Most of us probably already have heard about 3D printers. Those devices manage to print most things that we want. Its popularity is increasing.
Lately, there were some reports from the UK that the police found printed guns in people’s houses. In the beginning, those 3D tools were unreliable. Currently, the 3D printed components form the parts needed to make a gun, at most 80 to 90% of the weapon. Other components have to be made from metal. One of the reasons why the popularity of 3D printed guns has increased is due to the coronavirus pandemic when there were difficulties with transporting weapons across the countries. There is a chance that in the future 3D printed guns will be ready to use because 3D printers will be able to print metal components.
In my opinion, 3D printing is a threat to safety. People who will not have access to a real gun will be able to print out one for themselves, and therefore it can result in more violence in the world. On the other hand, 3D printing can improve our lives, for instance, there is a possibility that in the future, we will be able to print organs, so that makes 3D printers important. I think that we can prevent the situation in which 3D printing would be a threat to safety. Companies which produce 3D printers can monitor what their consumers create through those devices. If they get a notification about printing a gun, they could block the usage of a printer and then call the police. Also, companies could make a contract, in which customers would have to write what the 3D printer would be used for, and then they would have to sign the paper.
Thanks for your time. Feel free to comment below 🙂
References:
In my opinion, I wouldn’t consider 3D printing a threat to safety. These days people abuse everything and there are thousands of other means of threat to safety than a 3D printing device. I agree the 3D printer creates another way to create meanance, however, if we look at it in this context, we wouldn’t be able to see the advantages that this device can bring. As you said earlier, it can be a very useful tool in medicine as it would be able to save people’s lives through printing organs or other required medical devices, thus preventing many deaths. And, as you also mentioned there are ways in which the printing of guns can be prevented such as tracking what someone prints or locating them in case they are printing dangerous weapons. Therefore we shouldn’t look at it as mainly a threat to safety.
In my opinion, we should start preparing for the fact that 3D printing will become more and more common.Even if the printing of guns will be blocked, there are many other dangerous devices that are not available to buy for everyone. Maybe 3D printer retailers should make a list of things that are prevented from printing in advance.
I think that 3D printing could be one of the most important technologies In the future if used properly, it is true that some people can or do use it for the wrong purposes, however if managed and controlled properly, it can give us a huge jump in technology development, it is already cost effective, inexpensive, its production is fast and efficient and most importantly it reduces waste from the production processes, so I think that we should utilize it to our own benefit, but at the same time look out for those who misuse it.