3D printers can now print parts for guns. Some students recently 3D printed key parts for an AR-15 and test fired it six times before it broke. Thus, the technology exists now. It’s just a mater of refining techniques and improving alloys until 3D printing guns can be reliably done.
Thus, it no longer matters if new legislation bans 30 round clips because the clips can be 3D printed. Yes, it might be illegal to own the clips. However the point is that 3D printing increasingly will make gun control measures irrelevant. Defcad.org already has CAD files for gun parts, just download and print.
We don’t need 3D printing to make such laws absurd. Let’s say we ban 30-round mags. Let’s say I’m a nutcase with a 10, or even 7-round mag. I can swap that mag out in about 3 secs if I have any experience at all, faster if I’ve been in the military (which I haven’t). That gives you, the intended victim, 3 seconds to realize that I’m out of ammo and do something about it.
What? You’re not carrying? Too bad. I’m loaded again and ready for more carnage.
Absent an outright ban (which would likely be as effective as the ban on, say, heroin), gun control is a red herring. It won’t fix the problem.