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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   30914 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 7, 2022

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A model of 3D printed rifle called the FGC-9 (which stands for F*** Gun Control) is being used by rebels fighting against the authoritarian genocidal military junta in Myanmar which regained power after a military coup deposed the democratically elected leader in 2021. If that's not enough, the government of Myanmar is not at all shy about killing civilians, from what I've heard.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/guns-are-being-3d-printed-myanmar-199401

https://observers.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20220114-3d-printed-weapons-myanmar-rebels

Apparently they've got 3D printers set up in guerilla jungle hideouts. The creator of the FGC-9 was a young German-Kurdish man named Jstark who died recently, possibly of a heart condition.

My thoughts: It's sad that some progressive organizations might be reluctant to bring positive attention to the rebels or the tools they use because it arguably hurts their cause or something.

If I was a guy like Jstark or Cody Wilson, and I was concerned about PR, I might say something truthful but strategic like "the most important thing to me is getting these files somewhere where they can't be taken down and where they can be accessed by anyone, because that's the only way for me to help rebels like these. I care about the downsides of making these guns available, but I've calculated things and it is greatly overshadowed by the upside." Or something. I didn't phrase that well.

Edit: A cleaner way to say it: "the moral benefit of 3D-printed guns to citizens living under brutal authoritarian dictatorships in places like Myanmar is so great that the harm caused to the rest of the world would need to be truly massive in order to outweigh it, and I do not believe it is so massive, if it is indeed a net harm to the wellbeing of other countries."

How likely is the situation when someone has access to 9mm ammo, but not 9mm firearms that can fire it?

  • you have access to 9mm pistols, but you need a 9mm carbine for that extra oomph and accuracy. Perhaps you have taken over a police station, but local military bases remain out of reach

  • you simply need more guns: you have a surplus of 9mm ammo and willing soldiers, but not enough guns to arm them with. Perhaps you're in a warzone, so the ammo is everywhere, but the weapons are all in someone's hands

Would I want an FGC-9 in the US? No. There's enough 9mm guns, including carbines, that I could own.

Would I want an FGC-9 in Germany? Probably not. If I can buy 9mm ammo, I must own a 9mm pistol. If my goal is assassination, it's probably enough. If it's a violent uprising, it's enough to "liberate" some MP5 from the police.

Would I want an FGC-9 in Russia or China? Probably not. I would rather want something semi-automatic chambered in a local hunting caliber. This way I could get a license for a break-open shotgun, buy buckshot or slugs and use them in a printed gun.

Bullets aren't that well controlled. If you're a sports shooter who goes through 500 rounds a week, shooting 300 and selling 200 to someone about whom you're sure isn't a police agent can be fairly lucrative.

You'd probably have to do something crazy like buy thousands of rounds and do little shooting to arouse attention of police.

Meanwhile, guns can't disappear. Well, they kinda can but eventually if police figure it out last owner is in middling deep legal trouble if it's just one gun. Mandatory to report it went missing and all that.

Thanks. So the target market for an FGC-9 in Germany is someone who needs a firearm, knows someone who's willing to sell some surplus 9x19mm, but has no access to actual underground arms dealers.

Not sure if it was made with that in mind, but that's someone who can benefit, yes.

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