My thoughts on Defense Distributed's liberator pistol and Cody Wilson

There is this organization Defense Distributed founded by a certain Cody Wilson, that develop and distribute files for printable guns (you can print them in a 3D printer). Behind all this lies a philosophy about the right to defend yourself, or rather the right for everybody to have arms ("[..] as guaranteed by the United States Constitution and affirmed by the United States Supreme Court, [..]" - defense distibuted's website).

Cody seems like a pretty darn nice guy, with good intents. However, let's just pretend that we don't know who's distributing those files and what their motives are for a while. I want to demonstrate some irony in the plan here. Let's say that you can download a complete gun via thepiratepay (can't be done yet), and simply 3D-print it.

Now, criminals and thugs would probably print, use and sell them in large quantities (if they're usable even) - it'll be cheap and easy one day. Kids and crazy people will also be able to get one of them, fairly easy. Damn it, you can download a gun. Who can't download stuff?

The great irony about enabling people to defend themselves this way, is that threats are created in the first place. And there are several treats created here that can't be defended with the very same tool, namely kids and others who gets them to play around with who are a threat to themselves.

This isn't even a suboptimal solution, it's a bad solution.

So, if we pretended that we don't know who's behind the distribution of such files, it could just as well be some evil guy. However, I want to be clear on the point that I don't believe that the organization is evil, but I just think what they're doing is a bad idea.

Sooner or later this would happen anyway, and perhaps it's better that those "good" guys (they are, right? I'm certain their intents are good, no doubt about it) are doing it than someone else - the tool is being advertised differently (but does it matter?).

As I said, I think Cody is a good guy. But I'd rather see them spend their time creating some anti-assault tool for women or something more constructive while they're at it.