---
title: "Anonymous Group of 3D-Printed Gun Makers Is Spreading Online"
description: "People interested in 3D-printed guns are sharing the files needed to build the firearms anonymously online, according to a troubling Wired story."
date: "2019-05-24"
modified: "2019-05-24"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/3d-printed-guns-online-network"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "3d printed guns"
  - "3d printing"
  - "guns"
  - "the digest"
---

# Anonymous Group of 3D-Printed Gun Makers Is Spreading Online

![People interested in 3D-printed guns are sharing the files needed to build the firearms anonymously online, according to a troubling Wired story.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/3d-printed-guns-online-network.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## One of Many

A global network of gun enthusiasts is using the internet to anonymously share the files needed to 3D-print firearms — and there's seemingly nothing anyone can do to stop them, according to a newly published *Wired* [story](<https://www.wired.co.uk/article/3d-printed-guns-blueprints>) that includes an interview with one of the network's members.

“If they \[the government\] were to come after me, they’d first have to find my identity,” a person going by the name Ivan the Troll told *Wired*. “I’m one of many, many like-minded individuals who’re doing this sort of work.”

## Guns on Demand

Guns are, obviously, not illegal in the United States. The issue with 3D-printed guns is that they make it easy for people to circumvent existing gun laws.

Essentially, anyone with access to an adequate 3D printer can go online, download a CAD file for free, and print the parts needed to build a functioning firearm — and "anyone" includes people [prohibited from owning guns](<https://futurism.com/man-prison-sentence-3d-printed-rifle>) for legitimate reasons.

## Drawing Fire

Ivan the Troll doesn't seem to see an issue with this, telling *Wired* that thousands of people across the globe are currently developing 3D-printed guns — and there's seemingly no magic bullet that could convince them to stop.

“I believe it is inherently important that… you should be able to own a gun," he said. "You should be able to own the same legal force that the cops are using to control you."

**READ MORE:** [3D-printed guns are back, and this time they are unstoppable](<https://www.wired.co.uk/article/3d-printed-guns-blueprints>) \[*Wired*\]

**More on 3D-printed guns:** *[A Court Just Sent a Man to Prison for 3D Printing a Gun](<https://futurism.com/man-prison-sentence-3d-printed-rifle>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)