“It just speaks to the ease with which you can do it,” says Wilson. “He doesn’t need to be an expert at 3D-printed guns or shooting, and it all works.”
Despite its simple description by law enforcement and others as a “3D-printed pistol,” the FMDA 19.2 is only partially 3D printed. This makes it fundamentally different from fully 3D-printed guns like the “Liberator,” the original one-shot, 3D-printed pistol Wilson debuted in 2013.
Instead, firearms made from designs like the FMDA 19.2 are assembled from a combination of commercially produced parts such as barrels, slides, and magazines—sometimes sold in kits—and a homemade frame. Because that frame, often called the “lower receiver” or “lower,” is the regulating body of the gun, 3D-printing that piece or building it at home allows DIY gunsmiths to comply with gun-control laws and regulations. Make ghost guns Received with no serial number, no background check or waiting period.
The FMDA 19.2 model, released by a group originally known as Deterrence Dispensed—a firearms group initially inspired by Wilson Defense Distributed but now widely seen as a rival—commercial was distinguished by the use of commercially available “rails”, which are metal parts. Guide the top of the gun, known as its slide, which retracts with each shot, resetting the trigger and loading a new round into the chamber. (In a widely circulated video of Thompson’s murder, the gun allegedly fired by Mangione does not appear to function as a semi-automatic. This is the result of a suppressor attachment that prevents its re-chambering mechanism. Stopping, gunmakers say.)
A relatively simple tweak to the FMDA 19.2—the use of commercially produced metal rails instead of homemade ones—regarded the gun model as the most practical and reliable 3D-printed Glock design available at the time of its release 3 years ago. . “Earlier there were Glock-style pistols, but the internal rail components weren’t as refined,” says Mr. Snow Makes. “It’s the perfect blend of 3D-printed frames and precision rails.”
Deterrence Dispensed, the group behind that FMDA 19.2 design, has since been rebranded under the name “Gatlog”. But the group’s original website still carries libertarian gun rights slogans that sum up its ideology. “All individuals are entitled to utility to protect their humanity,” the site reads. “Gun control has failed. You can’t stop the signal.”