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The problem with 3D-printed guns, and what CMSD students hope to do about it
By Abdullatif Rudolph
3D printing has become increasingly common in recent years, used to create art pieces, toys, and even tools.
However, 3D printing could also be used to make potentially harmful items--guns. On January 3rd, 2020, toward the beginning of the pandemic, a man was fatally shot with what police believed was a 3D-printed gun. In more recent times there have been more cases reported of people being shot and injured or even killed on the news and on social media.
In light of this issue, one of the Civics 2.0 teams and the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine have drafted legislation to propose to the Youth government. This group has been meeting routinely every week to develop a course of action to get their bill passed in the YMCA’s Youth and Government Program and hopefully into actual law if legislators take action.
Alex Del Valle is a member of Civics 2.0 and is writing a bill on this topic. He is really interested in going into the tech field and he leaped at the opportunity to get to spread some awareness of this rising issue in the tech scene. Del Valle said this topic is important. “I believe as technology progresses for good, there will always be a malicious exploitation of it, either for personal gain or crime,” he said. “Although still in the early stages, the creation of ‘ghost guns’, created with no serial tracking while still being deadly, is beginning to show its effects in this country.”
These “ghost guns” have no real way to be tracked down to the user or the creator thus being called “ghost guns.” He emphasized the fact that one could simply, in a multitude of ways, obtain one of these weapons and carry out their intentions and would unlikely pay the repercussions. Del Valle was passionate that change is necessary: “As a person who has a degree of experience on how dangerous guns can be, I decided to take action in order to prevent murders without a trace.”
Del Valle said he was excited for the convention.
“My team and I are just one of the many teams that are going to the YMCA Youth and Government Convention in the coming weeks," he said. "I hope the teams do well and that they stand out to the Ohio Legislators for some of the bills to possibly be introduced into law."