It is Still Perfectly Legal to Print a 3D Printed Poison Dart Gun

The federal government is proposing regulations that would prohibit the swapping of blueprints for a homemade gun including 3D printed ones.

So, a guy named Peter decided to create a 3D printed poison dart gun, which skirts the proposed rules because, while it still looks a lot like a potentially lethal weapon, it is technically not a “firearm.”

According to Gizmodo, the “term ‘firearm’ only covers weapons that fire a projectile through the use of an explosive charge, airguns, like [Peter Alaric] DeSimone’s creation, are exempt from all federal regulations, including those designed to limit the availability of schematics and blueprints.”

DeSimone’s weapon uses rubbers bands to power the piston which fires a .40 caliber poison dart. His mechanism still packs quite a punch and could do some serious harm, though, especially if you actually did make the darts poisonous.

Intended to show the holes in the the proposed regulations, the DeSimone’s creation highlights just one of the legal debates over 3D printing that are likely to arise as more people are capable of manufacturing products – including lethal weapons – at home on their computer and gun laws and regulations struggle to catch up.