National chatter about 3D-printed âghost gunsâ has heated up again as one was apparently used in the ambush killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Wyomingites, however, remain unimpressed and unconcerned with the plastic weapons.
âWill it fire? Yes. Will it fire numerous times accurately and reliably? 3D printed guns frequently donât do that,â firearms enthusiast Nic George of Sheridan told Cowboy State Daily.
Leo Perez, manager of Daveâs Guns in Laramie, told Cowboy State Daily that his shop has never bought or sold 3D printed guns because of their poor quality and shady legal status.
âWe decided thatâs not something we wanted to get involved with,â he said.
Murder Shocks The Nation
Brown was shot three times and killed in New York City on Dec. 4. Video of the incident shows a man ambushing Brown from behind.
Luigi Mangione, 26, is suspected of being the attacker in the video. He was arrested Monday at a McDonaldâs in Pennsylvania and is being held without bail.
Authorities reported that theyâd seized the gun Mangione is suspected of using in the slaying.
Both the 9 mm pistol and suppressor (silencer) it was equipped with might have been made with a 3D printer, according to law enforcement.
Thatâs reignited the national debate over 3D printed weapons, as well as âghost gunsâ in general, or firearms that donât have registered serial numbers.
Itâs legal in the U.S. for people to build their own firearms for personal use. And up until two years ago, it was legal to do so without a background check and regardless of the age of the person making the gun.
After reported surges in crimes committed with ghost guns and homemade firearms, the Biden administration moved to apply some regulations to them in 2022. That includes an age limit of 21 to make or possess the firearms and also requiring background checks.
Perez said that even before more restrictions were placed 3D printed guns, his store didnât want to mess with them. Since the regulations have been added, the legal status of such guns seems even shakier.
Simply put, itâs not worth risking the loss of the storeâs federal firearms dealer license to buy, sell or trade guns made by 3D printers or from do-it-yourself kits, he said.
80% Kits
Kits that allow people to assemble their firearms at home are legal, George said.
The overarching rule is that the kit must be 80% manufactured parts, meaning the builder may legally do only 20% of the work of assembling it into a functioning firearm.
âGlock 80â kits remain popular in some circles, George said. In some cases, âall you have to do is drill four holesâ in the polymer parts of the firearm to finish assembling it.
Like many modern pistols, Glocks have frames that are largely polymer â a lightweight, durable plastic. But key functioning parts, such as the gunâs barrel and slide, are metal.
3D printed guns are usually made entirely from polymer, which means that their quality, durability and reliability can be terrible, George said.
Shooting them also can be a gamble, he added.
âYou might shoot it one time, and it might blow up. You might shoot it 10 times and it will work flawlessly,â George said.
You Canât Use Our Printers For That
State-of-the-art 3D printers are available for public use at the AREA 59 Gillette College Center for Innovation & Fabrication in Gillette.
But that doesnât mean anybody can just walk in off the street and start making whatever they want, including a gun, center director Ellen Peterson told Cowboy State Daily.
A 3D printed gun âis not something that we would allow,â she said.
People can submit designs for things they want made, but only the centerâs staff is allowed to operate the printers, she said.
Approved designs have included car parts, board game pieces and bobble-head dolls, Peterson said.
Goes âPewâ But Doesnât Cycle
The video of the Thompsonâs murder shows the killer having to cycle the gunâs slide manually after each shot.
In other words, as a semiautomatic pistol, it didnât function properly by cycling the slide on its own to load the next round into the firing chamber.
George said that could have been for any number of reasons, including that it might have been a poor-quality 3D printed gun, he said.
The weight of the suppressor mounted on the muzzle might have also kept it from cycling properly.
Or, the killer might have been using âsubsonicâ ammunition which, when coupled with a suppressor, can make a firearm about as quiet as possible, he said.
Most ammunition fires bullets at supersonic velocities, so part of the noise a gun makes when itâs fired is the crack of the bullet breaking the sound barrier.
Subsonic ammunition uses a reduced powder charge to slow the bullet down to less than the speed of sound.
Thatâs enough to send the bullet out the muzzle, but it might not create enough force to fully cycle the pistolâs action, George said.
âThe gun goes âpewâ, but it doesnât cycle,â he said.Â
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.