3D Printed Gun Churns Out Paper Airplanes

Amidst all the controversy that the gun conversation opens up by itself, 3D printing has made some headlines in that area of late, causing some concern about regulation and safety. It’s all about play, with this 3D printed gun your mom would not only approve of, but be greatly amused—and impressed–by.

Using some pretty keen 3D design and printing skills, YouTube user Papierfliegerei takes a serious subject and transforms it into a flight of fancy. While printing a 3D gun is a feat, making ammunition is said to be even more challenging. Here, Papierfliegerei offers us a rather surprising form of ammunition, showing not only levity, but also great ingenuity with his 3D printed ‘alternative’ weapon.

With an affable, mad-scientist demeanor (see video below), Papierfliegerei pelts us with ammunition in the form of paper airplanes, which come shooting out of the device like swift birds, with each one going in a different direction. Viewing the underbelly of the device, it appears to be a fairly simple machine, but the results really are quite genius, as the gun feeds paper into the device in a flat sheet and folds the paper airplanes itself. Most amusing too is what a lighthearted kick the creator is getting out of his airplane-shooting gun.

“A little tinkering from me that shows what you can do with 3D printers today. Most parts of this paper airplane machine gun were printed by fabberhouse.de, and the rest of them were bought via the Internet or hardware store.” He also mentions that he used a cordless screwdriver in putting the piece together.

Word on the street is that we should all be terrified that practically any gun enthusiast with a little knowledge could produce a 3D printed weapon. In this case, I think most individuals would be hard pressed to design something of this nature. While it won’t save you if you are fighting off criminals or a zombie apocalypse, it will definitely cause anyone–or anything–to do a double take. Now let’s just hope he’s being ‘green’ and using recycled paper!

What do you think about the controversy surrounding 3D printed guns? Tell us about it in the 3D Printed Paper Airplane Gun Forum thread at 3DPB.com.