Now There's a Short Documentary Going Inside 3D-Printed Gun Operation 'Wiki Weapons

We've covered many ins and outs of the 3D-printed gun project Wiki Weapons, which is being headed up by the Texas-based company Defense Distributed.

Now, a comprehensive, slightly less than 25-minute documentary has been made about the project that ultimately seeks to publish a design for a 3D-printed firearm that is safe and durable.

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

As 25-year-old Defense Distributed co-founder Cody Wilson expresses in the vide0 -- as he has done with TheBlaze in the past -- the whole operation is meant to prove a political point.

"Look gun control doesn't mean what it meant in 1994," Wilson said to Motherboard. Wilson went on to say that removing gun-related files from some websites too raised censorship issues. Defense Distributed created DEFCAD.org to host all these blueprints for firearms to be produced with 3D printers.

Watch the documentary produced by Motherboard (and be sure to keep an eye out for a mention of TheBlaze between the nine and 10-minute mark):

Defense Distributed recently became a licensed firearm manufacturer through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. From what Motherboard has learned, the ATF isn't yet interested in regulating 3D-printed guns. Why? Because they're just not good enough right now.

"We are aware of all the 3D printing of firearms and have been tracking it for quite a while," Earl Woodham, spokesperson for the ATF office in Charlotte, told Motherboard. "Our firearms technology people have looked at it, and we have not yet seen a consistently reliable firearm made with 3D printing."

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

George Semonick in ATF's Washington headquarters told Motherboard the guns would have to be durable enough to "last years or generations" to be considered reliable and potentially see regulations.

There are not restrictions for individuals manufacturing firearms for their own personal use. Now that Defense Distributed is a licensed firearm manufacturer, Wilson could sell 3D-printed parts. But Motherboard reported that Wilson does not intend to sell the pieces.

A 3D-printed lower receiver for an AR-15, which Defense Distributed is working on now, has trouble standing up to some of the recoil that comes with firing, Wilson said in the documentary.

"And I think we can fix that," he continued.

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

In one of its more recent demonstrations, Defense Distributed showed its printed lower standing up to 600 rounds.

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Related:

• Website to TheBlaze: People Rushing to Download Online Blueprints for 3D Printed Guns (Plus See Who From the Gov Is Visiting)
• Wiki-Weapons Shows 3D-Printed Gun Part Can Withstand 600 Rounds
• Have You Heard of the ‘Wiki-Weapons Project’ That Plans to Make 3D Printable Gun Designs Available to All?

(H/T: Gizmodo)