Guns Want to be Free

From a somewhat terrifying post on the development of guns whose important parts can be created by 3-D printers (god save us all?), comes this hilarious comment thread:

PhosPhorious: "That might not seem like a lot. . .  but how often are you in a situation where you need more than six people dead?" 

Lemoutan: "When you're sick of the way they're playing Mendelssohns's Octet?"
PhosPhorious: "No, you can do that in 4 bullets.  By the time the second cello goes down, they've all stopped playing." 

Lemoutan: "Yeah, but I'd still have the nagging doubt that they might start up again. Viola players just don't care."

I would like to thank BoingBoing for creating a fantastic blog full of wonderful posts and cool ideas, and the snarkiest posters ever.

In all seriousness though, I think that this is only a tip of the ice bucket when it comes to 3-D printing.  Clearly someone agrees with me, as NY Representative Steve Israel Corey has proposed a ban on the association who demonstrated this new gun.  Cory Doctorow, the quite brilliant digital social commentator, futurist and blogger at BoingBoing obviously doesn't.

..And after reading the linked article, I'm under the impression that the entire article and comment thread is totally missing the point.

Corey, you're a brilliant guy, and undoubtedly there will be calls to enact dictatorial laws in an attempt to hold back 3-D printing and the scary future.  But is this one of those?  Or this just some random Representative from New York using a random youtube video to renew a (mostly) silly ban on plastic guns.  (Relevant CRS summary here) 

Now this may be a crushing blow to 3-D, amateur DIY marksmen and gun-enthusiasts (which is a negative, although I will be able to get up tomorrow despite their displeasure), but this doesn't really touch on 3-D printing except where it touches on making guns.  Companies won't have to change their printers; the law only applies to the manufacture of these guns and their parts.   No online communities will be affected (with the obvious exception of BoingBoing which will burst into dramaflame) as the law says *nothing* about plans or digital schematics.  

Keep calm and carry on everyone.