Rolling Stone Has Finally Found a 3D Gun-Making 2A Maximalist They Can Get Behind

Many of [Yeezy’s] designs can be found in massive, free online repositories, where anyone with an internet connection can download the design files necessary to print a weapon at home. In recent years, as well, 3D-printing technology has advanced significantly, with new machines capable of printing more durable, more precise weapons in less time than before. The technology has advanced so quickly, in fact, that its end result — untraceable weapons, assembled from spare parts and plastic frames — often confounds existing laws and presents a unique enforcement problem for authorities. In most states, it’s legal for anyone to build a firearm for personal use. Only seven states have outright banned 3D-printed weapons. There are caveats, of course — America’s gun laws are anything but consistent — but most 3D-printing gunsmiths operate within the letter of the law, carefully walking lines and navigating legal gray areas where applicable.

In the past, gunsmithing was a specialized skill. Creating a reliable, working firearm required years of technical study and access to complex machine shops. The plastic revolution has changed that, and law-enforcement sources and gun-control organizations maintain that 3D-printed weapons represent a new threat to public safety — extremists, criminals, or domestic abusers manufacturing traceless weapons with ill intent, children building functioning guns they see on social media, all with even less government oversight than America’s traditional firearms market. Unserialized and homemade firearms, opponents say, could easily allow criminals to bypass red-flag gun laws, which aim to prevent domestic abusers and other violent individuals from obtaining firearms. Authorities in California and New York have already brought lawsuits and legislation against online repositories of gun files like the ones Yeezy contributes to, and sought to crack down on the physical manufacture of weapons in their jurisdictions. It’s too early to tell if these measures will prevent what the authorities fear — but Yeezy and his compatriots are determined to keep printing regardless of the cost.

“This technology isn’t really driven by the street criminal,” says Bonnie Seok, an assistant district attorney for Manhattan who works in the office’s 3D-printed-gun unit. “It’s driven by an ideology — they’re dedicated to the Second Amendment and democratizing the process of being able to access your own guns. It’s driven by incredibly smart people. They’re always trying to defeat regulations. They’re always trying to outsmart law enforcement.”

The creators in this ecosystem represent a wide range of political views, from the far left to the far right, but almost all of them share a maximalist interpretation of the Second Amendment, in which the gun is the ultimate symbol of liberty: a tool, a weapon, and an inalienable right. Traditional gun enthusiasts have waged a running battle with the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for generations, but the 3D-printed revolution is a new, more polarized frontier. And some creators, like Yeezy, see their right to print guns as an essential bulwark against the darkest excesses of America’s current government. On social media, Yeezy describes himself as a “far left trantifa extremist,” combining the words “trans” and “antifa” for peak provocation, even though he is not transgender.

In simpler terms, Yeezy believes everyone, regardless of their identity, deserves the ability to buy, build, or carry whatever armament they want. But in Donald Trump’s America, Yeezy and many other creators, shooters, and activists no longer see that right as a given. Left-wing gun enthusiasts worry they may be the first to feel Trump’s boot, as his administration has declared “anti-fascist” groups to be domestic terrorists and stepped up efforts that may prevent specific groups, like transgender people, from owning firearms.

The solution, Yeezy thinks, is plastic: If the government tries to stop certain people from owning guns, 3D-printing technology means it is now easier than ever for them to just make their own.

— Jack Crosbie in This Man Wants to Help You Print Your Own Gun