Texas Company Lets You Print Your Own Metal Gun on 3-D Printer; Now Anyone Can Make Their Own Gun, If They Can Afford the Printer

Texas company develops a metal gun you can make at home on your own 3D printer. The company made an M1911 out of stainless steel with a 3-D printer. This has spurred fears that criminals can make their own weapons, but the cost is still prohibitive. The printer costs "more than my college tuition"

Solid Concepts, a specialty manufacturing Texas company announced that it made the first metal gun using a 3-D printer, allowing people to create their own firearms. Solid Concepts posted a blog saying their new 3D printer gun fired more than 50 rounds. The new printer gun can hit a bull's-eyes at over 30 yards.

The printer gun is M1911 pistol. The M1911 handgun was designed by John Browning. It was first used during the Philippine-American War. The M101911 is built from stainless-steel parts. It has a carbon-fiber handgrip carved with a laser. A laser printer? No.

Solid Concepts blog said "The 3-D-printed metal gun proves that 3-D printing isn't just making trinkets and Yoda heads."

Solid Concepts told law enforcement officials and politicians not to worry. Officials are worried that as 3-D printers become more affordable, criminals will be able to make untraceable weapons without leaving the house.

Alyssa Parkinson, a spokeswoman for Solid Concepts blogged "Let me start out by saying one, very important thing: This is not about desktop 3-D printers."

The gun can’t be made on a basic 3-D printers, like the MakerBot Replicator 2, which costs about $2,000. It can only be made by a high-end printer that most people can’t afford.

Parkinson said "The industrial printer we used costs more than my college tuition (and I went to a private university). And the engineers who run our machines are top of the line; they are experts who know what they're doing and understand 3-D printing better than anyone in this business."

In a statement Kent Fireston, a Solid Concept vice president said "It's a common misconception that 3-D printing isn't accurate or strong enough, and we're working to change people's perspectives."