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Tech
100,000 People Have Downloaded Plans for a 3D-Printed Gun, California Already Moving Towards Ban
It seems like just the other day we were bringing you the first footage of a 3D-printed plastic gun being test fired, mostly because it was totally just the other day. Since video of the successful test fire and plans for the gun -- a single-shot affair known as the Liberator -- were posted earlier this week, more than 100,000 people have downloaded the instructions and blueprints for the weapon. Meanwhile, proving that Newton's third law of motion holds up pretty much everywhere, a California State Senator is already drafting a bill to outlaw 3D-printed guns in that state.
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Tech
World’s First Entirely 3D-Printed Gun Test Fired [Video]
Last Friday, we brought you news of the Liberator, the world's first firearm created using nearly entirely 3D-printed parts. This weekend brought the update that the one-shot Liberator -- a pistol made entirely of ABS plastic with the exception of a nail you can find at any hardware store as the firing pin -- has been successfully test fired by its lead designer, Cody Wilson. And courtesy of Forbes' Andy Greenberg, here's the video to prove it.
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Tech
Say Hello to the Liberator, Supposedly the Word’s First Entirely 3D-Printed Gun
3D printing has come a long way in a relatively short time. You don't have to look far to find people people scoffing at the technology even today. That's not to say it doesn't still have many issues to overcome, but certain groups are making leaps and bounds pressing forward. Take, for example, Defense Distributed. They've long been working on creating a 3D-printed gun, and it looks like their efforts might finally have paid off. They've supposedly created an entirely 3D-printed gun, and they're calling it the Liberator.
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Tech
Congratulations, Nate Bell, for Redefining the Concept of “Too Soon”
Hey, Twitter, since this is still a developing story in which people's lives are in danger, no one has said anything tasteless and regrettable about events in Boston today, right? What? An Arkansas politician has already issued the obligatory "I'll bet those sissies wish they had guns now" statement? In, like record time? I'm shocked.
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Gaming
Buying Games Like Call of Duty Might Be a Moral Choice [Video]
Violence and video games is a tricky subject, but it's just plain factual that many games -- like Call of Duty, for example -- sometimes license the use and depiction of actual firearms. As in, the virtual sniper rifle a player's using might be about as close to the real thing as a virtual sniper rifle gets. So, is buying Call of Duty or Battlefield a moral choice? That's what Mike Rugnetta and PBS Idea Channel explore in their latest and greatest video.Read on... -
Gaming
Yes, Video Games Affect People, But That Doesn’t Give Guns a Free Pass
In an effort to not be constantly branded as That Guy when the violence in video games conversation crops up, I'd initially just rolled my eyes at the comments from U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) yesterday morning in regards to video games and guns. We've had this discussion over and over, and it's one worth having if we're actually going to talk about the issues at hand, but Alexander instead opted to make a laughably meaningless statement about the nature of video games and how they're a bigger problem than guns. Sigh. Okay, I guess we're doing this, then.
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Weird
Homes Hit With Bullets During AK-47 Target Practice
Two houses in Montville, Ohio came under gunfire on Wednesday, but the bullets didn't come from gang members, terrorists, or insurgents -- it came from two guys drinking beer and firing an AK-47 and several handguns at a target, though clearly not very well. Luckily, no one was hurt, and the two men were arrested before any serious damage could be done.
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Weird
Teen Accidentally Shoots Brother in Head While Posing for New Year’s Eve Facebook Photo
When you've been out on the town drinking the night away, and someone produces a very real handgun after you've returned home, the next step is absolutely not to begin striking poses with it for Facebook photos. In fact, this is pretty much the exact opposite of what you should do. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop people from doing so. Manuel Ortiz, 22, and his sister Savannah Ramirez, 19, of Phoenix, Arizona returned home from spending New Year's Eve out drinking, and one of the other two people with them happened to have a gun. While posing with it for a Facebook photo, Ramirez accidentally shot her brother in the head, killing him instantly.
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Gaming
Electronic Arts Drops Links to Gun Retailers on Medal of Honor Site
When it was announced that Electronic Arts would be partnering with gun companies for the latest outing of their Medal of Honor franchise, the vast majority of those following along let out a collective sigh. "Great," people said to each other, "Another reason to blame video games for gun violence." EA has finally agreed in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre and pulled the links to gun retailers from the Medal of Honor: Warfighter site. All it took was a national tragedy for them to realize their mistake.
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Uncategorized
Washington Man Threatens To Shoot Up Schools If Gun Rights Are Restricted, Gets Arrested
In stunningly clear object lesson on "Things Not To Do, EVER," World's Least Classy Total Idiot candidate Korry Martinson has turned himself into police who had been searching for him all weekend. Just hours after Friday's horrific shooting in Connecticut, Martinson, 19, allegedly put up a Facebook post thanking the shooter for his actions and threatening to "go shoot up every school in a 100 mile radius" if he felt that the tragedy affected his rights as a gun owner. Now, KOMO News is reporting that Martinson, who was at best drastically overestimating the popular sense of humor level over Friday's shooting, has been arrested on charges of felony harassment for the threat. You can see a screenshot of the alleged post below, but if you're among the many folks who are still kind of reeling from this one, be advised: it makes for exceedingly unpleasant reading.Read on... -
Uncategorized
Group Attempting to 3D Print a Gun Somehow Surprised When Their Printer is Confiscated
It's hard to imagine that a group that's trying to build a fully-functional weapon via 3D printing and then distribute those schematics would be surprised to find themselves constantly facing roadblocks, and yet the Wiki Weapons Project certainly appears to be genuinely shocked that the company that leased them a 3D printer has now confiscated it. Officially, Stratasys stated "It is the policy of Stratasys not to knowingly allow its printers to be used for illegal purposes." Then they sent people to grab the device.
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Uncategorized
United States Army Totally Wanted a Seizure Gun Because of Pokémon
In 1997, an episode of the popular Pokémon cartoon caused over 700 people to suffer convulsions due to something called "photic seizure induction." Essentially, a series of images caused these people to experience symptoms common in bouts of epilepsy, like vomiting and convulsions. This might typically lead to a health discussion, such as how to stop this kind of event, but the United States Army actually wanted to make a weapon out of it.
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Uncategorized
Borderlands 2 Includes the Most Annoying Gun in the World
The quickest way to win the hearts and minds of Internet denizens is by amusingly trolling them. At least, that's apparently what Gearbox Software was counting on when they made one very special gun: Hyperion's Energizing Bane for Borderlands 2. The gun itself boasts some impressive stats. It also just so happens to make an infernal racket when players shoot, and slows characters to a crawl. Hit the jump if you want to hear what very well may be the most annoying sound in the world.
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Uncategorized
The Internet Needs More My Little Pony Firearms
This is a Fluttershy AAC Honey Badger Rifle, and someone needs to make it. Come to think of it, My Little Pony firearms are so genius, there must be a few of them around by now. We did a short search and, true to form, there are a number of real My Little Pony guns. But not enough.Read on... -
Uncategorized
Speech-Jamming Gun Uses Your Own Loud Mouth To Shut You Up
Sometimes you just need to make someone shut up. Up until now, actually pulling that off has been a fairly difficult feat. You can rely on a "shhhhhhhh," or a smartly crafted insult, or a wad of duct tape, but those methods can be ineffective, difficult, and assault, respectively. Worry no more, thanks to researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and Ochanomizu University in Japan, you can now shut someone up by shooting them with a Speech-Jamming Gun. Of course, you can shut someone up by shooting them with a normal gun too, but the speech-jamming gun provides the added bonus of not killing them, valuable functionality indeed.
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