Howdy. It’s Wirb here again. I had a good SHOT Show – a lot of designers came as part of our booth, and there was a tremendous amount of interest from various retailers. Unfortunately, I also got sick, as did basically everyone at the show at some point. I know, lazy excuse, but hey, I write these things as gun control rubbish comes out.
I had another article in the pipeline, but then this dropped on GNET. The article is titled “3D2A: The Second Amendment, 3D Printed Guns and Memed Accelerationism”. As you can guess, it’s a doozy, written by some nameless anti-gun propagandist. Of note, Dr. Yannick Veilleux-Lepage, the author of one of the last articles I replied to, reached out to me to clarify he was not the author of this article. After a full read-through, I am 100% in agreement with him on that.
Well, let’s get into it.
Polymer 80 Alternative
Skimming the Sewage
Introduction
In the ever-evolving landscape of global security, guns and small munitions are the lifeblood of political resistance. In the United States, the Second Amendment (2A) to the Constitution gives every US citizen the right to bear arms. At a time of heightened socio-political division in the US, emerging technologies like 3D printing provide an avenue of accelerationist mobilisation for absolutist 2A supporters. In this realm, domestic extremists have linked a constitutionalist framework to the online gun-printing community. Many of these inter-connected individuals and groups believe that the only way to resist the perceived anti-white, globalist agenda of the ultra-liberal left is through the assembly of armed resistance that is true to the Constitution’s Second Amendment. Because of loopholes in state and federal law, the 3D printing of weapons is largely unregulated and has gone underground, supplemented by unmoderated content on social media platform X. Despite some US lawmakers recently taking action to try and ban the production of untraceable ‘ghost guns’ using 3D printers, the sharing of downloadable files with step-by-step gun-printing instructions has become commonplace on mainstream social media.
This Insight will examine the nexus between the online 3D2A community and accelerationist ideology in an attempt to delineate how the promotion of gun printing technology is aligned with accelerationist rhetoric and active, budding domestic extremism.
First things first, whoever wrote this wasn’t American. The use of “mobilisation” is evidence enough for that. We’re barely into the first paragraph of this dumpster fire, and already the author is attempting to equate 2A absolutism (the only objectively right viewpoint) with “domestic extremists.” This, as anyone who’s involved in Guncad knows, is an out and out lie. Guncad as an ideology lies mostly along the avenue of American libertarianism, which is quite pluralist socially. Many of the core personalities within the community are apolitical, and some are quite explicitly left-wing socially if not economically. The number of people who would fall anywhere under the concept of “right-wing extremist” are few and far between. The author tries to get around this by stating the Insight (the name for many GNET articles) focuses on how promoting 3D printing of guns aligns with “accelerationist rhetoric” without explicitly referencing a political alignment, but we know.
The author of this article has a disturbing ability to not understand sarcasm. Also, Figure 1.
Linkages Between the 3D2A Community and Anti-Establishment Views
Online, the pro-2A gun-printing community overlaps with the call for hateful accelerationist violence against social groups, US political institutions and anyone else viewed as an obstacle in the way of underground weapons procurement. Central to this rhetoric is resistance to the democratic liberal rule, where many users describe themselves as anti-Marxist and anti-communist, suggesting that gun control is a Marxist mechanism of political and social control. The presence of this decentralised group of firearm developers descends from a collective named Deterrence Dispensed (DetDisp), which became infamous as a result of leader JStark1809’s FGC-9 (‘Fuck Gun Control 9mm’), a semi-automatic weapon consisting of no regulated gun parts. DetDisp has seemingly evolved into a 3D2A community that uses a firearm design platform known as ‘The Gatalog.’ While ‘The Gatalog’ appears as a detached and distinct entity of DetDisp, many 3D gun printers on X use DetDisp’s recognisable ‘Come and Take It’ computer folder logo and other related insignia. The emblem has become symbolic of the 3D2A community, and users can even purchase merchandise, including patches of the symbol, on various 3D2A-focused websites. These individuals, including DetDisp’s former ‘Beta’ manager ‘DrDeath1776,’ engage with extremist rhetoric and far-right memes, including Pepe the Frog and mottos and namesakes like ‘chaos reigns.’ In response to online criticism, users taunt the FBI and CIA, even tagging their social media accounts. Some users have posted videos and images showing ‘what a mass shooter looks like’ (Figure 1) and urging followers to ‘be the militia violent extremist the government thinks you are’ (Figure 2). The rhetoric and dialogue that some in the 3D2A community engage with suggest a disdain for government and a desire for armed accelerationist mobilisation, affirming a tapestry of overlap between violent extremism and 3D-printed weapons under the guise of the Second Amendment.
Interestingly, the author suggests that people who are anti-Marxist or anti-Communist are somehow against “democratic liberal rule.” No, I’m pretty sure they’re anti-Marxist and anti-communist, especially since Marxism as a state institution has always been pro-gun control. As such, the argument the users make is completely unequivocally true.
Figure 2. A reminder that opposition to authority is as much the American Way as truth and justice.
The author is also completely ignorant to the history of the Guncad community – ignorant to DEFCAD, ignorant to the FOSSCAD community that formed after DEFCAD was taken offline, and ignorant to how Deterrence Dispensed grew from FOSSCAD. So far as memes go, I’m pretty sure it’s been established for years that Pepe is a “normie” meme. Your article would be less coal if you referenced any variety of Soyjak. And are you really shocked that Guncad people mock the FBI and CIA when antigunners try to desperately tag them on Twitter, as if it’s going to do anything? Two memes are all it takes for the author of this drivel to claim Guncad is the harbinger of some kind of mass genocide that’ll make the Yugoslav Wars look like an accidental homicide.
Give me a break.
It Gets Worse
The Race War and ‘Peaceful’ Calls for Violence
While many messages shared within the 3D2A community reflect sentiments of contempt towards the government, other messages extend this ethos and directly flirt with violent rhetoric, using subliminal calls for violence to galvanise a movement against society and government. One creator known for printing the gun known as the ‘Urutau,’ retweeted a tweet in late August 2024 that reads: “You can’t truly call yourself ‘peaceful’ unless you are capable of great violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless.” This remark is accompanied by a masked figure holding what is presumably a 3D-printed gun, with the caption, “I am extremely peaceful.” The user that posted the original tweet wrote: “Peaceful, not harmless.” On 5 September 2024, another user popular within the 3D2A community posted an image of a man being arrested alongside the caption: “When the race wars start and the white nationalists you befriended turn they [sic] back on you and deport you even tho they said you were one of the good ones (you are brown).” This comment directly implies that extremism is a common thread that pulls together the 3D2A community, suggesting that the 3D2A community as a whole is resistant to liberal society and that the act of arming oneself with 3D weapons is in response to the coming ‘race war.’ Discussions of race wars are commonplace within far-right circles, and are often indicative of conspiracy theories like the Great Replacement Theory, which posits that society’s institutions are purposefully driving out white people.
The movement isn’t galvanized against society or the government, so to say – it’s galvanized against authoritarianism. Authoritarianism always promotes gun control to monopolize violence in the hands of an abusive government. This allows said government to abuse, torture, and kill its citizenry with effectively no resistance. As the war in Myanmar has showcased, the peaceful freedom fighters fighting against the oppressive Tatmadaw militia have resisted being oppressed through domestic production of arms and munitions. This has allowed them to remain free in the face an authoritarian regime I’m willing to bet the author would kowtow to in a heartbeat.
Incidentally, the tweet the author accuses of promoting arming up for “the coming ‘race war‘” was written by Dianexis, who last I checked was Hispanic and doesn’t promote race wars. The author showcases clear academic dishonesty by trying to somehow connect Dianexis’s tweet to the idea Guncad is somehow far-right and dedicated to the idea of the Great Replacement Theory being written science.
I wonder what else he’ll lie about.
Figure 3 – is this really the best you can do to claim Guncad are far-right extremists? Great job hiding Pembleton’s profile pic btw
C’mon, Bill! Race War!
Memed Accelerationist Violence and the Second Amendment as a Human Right
As indicated above, the 3D2A community is insistent on creating chaos through violence or the suggestion of violence. On X, many members of the 3D2A community present themselves as defenders of personal liberties and staunch opponents of any regulatory institutions and authority figures, like the ATF and members of the police force (Figure 3 and Figure 4). The bio of one Michigan-based X user who claims to be a 3D weapons ammunition producer reads, “Premier ammo supplier for the Militia Industrial Complex. Self defense is a human right.”
No, they’re insistent on taking the piss out of people because they understand human programming. They know that if they say certain things, people they want to get a rise from will react to it. The term for this, which this likely Gen Z author is unaware of, is “trolling.” Back in the yesteryears of the mid 2000s, trolling transitioned from low-quality forum posts and bad Wikipedia edits to an artform on 4chan board such as /b/.
Figure 4. Everyone knows this is RK. Why not just show it since you literally linked to one of his tweets earlier?
Not sponsored, by the way, but shoutout to the very obvious reference to Fenix Ammunition. The suggestion he makes “3D weapons ammunition” – which, barring some BLC projects, is just “ammunition” – further showcases the author’s ignorance of the subject, the people, and the topics at hand.
The Second Amendment is viewed as sacred and immutable by the 3D2A community. Memes representing this sentiment are commonplace within the community, including statements that allude to a blatant disregard of any regulatory law against the production of 3D weapons (Figure 5).
Figure 5 – “…a law repugnant to the Constitution is void…” – Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803)
I mean, as said above, Americans are legally obligated to ignore laws that violate the Constitution, since it is “void” and has no weight on the actions of an American citizen. You’d think this guy would’ve read up on his gun case law.
Many users belonging to the 3D2A community taunt and poke fun at those who attempt to dismantle their underground weapons development. In response to an article shared on X suggesting that 3D-printed weapons are ‘lethal Lego sets’ by gun-violence prevention-focused non-profit GIFFORDS, a 3D2A user responded, “Did you know you can build your own Lethal Lego Untraceable Ghost Gun at home with just a 3D printer and some basic hand tools? … You too can build these by going to TheGatalog.”
Considering it’s impossible to dismantle the apparatus that allows new designs to be produced, again, why would they not make fun of someone saying or doing something stupid? Classic response, by the way. The Gatalog has always had some of the best pro-Guncad propaganda.
In November 2024, a Brazilian gunsmith posted an image of a gun part etched with the phrase “Live Free or Die,” reflecting the view of many 3D2A gun developers that civil liberties and the freedom to 3D print should be maximised. This was retweeted by another well-known Brazilian firearm developer. Also retweeted by the latter user was an image of a mass shooter wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat and an Israeli flag patch, preparing to shoot at schoolchildren in what appears to represent a Palestinian classroom. (Figure 6). Such content emphasises the vitriol and maximalist language used in many spaces in support of the 3D2A cause.
Figure 6 – Honestly 2/10, the school’s not rubble or half collapsed.
I mean, it got you to react to it, didn’t it? Personally, I think this one was a miss, but hey, at least 85 people liked it at the time you took the screenshot of it, so someone apparently is a fan.
Overdrive, ie. The Author’s Self-Immolation
Furthermore, in the aftermath of the brazen shooting that killed UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson on 4 December 2024, footage of his assassination was memed, with many renditions of the footage going viral within online communities. For the 3D2A community, the shooting was of regulatory concern due to the assassin’s use of a 3D-printed gun and silencer. Several online gunsmiths shared their fear that the shooting would cause government institutions to attempt to ban such weapons. However, the incident presented an opportunity for the 3D2A community to propagate their hatred for perceived elitist authority figures. One 3D gun developer posted an image taken from the shooting footage and labelled Thompson as a ‘sheriff’ and the assassin as ‘I,’ depicting the death of Thompson as the killing of a police officer. The witness, who managed to get away, is labelled as ‘deputy,’ suggesting that the creator of the meme is only interested in violently eliminating those in positions of power. (Figure 7).
Yep, I knew this was going to happen. Incidentally, the riding on pro-Luigi Mangione propaganda suggests an alignment with the political left, who lionized Mangione as a hero of the working class striking against the oppression of the bourgeoise. Most right-wingers view Mangione with apathy, sometimes contempt, since they don’t think it what he did could be justifiable from a sociopolitical view. By referencing the meme below, the author is directly countering his attempt to tie Guncad with right-wing extremism and accelerationism.
Figure 7 – Did someone make this in MSPaint? The lack of effort’s oozing from every pixel.
During the week of 9 December 2024, it was revealed by multiple news sources that the gun used by the perpetrator was a 3D-printed ‘ghost gun’ that was fully homemade. This raised questions about the legalities of 3D printed firearms, with Andy Greenberg, a contributor for WIRED Magazine, tracing the weapon back to ‘The Gatalog.’ As a result, members of the 3D2A community alerted their followers that news reporters had reached out to them. One user said “all the homies are getting hit up by journalists lmao… We’re the rats.” This comment alludes to the 3D2A community’s response to such journalists with a meme involving a 3D model of a rat, often with the song ‘Free Bird’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd playing in the background. This meme was turned into a fake VICE News article created by the 3D2A community, titled ‘Meet the Xanicels: The Gun Loving Extremists Who Keep Sending Us Videos of a Horizontally Spinning Rat When We DM Them’ (Figure 8). This fake article clearly delineates that the 3D2A community is comfortable referring to themselves as ‘extremists,’ and that they find amusement in being labelled as such.
There is no known evidence that Luigi Mangione was a member of the Gatalog or was ever on any of the Gatalog’s servers. The gun and suppressor he printed were obsolete at the time he made them despite later versions being available for download. The connection to the famous Horizontally Spinning Rat meme is basically nonexistent, nor was the fake VICE article widely publicized in the Guncad community. In short, whatever point he’s trying to make failed miserably.
Figure 8 – they usually send much worse than this.
RFK Jr’s Brainworm Surprise
We’re now in the endgame of this article. We’ve watched this author destroy his own narrative catastrophically. Can he humiliate himself further?
Yes, yes he can.
Recommendations
Addressing the use of 3D-printed weapons and the subsequent saturation of online activity related to underground weapons procurement demands a multifaceted approach aimed at stifling both the creation and dissemination of homemade weapons and printing instructions. Agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF) in the US should redefine legal definitions to include 3D-printed weapon parts and mandate serialisation of all gun components to reduce accessibility to ghost guns. Additionally, background checks should be mandated for the purchase of any firearm parts, thereby reducing the anonymity of weapons purchases and the accessibility of weapons to individuals with violent or potentially violent mental or criminal histories. Further, legislative bodies in the US and abroad should focus their attention on regulating the sale of filament materials used in the production of 3D-printed guns in order to disable ease of access to individuals aiming to procure gun parts without a background check.
Internet service providers might constrain access to websites providing downloadable weapon development instructions through governmental means. They might also enforce online platforms to authenticate user history to administer proper protocol.
Lol. Lmao even. Fine, let’s go over the list of recommendations here and clarify why they’re utter gobshite.
Per Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the ATF has no authority to redefine anything. It was already true before, but now it’s codified into law.
Background checks for firearms parts will never happen as they would create a logistical nightmare that would crash the already highly strained NICS system – which itself does a poor job of keeping people who legally aren’t allowed to have guns from getting them.
Regulating filament sales would destroy the entire 3D printing industry, the same as regulating printers would. This is why despite the option having been put forward among multiple highly authoritarian regimes, it has never been implemented.
Wow, ISPs blocking web traffic? It’s almost like this moron has never heard of a VPN, Tor, or proxy before. ISPs also have no authority to “enforce” any platform and demand credential checks from any website, whether it’s being accessed by a user or being hosted by someone.
Alright, any other stupid words you want to leave us with, Mr. Author?
The Final Flush
Conclusion
3D-printed weapons development is growing, and it’s only going to get bigger. While it is important that the Constitution is upheld to embolden personal liberties, certain restrictions must be enforced in order to alleviate potential threats related to gun manufacturing. The 3D2A community has shown no signs of slowing down and has only ramped up their trolling and taunting as they have faced more scrutiny. As the technology becomes more advanced, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, 3D-printed weapons will continue to grow in effectiveness, blanketing the illicit gun market with dangerous levels of untraceability and unpredictable violence.
This person’s not even an American and they have the audacity to suggest “certain restrictions must be enforced” on Constitutional rights – nay, human rights – because of the potential for bad actors to misuse a technology. I doubt that illicit guns will go fully 3D printed, especially since many third-world countries have much more traditional gunsmiths who have no experience with printed polymer guns, but where there’s a bad actor with a gun, there’ll also be a good actor with a gun.
What a terrible article. The difference between this and Yannick’s hit piece is the difference between a first-grade essay and a doctorate thesis. The author has no consistency, offers little if any sourcing beyond cropped tweets to create his narrative that’s more artificial than Yellow #5, and fails to mention almost any individual he references. The explicit direction to the pictures as “Figure 1,” “Figure 2,” etc. suggests an amateur approach, someone who isn’t used to writing articles like this. I’d say I have my suspicions on who the anonymous author is, but honestly, I just don’t care enough to try and find out.
Well, that’s all I’ve got. If you made it this far without vomiting or heading to the liquor cabinet, wine cabinet, or mini fridge, please pat yourself on the back. You deserve it for being able to put up with an above-average level of nonsense. Until the next stupid anti-gun article, keep printing, keep designing, and use what you know to help you in today’s economy.
