= new reply since forum marked as read
And 3D "printers" are a spin-off of that technology, and more recent.
This Ghost Gunner is a 3-axis milling machine, nothing special and nothing new.
What is novel about it is that they sell the basic machine AND provide the data file that has the milling "instructions" used by the machine to cut the AR lower receiver.
As shipped, Ghost Gunner manufactures any mil-spec AR-15 lower receiver to completion. With simple tools and point and slick software, the machine automatically finds and alings to your 80% lower to get to work. No prior CNC knowledge or experience is requried to manufacture from design files. Legally manufacture unserialized AR-15's in the comfort and privacy of your home.
https://www.ghostgunner.net/
Now, it's a general purpose machine that can be used for all sorts of milling projects and should be allowed to be shipped.
And, it's by no means the only 3-axis CNC milling machine that can make an AR15 lower receiver.
It's the packaging that makes it "special".
Hope this helps.
Has been in the hobby of making guns almost from scratch for years, by trade he is a machinist, so his hobby fits right in. In his basement, he has an assortment of old lathes and milling machines, and he turns out about one or two firearms a year for his own personal use. It is completely legal. Most he makes are single shot type firearms, but he has made a few semi-auto ones.
He has a home built version of the CETME rifle that is UTTERLY AMAZING, and is of much higher quality than you can find in any gun shop. He machined it all including the wood work, except for the barrel, and a few springs.. He even makes magazines for it, his "copy" is so good, it will accept factory made magazines..
(Not his, just a pic of one)
From a legal standpoint, at least. It's the part that gets the serial number on it. On an AR-15, it's the part that holds the bolt and firing mechanism, and that the pistol grip, buttstock, and barrel attach to.
Everything else is generally unregulated... barrels, grips, stocks, triggers, etc. If you have an AR-15 receiver, you can mix and match parts from dozens of different companies to build the gun you want. There are thousands of combinations.
If the receiver is less than 80% complete, it's not a gun yet. I think what GhostGunner is doing is that you buy a receiver that is complete except for some holes that need to be drilled and maybe some channels that need to be cut, clamp it in their machine, and it does the rest of the work. The last 20%. THEN it's a gun. But until then, it's just a hunk of metal.
I think that in states that have an AWB (like California) you can still make your own AR-15. The legal restrictions are that you can't sell it or transfer it, ever, under any circumstances.
Since the concept of an AWB is fundamentally about culture war ("getting military style guns off the streets"
, the restrictions are entirely arbitrary and cosmetic and generally piss people off. It's legislative harassment, basically. But it's stupid that I, as a Connecticut resident, can own a magazine-fed, semi-automatic rifle... as long as it wasn't designed by Eugene Stoner back in the 1950's or Mikhail Kalashnikov in the 1940's.
= Maybe they want to break the law with it
However, lots of people make things themselves, to their own standards of fit and finish and design, even if it does cost more.
I'm not saying I would make my own gun, even though I'm mechanical enough and skilled enough that I could. I'm not fancy enough. But for many people out there, "stock" simply isn't enough. The grand and very useful tradition of "do it yourself", and the sort of people that will reach out and teach themselves a skill to make something that is truly theirs, still lives in America. It's the same people that customize their cars and make their own ham radios and build their own furniture.
One reason the AR-15 rifle is so popular (besides whatever political statement is made by buying one) is that it is very versatile and customizable. There are dozens of companies huge and tiny that make these rifles in different calibers, configurations, colors, lengths, innards, and such, and each one can be built upon, piece by piece, by the owner until it is perfect for them.
A quick look at MidwayUSA.com or Natchezss.com will showcase an impressive assortment of accessories and parts for AR-15 rifles.
Obviously, many of them are "tactical" accessories with a target market that includes private security, mercenary, and law enforcement as well as the private citizen concerned about home defense. Many more are competitive shooting accessories and hunting accessories.
Will less than 300 people a year being murdered with rifles of all make and models and types, I simply am not going to worry about the craftsman that wants to make their own AR-15.
I remember that phrase and noted in the same place the info that some the world's biggest arms suppliers are the U.S., U.K., Russia, France and China. And that they are also the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Governments will always be working to limit arms from some and supply arms to others. Right and wrong are, shall we say, a bit fluid in that sphere of influence.
Pro-control often tells me that 90% of the people favor UBCs and that it is a corrupting influence that swayed legislators from making that the law. Aren't those legislators questionable for allowing that influence? Is it okay to allow a government subject to outside influence to remain armed? Is it wise, while accepting that government's possession and (sometimes vial) use of arms, to endorse general civilian disarmament?
Be safe, make your own decisions and plan for your children and their children.
