“The Liberator v1.1”, 3D-printed gun
Defense Distributed (2013)
The Liberator is a 3D-printable single shot handgun, designed by Defense Distributed and released to the Internet on May 6, 2013. It was downloaded over 100,000 times in the two days before the US Department of State demanded its takedown. Its name relates to the FP-45 Liberator, a $2 gun produced by the USA in 1942 to be dropped in Europe and Asia to arm rebels.
Defense Distributed is an online, open-source organization that designs firearms, or “wiki weapons”, that may be downloaded from the Internet and “printed” with a 3D printer.
The debate around the Liberator gun can be seen as a critique on copyright and regulations of digital designs - should CAD-constructions and open designs be censored? Defense Distributed stated that “The problem is not the object but what you do with it. Just as with a cooking knife.” (Wilson, 2013). Wilson is indirectly referring to the unofficial slogan of the NRA (National Rifle Association) - “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people”. The release of The Liberator has been described as “the greatest piece of political performance art of [the 21st] century.” (Blouin News, 29.3.2013)
“The Liberator v1.1”, 3D-printed gun
Defense Distributed (2013)
The Liberator is a 3D-printable single shot handgun, designed by Defense Distributed and released to the Internet on May 6, 2013. It was downloaded over 100,000 times in the two days before the US Department of State demanded its takedown. Its name relates to the FP-45 Liberator, a $2 gun produced by the USA in 1942 to be dropped in Europe and Asia to arm rebels.
Defense Distributed is an online, open-source organization that designs firearms, or “wiki weapons”, that may be downloaded from the Internet and “printed” with a 3D printer.
The debate around the Liberator gun can be seen as a critique on copyright and regulations of digital designs - should CAD-constructions and open designs be censored? Defense Distributed stated that “The problem is not the object but what you do with it. Just as with a cooking knife.” (Wilson, 2013). Wilson is indirectly referring to the unofficial slogan of the NRA (National Rifle Association) - “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people”. The release of The Liberator has been described as “the greatest piece of political performance art of [the 21st] century.” (Blouin News, 29.3.2013)