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Ah, got it. I'd heard about single-shot printed guns, but hadn't seen one.
I'd still tend to go back to the slingshot analogy, though. In theory, a quality pocket rocket is also (potentially) lethal, but also impractical for large volume assaults due to the difficulties of reloading, etc.
On the other hand, one thing we can assume from the capitalist mindset is that quality will continue to improve as people innovate, so a single-shot weapon today will likely be a fully functional semi-automatic pistol with impressive endurance capabilities as better, more durable 3D printing inks are developed.
But, like CU said, we can do that now in a great many garage metal fabricating shops. There are literally millions of guys who could fabricate firearms with very little instruction and modest capital investment.
So, what are we *really* worried about here? Like with most firearms, 99% of the people who own them won't ever do anything illegal with them. The people who will illegally print a 3D weapon and use it for something nefarious would probably do the same thing with I firearm obtained through a different vector...which isn't the standard sort of "criminals are going to criminal, so what're you supposed to do" hand-tossing.
I just don't know that 3D printing is really where the energy needs to be expended in gun control policy.
I guess I keep going back to the bigger picture of the social cost of being afraid of or needing to regulate the transmission of data because of what some people might do with it. Then again, I'm old enough to remember how excited I was the first time I got to thumb through a bootleg copy of the Anarchist's Cookbook (and subsequently realized that most of the stuff in there was bullshit). I'm also old enough to remember the same thrill the first time I downloaded an illegal MP3 file. And music industry protestations to the contrary, I did not turn into some sort of criminal reprobate who murdered and raped starving musicians just for kicks.
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