Someone Made $3,000 Selling 3D-Printed Guns at a Gun Buyback

[sl8]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/akee4e/someone-made-dollar3000-selling-3d-printed-guns-at-a-gun-buyback-event

Someone Made $3,000 Selling 3D-Printed Guns at a Gun Buyback Event

Officials say they are changing the rules after one man made bank at the ‘no questions asked’ event in Houston.

By Janus Rose
NEW YORK, US
August 2, 2022, 11:29am

Someone walked out of a gun buyback event in Houston, Tex. with more than $3,000 after unloading a box of over 50 3D-printed guns, according to local officials and media reports.

The “no questions asked” event was the first of its kind in Houston, offering residents Visa gift cards of $50 - $200 for each gun they turned in. So naturally, someone used a 3D printer and freely-available schematics to fabricate dozens of so-called “ghost guns”—and turned a tidy profit.

News of the hustle spread on social media, along with photos of the homemade gun haul. Some of the DIY guns pictured don’t even seem to be full guns—many appear to just be lower receivers, the part of a firearm that is regulated and considered a “gun” under the law.

Some social media users mocked the buyback program for allowing such an obvious loophole, while others argued that using cheaply-made plastic firearms to take money from the government is good, actually.

[...]

[gay texan]

1. That's some

Church of the Subgenuis slack right there....

[DakotaSnow]

2. Cheeky Monkey

Always a new scam.

[TheBlackAdder]

3. What is. . .

.




If that guy is actively printing them or still has others or the specs and means to print them, then his ass is fried.

This also includes evidence that he downloaded the plans online.


Sooner or later someone will drop a dime on him.

.

[Zeitghost]

7. Why?

Having plans and a printer is not a crime, neither is manufacturing ghost guns in TX and many other places.

[rockfordfile]

20. It's fraudulent

[Zeitghost]

25. Maybe you could explain the fraud

I don't see anything illegal going on.

You specifically mentioned having a printer and the plans, why would that be illegal?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

8. Why? It's not illegal to print firearms if for personal use,

https://3dprinterly.com/is-it-illegal-to-3d-print-a-3d-printer-guns-knives/#Is_It_Illegal_to_3D_Print_Guns

Is It Illegal to 3D Print Guns?
It can be illegal to 3D print guns depending on your location. You should refer to your country’s laws to see if it is legal to 3D print them. One London student was convicted for 3D printing a gun, but the laws are different in America. 3D printed guns should go off in a metal detector to satisfy federal laws.

It is not illegal to 3D print guns at home for legal use depending on your location and countries’ laws. However, it is illegal to sell these 3D printed guns. There is a federal law that makes illegal any gun that does not go off in pass-through metal detectors which includes plastic 3D printed guns.

Users are asked to insert a piece of metal in these types of guns to make them detectable.

As long as all relevant Fed. and state laws are followed, it is perfectly legal to print and sell 3D printed firearms.

[TheBlackAdder]

12. Thought this ATF Rule went in last year. But learned something new.

.

https://www.gunsandpride.com/2022/04/27/its-official-atf-finalizes-and-publishes-ghost-gun-rule/

This new rule doesn’t ban homemade gun kits, but it does subject these kits to the same regulations and background check requirements as other firearms.

The agency says it won’t necessarily consider as “firearms” all unfinished frames or receivers, which could still allow the purchase of certain so-called “80-percent” receivers. But if those receivers ship with dimples or jigs to assist in the machining process, that gun kit will be subject to all rules and regulations governing functioning firearms.
.
.
The rule redefines a handgun “frame” as “the housing or structure for the primary energized component designed to hold back the hammer, striker, bolt, or similar component prior to initiation of the firing sequence (i.e., sear or equivalent).” It also redefines rifle “receiver” as “the housing or structure for the primary component designed to block or seal the breech prior to initiation of the firing sequence (i.e., bolt, breechblock, or equivalent).”

The agency is shutting down one of the primary ways law-abiding gun owners have been able to build firearms without the government’s knowledge or say-so. But in another provision that has received far less media attention, the ATF is making sure that the records of those gun sales never go away.

.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

13. I believe that the lower receiver, if sold to a private party, has to have a serial number on it

to satisfy the ATF requirements.

Personally, I think 3D printed firearms should be banned and stiff penalties imposed for violating the ban.
But that's just me.

[DakotaSnow]

26. Yep

I myself don't like the idea of 3D printed firearms. But that genie is out of the bottle.

[Hellbound Hellhound]

4. No surprise. These Buybacks are easily exploited by anyone who can fab a "Firearm".

Doesn't have to work, doesn't have to be capable of firing ammunition, just needs to look like a gun and they get money. Some PVC, a few bits of metal and piping, and a slamfire breach: Instant profit of $48 (at the lowest end) for a $2 investment.

Kind of hard to argue with turning in a hundred or so of those for a "Free" $4800, all on the government's dime. Guranteed, the seller's gonna go out and buy a Barret or something similar after that sudden cash infusion (A Barret is a .50-cal anti-armor rifle.)

As the Internet says, "It's free real estate".

[fescuerescue]

5. THese buyback sellers should be electronically recorded

ANd if ever caught with a gun again, charged with a felony.

[DakotaSnow]

9. What's the felony?

Legal owner, legal gun, buy back. No crime committed, no felony to be charged with.

These aren't all felons with illegal guns. Plenty of average people just making some money off old crappy guns.

[fescuerescue]

15. It should be a crime.

That's the point.

If you sold your gun back. You sholdn't be allowed to own them again.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

17. ....

It should be a crime.

But it ain't is it.

[fescuerescue]

21. Then it's a gun industry subsidy

People sell them to the government, and the same people just buy more.

counterproductive.

[Dr. Strange]

18. What?

If you sold your gun back. You sholdn't be allowed to own them again.

Isn't the gun destroyed if you sell it? How would they "own them again"?

[fescuerescue]

19. Well think about it

We hold a gun back. Give people government in return for getting guns off the street.

And they in turn are permitted to go out and buy new ones?

Good lord.

All that does is put MORE guns on the street.


Without a prohibition on buying more, this is simple a subsidy to the gun industry.

[Dr. Strange]

22. Well, sure.

Without a prohibition on buying more, this is simple a subsidy to the gun industry.

Hasn't that always been a complaint against buybacks? But if you're not going to ban guns, there's nothing you can do.

[Amishman]

23. Because with the exception of people gaming it like this, the buyback $ is way less than its worth

People aren't turning in working $300+ pistols for $100, then buying another $300+ pistol.

The only ones who turn a profit on these are the rare individual who gamed the system like this. Most of these guns could easily have fetched many times as much sold at a gun shop.

[Zeitghost]

10. Thats a good way

to ensure nobody turns in guns to a buyback.

[sarisataka]

14. These buybacks are touted

As "no questions asked".

A criticism from outside the gun control community is that criminals can dispose of guns they have used in crimes and get paid for doing it.

[fescuerescue]

16. Seems like alot of questions should be asked

[Amishman]

24. Then far fewer people would participate

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. Lol.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

11. Similar things have happened in Michigan

Pretty easy to go to the hardware store and mock up a pipe gun to sell back.