this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024
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There goes gun control. "After an attempted gang murder in the French city of Marseille last year, the police found what appeared to be a toy assault rifle, seemingly crafted from plastic and Lego parts. 'But the weapon was lethal,' Col. Hervé Pétry of the national gendarmerie recalled."

FGC is an abbreviation that represents what its creators think of gun control. Nine is for the 9-millimeter bullet it fires.

Mr. Elik, in his email to The Times, said it was wrong to focus on “European cops complaining about a small number of guns being recovered,” and shootings in which nobody was injured, “rather than the gun’s use as a tool of liberation.”

Anyone with a commercial 3D printer, hundreds of dollars in materials, some metalworking skills and plenty of patience could become a gun owner.

While countless 3D-printed guns have been designed and circulated on the internet, international law enforcement officials say that the FGC-9 is by far the most common. The gun is so desirable among far-right extremists in Britain that the possession and sharing of its instruction manual is being charged as a terrorist offense.

Ivan the Troll’s media message is that this is hypocrisy. Western governments, he has noted, have armed the world’s insurgents and authoritarian leaders with weapons of war. “I’m sharing a computer file,” he said in a 2022 interview. “If I’m guilty of sharing information, what does that make them?”

And while the FGC-9 has become a staple with some of the world’s far-right extremists, it has also been embraced by insurgent groups that are fighting Myanmar’s military junta, which has committed atrocities on its own people.

“A lot of people use them,” said a fighter there who goes by the call sign 3-D. He said the FGC-9 was often used for personal defense rather than for combat because its design left it susceptible to jamming in the harsh jungle environment.

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[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 69 points 1 month ago (2 children)

possession and sharing of its instruction manual is being charged as a terrorist offense.

Oi! You got a loisence for that PDF?!?

[–] 13esq@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

It's not a new thing, I remember something called the anarchists cookbook (I think) that wasn't too hard to find twenty years ago which is illegal to possess.

Edit: it is illegal to possess in the UK, apparently it's legal in some other countries

[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 27 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Maybe in Britland, but not in any country with civil rights and respectable free speech laws.

The Anarchist Cookbook isn't isn't illegal. Hell, the US government publishes TM 31-210, a field manual on improvised munitions that goes a lot further than the Cookbook ever did.

[–] Maalus@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Never was illegal also most of the things inside are bullshit and don't work.

[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Depended on the copy you got - the counter intelligence response to the anarchists cookbook was to flood networks with versions with subtle but important errors that would either cause premature explosions or the final result to be inert.

It's a common counter intelligence tactic to bury harmful information in a deluge of misinformation.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I would like some evidence for this, please.

Because some of the "recipes" in the Anarchist's Cookbook have problems that are way more than subtle errors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bananadine

[–] JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Lol I was going to bring up bananadine

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yeah, I'm guessing THEY™ took one look at the Anarchist's Cookbook and said, "yeah, we don't need to bother."

I think the person on this page puts it well:

Some people claim that the CIA/FBI/author/whoever sabotaged the Anarchist Cookbook to blow up would-be anarchists or to make the recipes fail. However, there is little evidence to support this theory. I find it much more likely that the errors are just due to incompetence. Note that many of the above errors (e.g. wrong symbol for arsenic, wrong formula for alcohol) don't sabotage anything but are just stupid errors. I would expect that if it were deliberately sabotaged, it wouldn't have errors like these.

http://files.righto.com/anarchy/index.html

On top of that, the author thinks the book should no longer be in print because of what it's been used for.

In 2000, Powell posted a message on the book's Amazon page. He wrote the Cookbook, he said, when he was 19 "and the Vietnam war and the so-called 'counter culture movement' were at their height. I was involved in the anti-war movement and attended numerous peace rallies and demonstrations. The book, in many respects, was a misguided product of my adolescent anger at the prospect of being drafted and sent to Vietnam to fight in a war that I did not believe in ... The central idea to the book was that violence is an acceptable means to bring about political change. I no longer agree with this." That teenage action clearly haunts him, and has had bigger consequences than he could ever have foreseen.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2013/dec/18/why-anarchist-cookbook-author-william-powell-off-shelves

He wrote it when he was 19. Of course it's full of errors.

[–] MrZee@lemm.ee 9 points 1 month ago

The Anarchist’s Cookbook is actually legal to possess (and buy and sell). It’s a common misconception that it is illegal. In the US, at least.

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In the first ever team up between Interpol and Adobe.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 24 points 1 month ago

... seemingly crafted from plastic and Lego parts.

They thought the Picatinny rail was Lego.

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What gun control?

-Me, an American

[–] Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 1 points 1 month ago

I'm saying that any implemented gun control would become easier and easier to bypass. Hopefully our extremists aren't smart enough.

[–] anonymous111@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I've never really understood the 3D gun printing use case.

Yes, they can fire bullets but bullets are illegal where guns are illegal.

Am I missing something?

There were cases where decommissioned guns could be bought in the UK (firing pins removed). Gangs were recommissioning these guns by adding the removed components.

However, where do the bullets come from?

[–] Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Article doesn't mention. I guess you either get them from the $100 electrochemical machine you bought to make the pressure-bearing parts or attempt to pay an undercover police officer for it, which was the way the only British dude arrested tried to obtain the guns.

Edit: That, or from a state where you don’t need a permit to just buy ammo.

[–] commandar@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

The ECM process isn't suitable for manufacturing ammunition.

In general, you'd still be generally reliant on the traditional manufacturing supply chain there. There is development happening in that space, but nothing anywhere near as complete as the FGC-9.

[–] barsquid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

What does the machine do for pressure-bearing parts?

[–] commandar@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Machine is borderline overselling it.

The ECM process works by pumping water containing an electrolyte through a metal part. When a current is applied to the water, exposed metal gets slowly etched away.

What these groups are doing is starting with high pressure hydraulic pipe and inserting 3D printed jigs that are basically a negative mask to bore out the pipe to their desired diameter, cut the chamber, machine in rifling, etc, with the end product being a functional barrel. As far as I'm aware, so far this has been limited to pistol caliber cartridges; rifle calibers are a step up in pressure and come with a whole host of different engineering challenges.

The "machine" is really nothing more than a bucket, an aquarium/pond pump, and a desktop power supply. It's honestly a really clever approach to the problem from an engineering standpoint.

[–] barsquid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thank you! I thought the internals of a 3D printed gun still needed metal parts to withstand firing, but that comment gave me the impression that a 3D printed part could be treated somehow. It makes more sense that the plastic is used as a jig / mask, rather than as the final component.

[–] commandar@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The majority of components in these things typically are printed. It's just the pressure bearing components like the barrel where ECM is being used.

The FGC-9 discussed in the article is notable because it was explicitly designed to be manufactured using components that are not regulated as firearms parts under European law. So there are non-printed parts in it, but everything is dual-purpose and can be acquired through unregulated channels, e.g., the hydraulic pipe that gets used as a barrel.

[–] massacre@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not for this purpose, but for a diy metalwork (foundry, milling, etc) project I have in mind, I'd really like to see how this works.

[–] commandar@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

As long as you don't need particularly tight tolerances or fine details, it works perfectly fine. The setup really isn't anymore complicated than I described. I have done it just because I wanted to see how difficult the process is. It's around $100 in startup costs assuming you have access to a printer. After that it's mostly just waiting and occasionally measuring cut progress.

Check out the Rack Robotics Powercore as well. It's a low cost wire EDM system that uses cheap 3D printers as a motion platform. It uses a very similar principle to cut metal using wire as the cutting tool. May or may not be more suitable depending on your exact use case. Still pretty rough around the edges though; SendCutSend makes more sense for most people that need things cut from flat stock for the most part.

[–] Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 2 points 1 month ago

It makes them.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yeah, it's only half of the puzzle. A quick and easy way to produce ammo casings would be needed if you really wanted to bootstrap your own guns (for good or evil).

Otherwise, make a flintlock musket maybe?

[–] UnfortunateShort@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

Ivan the Troll’s media message is that this is hypocrisy. Western governments, he has noted, have armed the world’s insurgents and authoritarian leaders with weapons of war. “I’m sharing a computer file,” he said in a 2022 interview. “If I’m guilty of sharing information, what does that make them?”

  1. "Owning hypocrites" is hardly a good reason to endanger the general population
  2. Other people being worse doesn't make you any better or less guilty
  3. Sacrificing peoples lives to send a message kinda does make you a terrorist

If this was his intention that is. It seems so given his nickname, but maybe he just got famous and used his chance to come up with some bullshit.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And while the FGC-9 has become a staple with some of the world’s far-right extremists, it has also been embraced by insurgent groups that are fighting Myanmar’s military junta, which has committed atrocities on its own people.

Hey, that's good to hear! I guess it is more than just trolling.

[–] commandar@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Jake Hanhrahan of Popular Front has done really extensive reporting on the general topic of 3D printed firearms. He's interviewed both people in the design community and people involved in the fighting and manufacture in Myanmar.

[–] 5in1k@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

Arrested for a manual. What a joke of a country.