Be afraid...be very afraid...

Maybe they have to melt down a gun to get the gun-metal.

What material do they put in the printer. I can't believe a paper gun would be much use!

Elegran, this particular gun was made on a 3D printer that cost $8,000 (£5,140) from eBay. These machines are already in most universities and can be bought for a few hundred pounds to several thousands.

How much does it cost to buy a 3D printer to print yourself a gun? Probably many times what you would pay for a real one, even on the black market to avoid having to get a licence. They will need to become a lot cheaper before your average criminal can afford one, and your average terrorist probably has a supply route already.

Not a happy thought though. Excellent technology, but not in the hands of everyone.

I think the worst thing will be the total untraceability of the guns. No paperwork, no record of ownership.

grannyactivist I saw this on the news an hour or so ago and was appalled. When footage was first shown a few months ago of the 3D printers I thought what fantastic pieces of equipment these were. I'm not so sure now

Although, as *mice" says, what is being produced is probably quite crude and not that effective at the moment, presumably - like any other invention - improvements will continue to be made. It's quite frightening to think of what might be produced in the future.

Fascinating that you can do this, 3D printers are amazing. Sadly it is also terrifying when you think of the sort of lunatics who could get hold of them!

It looks like a very second-rate gun and I think you would have to be extremely close to whatever your were trying to shoot to have any hope of hitting your target. That said, it is a concern that it won't show up on airport radar etc. I cannot believe that security organisations haven't been working on this one for a while – does anyone remember John Malkovich shooting the president?

Very worrying. This was actually the plot for a TV programme I saw recently