By Felicity Duncan
As of today, Americans will legally be able to download instructions to create untraceable, plastic, 3D-printed guns. Using a high-end 3D printer, which creates three-dimensional objects using various material (nylon, resin, steel, ceramic, gypsum and others) and costs several thousand dollars, users will be able to print a gun made from ABS plastic.
With no serial number or manufacturer, the gun will be untraceable and video footage has shown that, with the addition of a metal firing pin, it will be effective as a weapon.
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The Obama administration previously tried to prevent 3D-printed guns from becoming widely available. Under Obama, the Justice Department brought a case against a right-wing extremist who sought to put 3D-printed gun schematics online. Under Trump, however, the Justice Department has settled the case and given the man in question permission to publish his schematics.
And so, as of today and barring a last-minute injunction (eight states are suing to prevent the schematics from going live), a country that already grapples with an enormous number of gun deaths will make it a little easier for troubled individuals to print off a few guns and start shooting.
In Premium today, you can read about how American companies, desperate for workers, are trying a new strategy: hiring people with no experience. You can get the latest on the nail-biting elections in Zimbabwe and you can enjoy the first of Alec Hogg’s new Biznews Confidential series — it looks at Nelson Chamisa, the young hopeful seeking to snatch the Zimbabwean presidency away from Emmerson Mnangagwa. You can also listen to an interview with Joshua Miltz, co-founder of BitFund, South Africa’s first diversified cryptocurrency platform.
