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Ted Cruz

7 (6.5%)

Rick Santorum

16 (14.8%)

Michelle Bachmann

13 (12%)

Chris Christie

23 (21.3%)

Rand Paul

49 (45.4%)

Total Members Voted: 107

[Sheb]

Actually, given the high cost of a 3D printer (And even if you have most of the parts printed, you still to buy motors and some pieces. And assemble it, which is beyond many people's reach), I don't expect them to become as common as file-sharing software are now.

Most people will have their pieces printed by some private contractor. How long before Amazon buy 10,000 printers and start taking orders online?

[FearfulJesuit]

Paul Ryan is now likely too liberal for the Religious Right.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Holy shit that site is full of bold-faced bias, or rather it was until you changed it to USA today.

But yes, Paul Ryan is now a radical socialist who wants to personally kill God by the standards of the religious right.

[SalmonGod]

Actually, given the high cost of a 3D printer (And even if you have most of the parts printed, you still to buy motors and some pieces. And assemble it, which is beyond many people's reach), I don't expect them to become as common as file-sharing software are now.

I think within a few years, they'll be a common hobby item.  They're dropping in price and complexity really fast.  Soon the barrier will be more technical knowledge than cost.  It will be that situation where everybody knows someone who has one and uses it.  I'm already there.  Give it 20 years, maybe less, and they'll be designed for consumers and a common household appliance.

Scriver... that stuff happens here in the U.S... it just does...

No European government are using such records to stop "the opposition" from getting healthcare.

You're not thinking about this very creatively.  Buying a 3d printer could be construed as legal grounds to be secretly placed on a government watchlist, for example, which paints people as targets for denial of a variety of rights.

[scriver]

Firstly. In a society where there is a state monopoly on printers, buying one would be a crime and thus punished accordiny to your country's standards - in Sweden, thus would probably mean a fine.

Secondly. The whole "Oppositioner is secretely put on a watch list for buying printer" is just as possible to happen in a monopoly-less society, if the government views printers as dangerous. In a monopolized society, however, there would be no need for the people to buy a printer of their own as the "printer stations" would be available to them as all others.

Scriver... that stuff happens here in the U.S... it just does...

And that is a travesty and should be changed. But aregulation of ED-printers isn't going to change or fix anything any more thant deregulation of driving or weapons would.

Give it 20 years, maybe less, and they'll be designed for consumers and a common household appliance.

For plastic, perhaps. But for other materials it's still going to be cheaper to hire a printer.

And hell, with the system of socialized printers I'm suggesting, you don't even have to afford a printer to be able to use one, regardless of how "affordable" it would be.

[GreatJustice]

Firstly. In a society where there is a state monopoly on printers, buying one would be a crime and thus punished accordiny to your country's standards - in Sweden, thus would probably mean a fine.

Secondly. The whole "Oppositioner is secretely put on a watch list for buying printer" is just as possible to happen in a monopoly-less society, if the government views printers as dangerous. In a monopolized society, however, there would be no need for the people to buy a printer of their own as the "printer stations" would be available to them as all others.

Scriver... that stuff happens here in the U.S... it just does...

And that is a travesty and should be changed. But aregulation of ED-printers isn't going to change or fix anything any more thant deregulation of driving or weapons would.

Give it 20 years, maybe less, and they'll be designed for consumers and a common household appliance.

For plastic, perhaps. But for other materials it's still going to be cheaper to hire a printer.

And hell, with the system of socialized printers I'm suggesting, you don't even have to afford a printer to be able to use one, regardless of how "affordable" it would be.

Well there are two obvious problems here:

(A) This limits the usage of 3D printers severely to, say, businesses that need them to make new innovations. Thus, any country with "state owned" 3D printers is at a severe disadvantage to countries with "free" 3D printers economically.

(B) A black market in 3D printing has been created, which is quite ludicrous to say the least.

Oh, and this "solution" only works in countries that don't already have companies and individuals with 3D printers, so it would have to be passed quickly or else you'd have to start hunting people down.

Also, if it hasn't already been mentioned, the first 3d printed gun has been fired. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185.

I can see this being a really convenient excuse to limit availability of 3d printers (something that has a lot of potential to upset the standard formula for consumerism) for the benefit of established industries, while mitigating some of the cultural backlash that normally goes along with anti-progress protectionism.

I certainly can't. For one, you still can't really print a gun. These guys had to get an existing firing pin. And you definitely can't print ammunition.

Realistically speaking, the only part of a gun that can't be conceivably printed these days is the barrel itself, and that's a restriction of the strength of plastic, not the design capabilities of a 3D printer (and it's comparatively trivial to make your own barrel in a shop). Ammunition is a different ballgame, but then ammunition controls are a lot trickier than gun controls, and 3D printers can go around a lot of restrictions without problem (magazine capacity, etc).

[SalmonGod]

Article I read the other day said everything except the firing pin could be printed, but the gun would only fire a few shots before becoming too damaged.

[Zangi]

1-2 shot compact throwaway handcannons.

[Loud Whispers]

Secretary cedes Sarin strike struck Syrian civilians.

That is to say, the White House says it now believes Assad has used chemical weapons against the opposition.

You know, since Obama declared military intervention would be in order if Assad was found to be using chemical weapons, what's going to happen now that the Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons?

[Dutchling]

Secretary cedes Sarin strike struck Syrian civilians.

That is to say, the White House says it now believes Assad has used chemical weapons against the opposition.

You know, since Obama declared military intervention would be in order if Assad was found to be using chemical weapons, what's going to happen now that the Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons?

Does Syria have oil?

[Zangi]

Secretary cedes Sarin strike struck Syrian civilians.

That is to say, the White House says it now believes Assad has used chemical weapons against the opposition.

You know, since Obama declared military intervention would be in order if Assad was found to be using chemical weapons, what's going to happen now that the Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons?

They still need clear evidence of that happening.  Now that the issue ain't black and white, as in both sides might be gassing each other...
Last I heard on the news about Syrian Gov't, they might have used the Sarin gas.  Same with the Syrian Rebels, they might have used the Sarin gas.  Though, the White House doubts that the Syrian Rebels did... but who knows?  We have different foreign influences looking into it... each probably in part looking for the narrative they want.
If Russia/China drops their support for the Syrian Gov't, you know they've concluded that only the Syrian Gov't is using the Sarin gas...

You don't want to jump in on a maybe...  or only listening to what you want to hear, ignoring everything else and making the call only on that.  If recent history is anything to go by... 
But hey, we have people saying we should help em based on not-so-concrete information, eh?  Damned if you do, damned if you don't... never good enough.

[GlyphGryph]

...What? How could a goverment use "it" to "further their own interests" or "suppress people"? How is that anything like open voter-records? It's much more akin to library records of what books you've lent.

Except that you've basically just argued that people should only be able to read books provided by the government. After all, there's no

I'm gonna go with a big ol'Hell No' on that one.

And you also basically destroy the whole point and purpose of 3d printers, that being to conveniently and fairly quickly obtain the pieces and components you need for whatever project your working on at an incredibly low price. Mandatory limits to "government approved printing centers" is saying "We don't care about potential benefits of 3d printers, so we're going to make sure they never have a chance to influence society".

[RedKing]

1-2 shot compact throwaway handcannons.

Exactly. Perfect kind of weapon for assassination attempts.

Hell, with the right kind of high-density plastic, you could even print flechette ammo.


From my standpoint, this is a seriously disturbing development. Especially in that lawmakers generally do not like Pandora's Boxes. And rather than try to weave their way through all the nuances and potential unintended consequences, they'll just blanket ban the technology.

For example, strictly from a regulatory standpoint: if you print a gun, do you have to register with the government as a firearms manufacturer (and therefore pay extra taxes)? What if you print five? Ten? A hundred? A thousand?

Do you have to report sales? If so, at what threshold does it go from hobbyist to bonafide weapons dealer?
"I just made two and gave one to a buddy for $10" is hobbyist.
"I printed a thousand and donated them to my local militia group"....not so clear cut. 

[10ebbor10]

Probably, there'd be a blanket ban on weapon printing. Pretty sure there's already such a law now. (As I highly doubt people are allowed to make their own weaponry).

Trying to limit it will be fairly hard however. But really, it's not like it's very hard to procure weaponry these days.

[Loud Whispers]

1-2 shot compact throwaway handcannons.

*These already exist and can be made with household appliances.