What’s Terrifying the Global Gun Control Industry Now: The 3D Printed Urutau PDW

A recent post at something called the Global Network on Extremism & Technology is sounding the alarm over not only 3D-printed guns, but the deeper problem for civilian disarmament advocates of gun control basically becoming obsolete. What has them so anxious? The file release of the Urutau, a P90-like PDW that anyone can make at home with a 3D printer, some basic tools, and for just a few hundred dollars.

What has really raised the gun-grabbers’ hackles this time is the extensive documentation that’s included with the Urutau 3D files. Unlike the FGC-9, the Urutau comes with instructions that go far beyond basic 3D printing. Every step is well-documented, complete with diagrams and line drawings that make it extremely clear what to do. This “so easy, a caveman could do it” approach scares them because it lowers the barrier to building an effective firearm.

What frightens them still more are the instructions on how to practice good operational security (OPSEC). By telling aspiring gun builders how to avoid being noticed by law enforcement in countries where building the gun is illegal, the barrier is lowered further still, as people can be more confident when violating the so-called laws banning firearms possession. Everything from computer security, cryptography, to keeping your mouth shut gets covered.

But, what terrifies the anti-gunners the most is a manifesto that comes with the Urutau. Entitled “The New Second Amendment,” the document lays out the case against gun control globally, as well as a plan to bring a world free of gun control to reality.

“This document articulates a global vision for the unrestricted right to keep and bear arms, framing it not as a legal entitlement but as a fundamental human right transcending national boundaries.” GNET’s blog post hyperventilates. “It establishes a universal principle meant to resist regulation, encouraging builders to adopt a mindset of perpetual innovation and resilience against regulatory and societal constraints.”

What the document ignores, however, is the good the FGC-9 has done in the world. While there aren’t any documented cases of mass murder committed with the FGC-9, there are plenty of known uses of the weapon for righteous causes.

The largest case is in Myanmar/Burma, where people fighting to resist a military takeover of the country printed their own weapons to be able to fight at all. Other examples of their use are Taiwanese people preparing to fight against a communist invasion, and the IRA using FGC-9s to discourage the UK without firing a shot.

 

The fact is that gun control enables tyranny and oppression globally. During the 20th century, government murders were the number one non-natural cause of death globally, and that’s not counting war deaths or deaths occurring during legitimate law enforcement activities against criminals. The number of dead actually exceeds estimates for that of a limited nuclear war, but the impact of the death and destruction is blunted because it happened over decades rather than all at once.

Keeping government power in check is critical to saving lives. The excuses of criminal behavior, terrorism, and gun accidents shouldn’t be seen as legitimate justifications for civilian disarmament. While all such deaths are tragic, they are a tiny fraction compared to government killings. Keeping that in perspective only makes a clearer, more persuasive case for fewer limits on individual gun rights across the globe.