A fascinating video detailing Cody Wilson’s Defense Distributed initiative has been published by Motherboard: “Point. Click. Gun.”
In the 24 minute video Wilson takes you on a tour of his operations and deep into his philosophy on gun making. You’ll see his own workshop containing the very Objet Connex 3D printer used to print prototypes of the lower receiver and extended capacity magazines – the same workshop identified in his federal firearms license. You’ll meet his partner, Benjamin Denio, who with Wilson, came up with the idea of open sourcing printable 3D gun models.
Wilson prefers to print gun parts in clear plastic so he can see likes clear to see everything inside – a sensible approach as his team is still refining the design. He says there are still issues with recoil forces, but says, “I think we can fix that.”
Regarding a visit from Canada’s Global News that we featured earlier, he says: “They’re so terrified of it.”
Thingiverse unilaterally banned weapons from it’s vast repository of 3D models, but Wilson says that “is an act of censorship”. It was this event that caused their team to launch DEFCAD.org, a site dedicated to uncensored publication of controversial 3D models.
Wilson says only 2-3 people are on his team in Austin Texas, but there are four people working in SolidWorks to design high-capacity magazines models.
Among the many striking quotes provided by Wilson is this one, which closes the video:
I think the real utopia is the idea that we can go back to the 1990’s and everything will be perfect forever. All we’re saying is, no, you can’t. Now there’s the Internet.
To some he’s the ultimate 21st century villain. To others, he’s a hero. Regardless, he’s poking very hard at a spot now sensitive due to 3D printing technology.
Via Motherboard
