‘Digital Resistance’ to Gun Control Isn’t Enough

Have technological advancements ended the gun control debate? 

Writer Artem Kolisnichenko poses that provocative question at The Hill, arguing that the newfound ease of building personalized firearms has essentially rendered gun control obsolete, and that as technology evolves, code is starting to replace the gun itself as a means of individual freedom. 

A new generation of Second Amendment supporters no longer visits shooting ranges or joins the NRA — instead, it circulates blueprints for 3D-printed weapons. Its members’ mission is to protect their homes and their right to bear arms, no matter how the government feels about it. 

While Americans argue about bans, laws, and protests, an entire ecosystem of do-it-yourself gun culture has grown right under their noses. It’s nothing like the old movies, where weapons were built from pipes and nails. Ghost guns — firearms without serial numbers or registration — are often made with parts printed on 3D printers and bought online. U.S. law allows individuals to make firearms for personal use, as long as they don’t sell them. According to the ATF, this is legal in many cases.

This culture has gone far beyond garages. Blueprints and guides are now spread through Tor, Telegram, and GitHub – anonymously and in ways that are nearly impossible to erase.

All of which is undeniably true. But while Kolisnichenko believes that “the more the government tries to play god by banning and seizing, the deeper into the cave the forge of innovation moves, hammering out new blueprints where Zeus’s lightning cannot reach,” I’d say that the reach of Zeus’s lightning (or the long arm of the law) goes much further than he realizes.

Just look at the case of Dexter Taylor. The 53-year-old Brooklyn resident is sitting in a maximum security prison in New York for the “crime” of building his own guns. Though Taylor never sought to sell any of his homebuilt guns to criminals or anyone else, New York law treats the possession of “ghost gun” as a serious and violent offense. Taylor received a harsher sentence than the ones handed down to some armed robbers and carjackers in the state of New York. 

Unless the “new generation of Second Amendment supporters” that Kolisnichenko is okay with that outcome, they need to be involved in the political process. And yes, that includes joining organizations like the National Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Firearms Policy Coalition, and others that are fighting back against these abusive laws in statehouses and courtrooms across the country. 

I agree with Kolisnichenko that the DIY gun culture is”spreading faster than any law can catch up”. But while he says “maybe the real question isn’t whether to ban weapons — it’s how to live in a world where a weapon is now knowledge,” anti-gun activists and politicians aren’t going to come to that conclusion on their own. They’ll be perfectly happy continuing to criminalize the possession of 3D printed guns, gun parts, and even digital files and 3D printers themselves. 

Technological advances alone won’t stop the gun control lobby or their allies in government. As we’ve seen in states like California and New York, they’re doubling down on their attempts to ban their way to safety. I’d argue that the relative ease of making your own gun has made political activism in defense of our Second Amendment rights even more important. 

I realize that we have a generation of gun owners who’ve grown up in a post-Heller world; one where the individual right to keep and bear arms is a settled question, not a matter of fierce legal and legislative debate. But though that particular battle has been won, the fight for our Second Amendment rights continues. Unless that generation (and the culture of DIY gun ownership in general) is willing to accept being able to easily build a gun and the risk of a decade or more in prison for doing so, they need to be actively engaged in the legal, legislative, regulatory, and cultural defense of our right to keep and bear arms.