Texas 3-D Gun Printing Firm Selling Machine To Manufacture Metal AR-15 Semi-Automatic Rifle At Home
AUSTIN, Texas (CBS SF) -- The Texas firm which pioneered the 3-D printing of guns at home has unveiled a machine capable of milling the firing mechanism of an AR-15 assault rifle, which can then be combined with the rifle's remaining parts available online to create an untraceable weapon known as a 'ghost gun' among gun control advocates.
While gunsmiths have long used specialized equipment to manufacture such weapons, the $1,200 "Ghost Gunner" machine made by Austin-based Defense Distributed is targeted to the casual hobbyist and designed for home use.
The Ghost Gunner name appears to be a dig against gun control advocates by Defense Distributed's outspoken founder, gun-rights activist Cody Wilson.
Known as a computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) mill, the one-foot cubed machine can carve out the holes and indentations into a precast AR-15 firing mechanism known as a receiver.
Aluminum pieces shaped into a receiver and which are about 80 percent finished are widely available. The government has set the 80 percent threshold as what defines a regulated rifle. Finishing such pieces previously would require access to milling machines costing thousands of dollars.
Once the unfinished receiver is milled in the Ghost Gunner, the user can attach the magazine, stock, scope, barrel and other parts to make a weapon that avoids regulatory oversight such as serial number, background check or any other way of tracing it.
On Tuesday, California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have banned the sale, manufacture, purchase and trafficking of untraceable guns unless they were pre-registered with a serial number and owner background check. In his veto message, Gov. Brown said he did not see how adding a serial number to a homemade gun would advance public safety.
Early sale versions of the machine offered at $999 were quickly sold out, according to the company, which plans to begin shipping the devices by the 2014 holidays.
