The Intersection of the Tech World and the Gun World


Introduction:

I'm going to try an go into a bit about the intersection that I've noticed between the tech world and the gun world. I am someone who grew up very tech-minded. I was very into computers, tinkered with my stuff and jailbroke my phones. I got a bit into "hacker" culture and would be security minded. I also am, obviously, really into firearms. More and more I am seeing gun culture and internet/tech culture become one in the same. It seems to stem from a common rebelliousness and distrust of government seen on both ends 

Details:

I see more and more intersections between the tech community and gun community as time goes on. I think nothing exemplifies this better than the development of 3D printed guns. The development of 3D printed guns stems directly from the mix of people tinkering with their 3D printers and people that want to fight gun control. Together, they have developed a gun that is completely made of unregulatable components, the FCG9.


The FCG9 is completely unregulatable and can be made with around 100 dollars worth of components. The goal of many of these technically-minded gun guys is to render gun control completely irrelevant. In order to bad the FCG9, a government would have to ban 3D printers and hardware stores. This has opened up less-than-legal opportunities for gun enthusiasts in Europe, where firearms are heavily regulated. There are even videos from anonymous twitter users in Europe testing out their 3D printed builds.

Another intersection of tech and guns has revolved around a general distrust in government and a desire to undercut regulations. In the world of information security, hobbyists are always looking for ways to enhance their privacy and avoid any censorship. Although it has to be said that many corners of the internet have become havens for extremism, many people are simply seeking to avoid corporate and government monitors. 

The gun world is similar. Hardcore 2nd Amendment supporters have found innumerable ways to either workaround or just ignore government regulation. The knowledge from decades of avoiding laws has permeated into common knowledge. An example of this is that fact that it is commonly known that a wire coat hanger can be bent in such a way so as to make a drop-in auto sear for an AR-15. 

Finally, tech and guns intersect with the idea of  'EMilitias'. These are online communities of gun owner that share common ideas and common skepticism of government. These communities have shown an ability to organize outside of the internet, with calls to action being answered by armed citizens. 

This would be impossible if it weren't for everyday citizens' ability to utilize tools such as social media in order to put the word out. But people have gotten smart. Due to censorship on popular social media platforms, people have moved to encrypted applications such as Telegram or Signal in order to communicate. These same applications are used by insurgent groups overseas and other people looking to evade monitoring. Their use by everyday citizens in the US speaks to the fact that knowledge from the tech world has made its way into the gun community.

Conclusion:

My day job is in IT, and I have personally met a decent number of other IT people through my interest in guns. This is what inspired me to delve into this a bit and look into what kind of overlap there is between the two communities. I know this post wasn't as photo-heavy as they usually are, but I hope I did a decent job of going over some of the similarities I've seen. If you have any questions on anything I've talked about, feel free to leave a comment. If you just want to 3D print some Glock mags, check this out: https://ivanthetroll.keybase.pub/printable.html
 

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