The World’s Most Popular 3D-Printed Gun Was Designed by an Aspiring Terrorist

THIS ARTICLE IS republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. This was the first time paramilitary members in Northern Ireland had been seen with 3D-printed guns—specifically, a.22 calibre modification of the FGC semiautomatic firearm. FGC stands for “fuck gun control,” and the acronym reflects the ideological leaning of its designer—and many others involved in the development of 3D-printed weapons. The first 3D-printed firearm emerged in May 2013 with the release of the Liberator, a handgun created by Cody Wilson, a University of Texas law student and libertarian pro-firearms activist. Its release caused a sensation: The gun was pictured on the front page of the New York Post, with fears it could be smuggled past metal detectors onto planes.