HP will restrict ghost gun printing on its printers

Back in July 2018 we covered the legalisation of 3D printed guns in the United-States. 3D printed gun files appeared as early as 2013. The technology initiated a long legal battle, finally won by Cody Wilson the creator of the first weapon, in 2018. As simple as downloading a file and sending it to a 3D printer, special action had to be taken by the US State Department in 2013 to force the first 3D printing gun file to be removed. More than 100,000 people had downloaded it in less than 24 hours.

By allowing Cody Wilson to publish his 3D gun files on the Internet, a new public debate was initiated. Namely, a debate on homemade weapons. 3D printed weapons are very difficult to detect in the United-States and in the world. In most cases, when these files are downloaded, no serial number is assigned to the 3D printed guns, although a legal requirement.

Cody Wilson

Guns remain a divisive issue in the US. In addition, matters are made worse as most of the firearms readily available on the Internet are printed in plastic. This makes them undetectable by metal detectors. As a result, they have earned the designation of “ghost gun”.