it signals a new age not only for gun laws and gun owners, but also for social media as well. Which is why we’re going to take the time to separate the truth from the lies for you.

First of all, we want to make it clear that this is not the beginning of the printable RPG.

To start with, these printed guns are still very poor quality, capable of shooting no more than six rounds before falling apart. 90% of parts currently featured in printed guns are standard-grade metal parts, and the technology does not exist to print these parts yet. The printers that create rifle components are not your Lenox. These are professional tools along the lines of PC’s before the Apple II- very useful if you know how to work in CAD and what, “Parse code error 1.21.88??X” means, but not at all useful for the rest of us. And these are devices that will never be nearly as popular as 2-D printers, because unlike 2-D printing, you can’t just re-run the job when there’s an error. Every object takes hours to make and then a few more hours of quality testing, and if it fails testing, you need to rewrite the program. The type of person who wants to take revenge on his boss or knock over a seven eleven typically doesn’t have the time, training or patience for this type of work.

And of course, the technology to print high quality, complex machinery like a firearm is almost non-existent. There are some high-end machines capable of printing basic tools, like this cute plastic toy. There are even more expensive machines that can print springs or gears inside precision tools that would otherwise be impossible to build. But no machine can print a fully functioning automatic rifle. What that means is that a 3-D printer must print each component part piece by piece, before the pieces are assembled by a qualified weapons expert, or possibly by an armorer, depending on the quality of the parts and if they need further machining. Of course, many people can shoot to kill, but not many people can build a gun by themselves, and those people tend to be well-adjusted shooting enthusiasts, military professionals, or hunters. They tend not to be unbalanced college students looking for a quick and oversight free way to end it all.

But this technology will change the gun debate forever. 

For starters, components like high capacity magazines just became impossible to ban. Enthusiasts have already figured out how to print them, and their quality will only go up over time. So while you might not be able to buy one in a few years, the guys you know at your local firearms store or local shooting range will probably be able to put you in touch with a man who can print one up for you. Can’t get one of those cool, but ridiculously illegal firearm conversion kits? As soon as metal additive printing is perfected, you will be able to get those the same way.  Blanket bans will no longer work, at all.

But what is truly interesting about this new development is that Defense Distributed made the conscious choice to build their work using every tool Web 2.0 offers. They have even created a wiki-weapon project, which works exactly like Wikipedia except that instead of building an encyclopedia, experts are coming together to build a multi-purpose printable gun.  The website hosting wiki-weapon has all the features that our blog has been telling people to use for years: you can share the stories or your work via LinkedIn, check out a gun blog, make a donation, tell your friends that you have made a donation, etc. Defense Distributed also cultivates potential investors and potential supporters via Twitter and Facebook accounts, which they update continuously. They even recognize the power of Pinterest (though their board could use some work).

So, what does this mean? It means that soon, debates on the second amendment will become non-existent, as the second Amendment will no longer be a necessary protection. It won’t be possible to infringe the right to keep and bear arms, for as 3-D printing becomes more commonplace, and 3-D plastics become more durable, a qualified owner can create any weapon or any accessory that he or she would like. If not, he can find a friend with a printer, or buy the component from an acquaintance.

In conclusion, we will essentially be living in the America that many gun rights advocates have dreamed of, where all those with the necessary qualifications — the intelligence and responsibility to learn how to use and assemble a firearm, for example — can get the firearm that they believe they need. That might not be a bad thing. Semi-automatic pistols have proven useful in stopping home invasions, highly armed, well trained societies have low gun crime rates, and as mentioned before, these are not tools that criminals or psychopaths can easily make or assemble on their own. If these new tools lower crime and homicide rates, this could be remembered as a landmark moment in the history of web 2.0.