And the moral panic slogs on: "3D-printed guns lead Broward libraries to suspend printers' use"

[friendly_iconoclast]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-sb-broward-shelves-library-3d-printers-indefinitely-20180813-story.html#

If you’re looking to print out something in 3-D, don’t bother going to a Broward County library because theirs have been temporarily shelved over concerns they could be used to make a gun or other dangerous weapons.

Broward libraries took their 3-D printers out of circulation Monday to come up with policies about what the printers can be used for. Officials do not know how long the printers will be unavailable to the public.

“I’m concerned with any weapon that could be printed on a 3-D printer,” Broward Library Director Kelvin Watson said. “It’s about all weapons and anything that could be printed to harm other customers and staff … especially in light of what happened last week at the
Main Library.”

On Aug. 7, a man was shot outside the Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale near the homeless tent encampment. The man’s injuries were not life-threatening, officials said.

Following that 'logic', BPL better quit providing tools:

http://www.broward.org/Library/Pages/CreationStation.aspx

C​reation Station Lab
Makerspace/Gadget Lab Audio/Video Production • Electronics Kits • Arts & Crafts • Computer Programming​ • Virtual Reality Equipment
Looking for somewhere to unleash your creativity and ideas? We have just the place. Nestled in downtown Fort Lauderdale, is a makerspace/gadget lab on the first floor of the Main Library. It's the first free community center in Broward equipped with tools such as state-of-the-art computers and gadgets as well as public access to the latest virtual reality equipment.​​

Lab hours: Monday, Thursday-Saturday: 10AM-6PM; Tuesday-Wednesday: Noon-8PM; Sunday: Closed
Creation Station Lab Events​

Additional Labs
One space just isn't enough. Concentrating on specific creative areas, two other Broward County Libraries are available makerspaces. The Northwest Regional Library in Coral Springs features equipment/space for hands-on projects and a large, open space with work tables.

https://www.google.com/search?q=homemade+gun+videos&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Shades of Operation Pipe Dreams:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pipe_Dreams

Operation Pipe Dreams was the code-name for a U.S. nationwide investigation in 2003 targeting businesses selling drug paraphernalia, mostly marijuana pipes and bongs, under a little-used statute (21 U.S.C. § 863(a)). Due to the reluctance of state law-enforcement agencies to contribute resources to the operation, most cases were filed in Iowa and Pennsylvania, taking advantage of the statute's prohibition on the use of "the mails or any other facility of interstate commerce to transport drug paraphernalia."[1]

Hundreds of businesses and homes were raided as a result of Operation Pipe Dreams.[2] Fifty five people were named in indictments and charged with trafficking of illegal drug paraphernalia. While 54 of the 55 individuals charged were sentenced to fines and home detentions, actor Tommy Chong was sentenced September 11, 2003, to 9 months in a federal prison, a fine of $20,000, forfeiture of $103,000, and a year of probation. Chong was charged for his part in financing and promoting Chong Glass Works/Nice Dreams, California-based companies started by his son Paris. Unlike most shops selling bongs, Nice Dreams specialized in selling high-end bongs as collectible works of art. The Chong Glass Works employed 25 glass blowers who were paid $30/hour to produce 100 pipes a day.

Nice Dreams had a policy in place for refusing to sell bongs to states where the statute was being enforced. Federal agents, disguised as head-shop owners, pressured Paris Chong to sell them his pipes and deliver them through the mail to a fictitious shop in the Pittsburgh suburb of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. When Paris persistently refused, agents went to the place of business in person and ordered a massive quantity of out of stock merchandise. The merchandise was crafted but not picked up and sat idle in the warehouse as federal agents again pressured Paris to ship it. To get the merchandise out of his warehouse, Paris eventually agreed to ship it. In a Plea bargain, Chong agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute drug paraphernalia in exchange for non-prosecution of his wife, Shelby, and his son, Paris. Federal Prosecution admitted to being harsher on Chong in retaliation, citing Chong's movies as trivializing "law enforcement efforts to combat drug trafficking and use."[3]

The estimated cost of Operation Pipe Dreams was over $12 million and included the resources of 2,000 law enforcement officers.[1][4]

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

1. Holy cow! 3-D printers in libraries??

That's some cutting edge media center type shit. If we have people on the moon or mars or just in space....they can use thee to make pretty much whatever they want. What in the world would a person need to create in 3-D at a library? I thought homeland sec knew every book anyone ever took out since 911...but, can't program a 3-D printer to not print harmful things?
Print me a bottle of tequila while i think about getting one myself.

[friendly_iconoclast]

3. Wait till the more excitable antigun types find out about tool libraries:

Plenty of stuff that can be used to make homemade weapons, all available to anyone with a library card...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_library

A tool library allow patrons to check out or borrow tools, equipment and "how-to" instructional materials, functioning either as a rental shop, with a charge for borrowing the tools, or more commonly free of charge as a form of community sharing.[1] A tool library performs the following main tasks:

Lending: all kinds of tools for use in volunteer projects, facility maintenance and improvement projects, community improvement events, and special events.
Advocacy: for the complete and timely return of all borrowed tools, to guarantee the long-term sustainability of available inventory. Staff also seeks compensation for lost tools and tools returned late.
Maintenance: performing routine maintenance and repairs on all equipment to ensure good condition and to extend the lifespan of the inventory. This function is typically performed by volunteers and community service workers.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tool+library&client=firefox-b-1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA05ftsPLcAhXyhOAKHQKMAC4Q_AUIDCgD&biw=1536&bih=732

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

10. THATSwild man. What? You don't have the book _____?

Just print me one off. Tsk tsk

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. I'm likewise astonished to learn that a library has a 3D printer.

What to they charge to use it? Don't they monitor what people use it for?

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. As noted in post #3, at many libraries you can borrow tools that can be used to make homemade guns

I note that BPL hasn't stopped doing that...we are, indeed, watching a moral panic in real time

[flotsam]

5. I'm with the library on this

Picture the lawsuit if a gun printed free of charge on their equipment with info downloaded on their equipment from the internet was then used in a killing spree.

[friendly_iconoclast]

6. If someone makes a gun or shank with borrowed tools and uses it in a crime...

...could the library be likewise sued?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_library

This is merely panic-driven virtue signaling.

[flotsam]

9. Not really

There's a difference between lending tools that a skilled machinist with specialized knowledge can misuse or a manfacturing machine that builds a gun on it's own for any moron capable of loading a flash drive...

[friendly_iconoclast]

11. You don't have to be a skilled machinist to make a shiv, and it's a hell of a lot easier:

A file or two will, of course, help make one that's a lot more reusable

Are these people somehow less dead because they were stabbed and not shot?

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1&biw=1536&bih=732&tbm=nws&ei=U-N1W8S_MK6p_Qai4ZGICw&q=stabbing+%22fort+lauderdale%22&oq=stabbing+%22fort+lauderdale%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3...3286.3286.0.4821.1.1.0.0.0.0.86.86.1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.hJQNq1W6V6o

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1&biw=1536&bih=732&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=N-J1W5PoK8iv_Qb20bW4Bg&q=shiv+homemade&oq=shiv+homemade&gs_l=img.3..0i8i30k1.3239.7765.0.8069.9.9.0.0.0.0.102.680.7j1.8.0....0...1.1.64.img..1.8.678...0j0i67k1j0i30k1j0i24k1.0.xp_OgHbiNjk

[flotsam]

12. BS slippery slope arguement

call me when they start 3d printing semiautomatic "shivs"...

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

14. Please tell me how deadly does a weapon have to be...

...before possessing information on its manufacture becomes a crime... exactly?

A combat worthy bayonet seems like it may only kill one at a time but information on IED manufacture is out there with the potential for each device to kill or injure dozens.

Where should the line be drawn? Exactly?

[Alea]

15. The propaganda is working

if you think anyone is going on a killing spree with a 3d printed gun.

[Straw Man]

16. Well ...

The propaganda is working

if you think anyone is going on a killing spree with a 3d printed gun.

Y'see, it doesn't matter that 3D printed guns will self-destruct the first time they're fired, because with uncontrolled 3D printing you could just make 300 of them to take on your shooting spree ...

[sarisataka]

7. I wonder what their security is

“It’s about all weapons and anything that could be printed to harm other customers and staff … especially in light of what happened last week at the
Main Library.”

Apparently it it impossible for anyone to simply carry a weapon in the front door, they have to be printed inside.

[friendly_iconoclast]

8. You're not supposed to think critically about this, just play along with the panic mongering...

[Eko]

13. Yup, cause there is no difference between a shiv and a gun.

I did hear recently that our entire military will be changing over to shivs instead of guns soon so maybe you are on to something.