US based non-profit corporation Defence Distributed has made a plastic 3D printable gun prototype. The new device is expected to begin sales by the end of 2012. The spokesperson of the company and co-founder Cody Wilson said, “We’re sitting on the logistics, time, resources and money. We’re just waiting on a little piece of paper”.
It is known as the ‘Wiki Weapon’ and the project is at present waiting for approval. The Texas-based company requires a federal firearms license to move forward and this license is expected to be granted within the next two to three weeks.
In order to snag the special occupation taxpayer license, Wilson also met with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives and Firearms. This could allow the corporation permission to build more powerful devices like machine guns. However, the use of regulated channels in the development of such controversial undertakings wasn’t a part of the plan.
Defence Distributed was earlier warned against entering production without a license and their initial attempts were discouraged when the 3D printer supplier Stratasys objected to the use of their hardware for unsanctioned practices. Moreover, the firm has also faced difficulties in gathering funds, as crowd funding site Indiegogo barred its online fundraising campaign, which generated $2,000 that was later returned to the donors.
