A new reality TV show- every week, get a handful of hobby machinists and gun nuts together and have them build home brew firearms from scratch. Searching scrap yards for metal, melting and casting parts, milling and lathe work and welding, and at the end, the big shoot-off. A few minor industrial accidents to liven up the show, like firing off the TIG welder and arcing a HF spark up an arm, or a aluminum explosion while casting, a stray hippie getting his dreads caught in the drill press, that sort of thing... little sections on metallurgy and tempering, a few history lessons...
There would be special world travel episodes where a team goes to Darra or the Philippines, etc. to interview the experts at work. Seasons last program is a build off against the third world pros.
And every week , the time pressure aspect could change, week one, (single shot breechloader) the Zulu's are massing, week two, (shotguns rule) the zombies are coming over the hill, week three, (semi auto rifle) the gooks are in the wire, etc.
And the guest stars, think of the guest stars- Jerry Miculek, Clint Smith, oh yes, this is the program of programs to explode progressive heads! And the guy who built the AK out of a shovel, special guest commenter for sure!
We need a team of stooges to act as the program leads, some cerebral gun nut 1000 yard target shooter, a hardcore SF dude with lots of time in bad places, and a quintessential redneck mountain man. Three is always good for plot tension and discord.
Essentially,this would be a cross of "Top Gear" and one of the Biker build off programs,for gun nuts, with a spice of serious metal working and history.
It's a hit. Trust me.
True story- when my daughter was about 10 years old, we did a lot of archery practice- Lord of the Rings and all, the kids had a real enthusiasm for archers, especially the girls who were particularly enamored of the eleven bowmen. So one day we had a fun game- the orcs were coming and we had 45 minutes to build two working longbows to repel them. Now this was rough work to be sure, a hickory stave, bandsaw, drawknife and linen cord, mine was maybe 35 lbs draw weight, her's maybe 10, but I sure would not want to stand in front of one. It occurred to me that maybe Ye Old England could do with a mass drop of info on arming the Isle on the sly. Then I realized it was not the weapon but the will that seemed to be lacking. Time to put away the glass again!
The ability to make sophisticated firearms at home, with CNC and 3D printing, seems likely to drive a crossover from Second Amendment issues to First Amendment issues.
If government can prohibit a particular type of weapon from being sold, then can it also prohibit the sale of a kit which includes specialized jigs and fixtures to make such a weapon? Seems likely. But what if weapon can be made using low-cost CNC and/or 3D printing equipment...say, a few thousand dollars worth...from readily available materials....by simply downloading from the Internet a file which drives the equipment? Is such a file 'speech' from a First Amendment perspective, or is it merely an intangible form of a 'thing'?
Given the mindset of your typical Federal prosecutor, it doesn't matter if it's a 'thing', or if it's 'speech', because, no matter which one you pick, it's going to also be a 'conspiracy' which is a slam-dunk win for the feds and a guaranteed trip to the pen for the 'conspirator'.
In certain parts of the Anglosphere it is already illegal to "possess" such a computer file. It does pose an interesting question of what possession consists of. How does one possess a piece of ethereal data?
The cnc and 3d printing aspect catches the eye of the authorities because it is new tech, and it makes it easy to build things for the unskilled- but any competent machinist can build a gun. For that matter, any reasonably skilled craftsman with a hacksaw, a file, and a few other basic tools can build a gun. That genie is out of the bottle, for good.
That genie is out of the bottle in a whole lot of ways. Anyone with a couple of bucks for a can of hairspray and a match has just bought a flamethrower. Anyone with some minor engineering skills and several bucks can put together a number of EMP devices. Anyone with some minor engineering skills and (more than several) bucks can build a nuclear bomb. Anyone with some high school chemistry can generate any of a number of chemical weapons. Anyone with some high school chemistry can put together any of a number of different kinds of bombs, some more stable and transportable than others, but all easy to detonate.
We are on the cusp of a revolution in personal warfare/assassination. With the increasing accuracy of photo recognition , and autonomous flight vehicles, improved battery tech and micro drones, it will not be long in the future before no person of any interest at all- political, scientific, entertainment, etc, will dare to take a step outside of an electronically and perhaps physically denied space. And it will be necessary to actually attack the vehicle, as it will need no com link to an operator. Things are going to get "interesting".
What the idiot gun control supporters ought to be worrying about is some dis-affected, socially awkward savant in moms basement with a bio chem lab.
A new reality TV show- every week, get a handful of hobby machinists and gun nuts together and have them build home brew firearms from scratch. Searching scrap yards for metal, melting and casting parts, milling and lathe work and welding, and at the end, the big shoot-off.
ReplyDeleteA few minor industrial accidents to liven up the show, like firing off the TIG welder and arcing a HF spark up an arm, or a aluminum explosion while casting, a stray hippie getting his dreads caught in the drill press, that sort of thing... little sections on metallurgy and tempering, a few history lessons...
There would be special world travel episodes where a team goes to Darra or the Philippines, etc. to interview the experts at work. Seasons last program is a build off against the third world pros.
And every week , the time pressure aspect could change, week one, (single shot breechloader) the Zulu's are massing, week two, (shotguns rule) the zombies are coming over the hill, week three, (semi auto rifle) the gooks are in the wire, etc.
And the guest stars, think of the guest stars- Jerry Miculek, Clint Smith, oh yes, this is the program of programs to explode progressive heads! And the guy who built the AK out of a shovel, special guest commenter for sure!
We need a team of stooges to act as the program leads, some cerebral gun nut 1000 yard target shooter, a hardcore SF dude with lots of time in bad places, and a quintessential redneck mountain man. Three is always good for plot tension and discord.
Essentially,this would be a cross of "Top Gear" and one of the Biker build off programs,for gun nuts, with a spice of serious metal working and history.
It's a hit. Trust me.
True story- when my daughter was about 10 years old, we did a lot of archery practice- Lord of the Rings and all, the kids had a real enthusiasm for archers, especially the girls who were particularly enamored of the eleven bowmen. So one day we had a fun game- the orcs were coming and we had 45 minutes to build two working longbows to repel them. Now this was rough work to be sure, a hickory stave, bandsaw, drawknife and linen cord, mine was maybe 35 lbs draw weight, her's maybe 10, but I sure would not want to stand in front of one. It occurred to me that maybe Ye Old England could do with a mass drop of info on arming the Isle on the sly. Then I realized it was not the weapon but the will that seemed to be lacking. Time to put away the glass again!
The ability to make sophisticated firearms at home, with CNC and 3D printing, seems likely to drive a crossover from Second Amendment issues to First Amendment issues.
ReplyDeleteIf government can prohibit a particular type of weapon from being sold, then can it also prohibit the sale of a kit which includes specialized jigs and fixtures to make such a weapon? Seems likely. But what if weapon can be made using low-cost CNC and/or 3D printing equipment...say, a few thousand dollars worth...from readily available materials....by simply downloading from the Internet a file which drives the equipment? Is such a file 'speech' from a First Amendment perspective, or is it merely an intangible form of a 'thing'?
Given the mindset of your typical Federal prosecutor, it doesn't matter if it's a 'thing', or if it's 'speech', because, no matter which one you pick, it's going to also be a 'conspiracy' which is a slam-dunk win for the feds and a guaranteed trip to the pen for the 'conspirator'.
ReplyDeleteIn certain parts of the Anglosphere it is already illegal to "possess" such a computer file.
ReplyDeleteIt does pose an interesting question of what possession consists of. How does one possess a piece of ethereal data?
The cnc and 3d printing aspect catches the eye of the authorities because it is new tech, and it makes it easy to build things for the unskilled- but any competent machinist can build a gun. For that matter, any reasonably skilled craftsman with a hacksaw, a file, and a few other basic tools can build a gun. That genie is out of the bottle, for good.
That genie is out of the bottle, for good.
ReplyDeleteThat genie is out of the bottle in a whole lot of ways. Anyone with a couple of bucks for a can of hairspray and a match has just bought a flamethrower. Anyone with some minor engineering skills and several bucks can put together a number of EMP devices. Anyone with some minor engineering skills and (more than several) bucks can build a nuclear bomb. Anyone with some high school chemistry can generate any of a number of chemical weapons. Anyone with some high school chemistry can put together any of a number of different kinds of bombs, some more stable and transportable than others, but all easy to detonate.
Eric Hines
We are on the cusp of a revolution in personal warfare/assassination. With the increasing accuracy of photo recognition , and autonomous flight vehicles, improved battery tech and micro drones, it will not be long in the future before no person of any interest at all- political, scientific, entertainment, etc, will dare to take a step outside of an electronically and perhaps physically denied space. And it will be necessary to actually attack the vehicle, as it will need no com link to an operator.
ReplyDeleteThings are going to get "interesting".
What the idiot gun control supporters ought to be worrying about is some dis-affected, socially awkward savant in moms basement with a bio chem lab.