Liberator (gun)

The pistol is named after the FP-45 Liberator, a single-shot pistol that George Hyde designed and that the Inland Manufacturing Division of the General Motors Corporation mass-produced for the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in World War II. The OSS intended to air drop the gun into occupied Europe for resistance forces to use.{{cite book |last=Hagan |first=Ralph |title=The Liberator Pistol |publisher=Target Sales |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-96544-963-2}}{{cite book |last=Melton |first=H. |title=OSS Special Weapons & Equipment |publisher=Sterling Pub Co Inc. | year=1991 |isbn=978-0-80698-238-0}}{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/05/meet-the-liberator-test-firing-the-worlds-first-fully-3d-printed-gun/ |title=Meet The 'Liberator': Test-Firing The World's First Fully 3D-Printed Gun |last=Greenberg |first=Andy |date=May 5, 2013 |work=Forbes |accessdate=13 May 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417192243/https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/05/meet-the-liberator-test-firing-the-worlds-first-fully-3d-printed-gun/?sh=142bcf8052d7|archive-date=April 17, 2023}} A project of the OSS (which would later become the CIA), it is thought the Liberator was equally purposed as a tool of psychological warfare. Occupying forces in Europe would have to weigh evidence of distributed pistols as a factor in planning against civilian resistance, which would complicate their strategy and affect morale. However, though used in France, there is little proof that the pistols were ever dropped into occupied Europe in large quantities.

The physible Liberator's release to the Internet can be understood as Defense Distributed's attempt to more successfully execute the historical psychological operation, and as a symbolic act supporting resistance to world governments.{{cite web |url=http://www.guns.com/2013/07/01/3d-printing-community-updates-liberator-with-rifle-pepperbox-and-glock-powered-shuty-9/ |title=3D Printing Community Updates Liberator with Rifle, Pepperbox and Glock-Powered 'Shuty-9' |last=Slowik |first=Max |date=July 1, 2013 |work=Guns.com |accessdate=28 July 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723043115/http://www.guns.com/2013/07/01/3d-printing-community-updates-liberator-with-rifle-pepperbox-and-glock-powered-shuty-9/|archive-date=July 23, 2015}}

File:DDLiberator2.3.jpg]]

Days after their publication, the United States Department of State's Office of Defense Trade Controls issued a letter to Defense Distributed demanding that it retract the Liberator plans from public availability.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/09/state-department-demands-takedown-of-3d-printable-gun-for-possible-export-control-violation |title=State Department Demands Takedown Of 3D-Printable Gun Files For Possible Export Control Violations |last=Greenberg |first=Andy |date=May 9, 2013 |work=Forbes |accessdate=13 May 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414202635/https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/09/state-department-demands-takedown-of-3d-printable-gun-for-possible-export-control-violation/?sh=4672e8e8375f|archive-date=April 14, 2023}} The State Department justified this demand by asserting the right to regulate the flow of technical data related to arms, and its role in enforcing the Arms Export Control Act of 1976.

However, soon thereafter the design appeared on The Pirate Bay (TPB), which publicly stated its defense of the information. Quoted on TorrentFreak: "TPB has for close to 10 years been operating without taking down one single torrent due to pressure from the outside. And it will never start doing that."

The site would go on to issue a statement on its Facebook page:

{{quote|text=So apparently there are some 3D prints of guns in the physibles section at TPB. Prints that the US government now claim ownership of. Our position is, as always, to not delete any torrents as long as its contents are as stated in the torrents description. Printable guns [are] a very serious matter that will be up for debate for a long time from now. We don't condone gun violence. We believe that the world needs less guns, not more of them. We believe however that these prints will stay on the internets regardless of blocks and censorship, since that's how the internets works. If there's a lunatic out there who wants to print guns to kill people, he or she will do it. With or without TPB. Better to have these prints out in the open internets (TPB) and up for peer review (the comment threads), than semi hidden in the darker parts of the internet.|sign=The Pirate Bay, May 10, 2013}}

Original copies of the Liberator have been permanently acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum,{{cite web |url=http://www.dezeen.com/2013/09/15/va-museum-acquires-first-3d-printed-gun/ |title=V&A museum acquires first 3D-printed gun |first=Marcus |last=Fairs |date=September 15, 2013 |website=Dezeen |accessdate=December 31, 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409113059/https://www.dezeen.com/2013/09/15/va-museum-acquires-first-3d-printed-gun/|archive-date= April 9, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24099293 |title=V&A museum to display printed gun |date=September 15, 2013 |work=BBC Online |accessdate=December 31, 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417123401/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-24099293|archive-date= April 17, 2023}}{{cite news |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/3-d-printed-gun-goes-on-display-at-london-museum/ |title=3-D Printed Gun Goes on Display at London Museum |last=Lee |first=Felicia |date=September 16, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=December 31, 2013|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410061358/https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/3-d-printed-gun-goes-on-display-at-london-museum/|archive-date=April 10, 2023 }} and a copy of the gun is on display at London's Science Museum.

Writing in The Register, Lewis Page ridiculed the Liberator, stating "it isn't any more a gun than any other very short piece of plastic pipe is a "gun"", and comparing it with a 1950s zip gun.{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/10/oh_no_its_the_plastic_3d_gun/ |title='Liberator': Proof that you CAN'T make a working gun in a 3D printer |last1=Page |first1=Lewis |date=May 10, 2013 |website=The Register |accessdate=12 July 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408143529/https://www.theregister.com/2013/05/10/oh_no_its_the_plastic_3d_gun/|archive-date= April 8, 2023}}

File:ATF test of 3-D printed firearm using ABS material (Side View).webm test of 3-D printed firearm using ABS material]]

File:ATF test of 3-D printed firearm using VisiJet material (Side View).webm

In May 2013, Finnish Yle TV2 current affairs programme Ajankohtainen kakkonen produced a Liberator handgun under the supervision of a licensed gunsmith and fired it under controlled conditions. During the experiment, the weapon shattered.{{cite web |url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/toimiko_3d-pistooli_katso_video/6641646 |title=Toimiko 3D-pistooli? Katso video |trans-title=Did the 3D gun work? Watch the video |last=Richt |first=Jyrki |website=Yle Uutiset |date=2013-05-14 |accessdate=2015-09-19 |language=fi|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412140733/https://yle.fi/a/3-6641646|archive-date= April 12, 2023}}{{cite web |url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/liberator_3d-printed_handgun_fails_after_single_shot_in_finnish_test/6643536 |title='Liberator' 3D-printed handgun fails after single shot in Finnish test |date=2013-05-15 |last=Richt |first=Jyrki |website=Yle Uutiset |accessdate=2015-09-19|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428150243/https://yle.fi/a/3-6643536|archive-date= April 28, 2023}} It was later found that an error was made concerning the settings of the 3D printer. Printed under the right conditions, the Liberator gun has a lifespan of 8–10 shots.{{cite web |url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2490074/lab-tests-show-3d-printed-guns-can-be-useless----and-dangerous.html |title=Lab tests show 3D printed guns can be useless -- and dangerous |last1=Mearian |first1=Lucas |date=30 May 2014 |website=Computerworld |quote=Defense Distributed has demonstrated its Liberator 3D printed gun successfully. The gun, however, has a limited lifespan, and it typically fails after eight to 10 shots.|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109175956/https://www.computerworld.com/article/2490074/lab-tests-show-3d-printed-guns-can-be-useless----and-dangerous.html|archive-date= November 9, 2022}}

Israeli Channel 10 reporters built and tested a Liberator with a 9 mm cartridge, successfully hitting a target at a distance of several meters. On June 24, 2013, the reporters smuggled the gun (without barrel and ammunition) into the Israeli house of parliament, coming within a short distance of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.{{Cite video |url=http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=988880 |title=תחקיר חדשות 10: אקדח יורה מטרים ספורים מראש הממשלה |trans-title=News Investigation 10: Gun fires a few meters from the Prime Minister |language=he |first1=Guy |last1=Lerer |first2=Uri |last2=Even |name-list-style=amp |date=3 July 2013 |website=Nana 10 |accessdate=2013-07-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706124130/http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=988880 |archive-date=6 July 2013}}

A Japanese man printed and assembled five copies of the Liberator, and on or about April 12, 2014, he uploaded video evidence of his possession of the weapons to the internet. Authorities arrested him on May 8, 2014, and found that at least two of the copies possessed lethal power.{{Cite news |url=http://www.asahi.com/english/articles/AJ201405090053.html |title=Man busted for possessing handguns made with 3-D printer |date=9 May 2014 |newspaper=The Asahi Shimbun |access-date=2014-05-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728074522/http://www.asahi.com/english/articles/AJ201405090053.html |archive-date=July 28, 2014}} Cody Wilson, a founder of Defense Distributed, stated on the incident that the man "performed his work in the open, without suspicion, fear or dishonor".{{Cite web |url=http://defdist.tumblr.com/post/85127166199/i-have-often-been-asked-who-the-first-person-to-be |title=I have often been asked who the first person to be arrested for 3D gun printing would be |date=May 2014 |website=WikiWep DevBlog |access-date=2014-05-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131213000/http://defdist.tumblr.com/post/85127166199/i-have-often-been-asked-who-the-first-person-to-be |archive-date=January 31, 2019}}

• List of notable 3D printed weapons and parts

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{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Liberator}}

{{wikisourcecat|Defense Distributed}}

• [https://github.com/maduce/fosscad-repo/tree/master/Firearms/Liberators/ Fosscad repository of Liberator variations]
• [http://defcad.org/ DEFCAD]

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