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FUTURE HUMAN
The Case for Genetically Engineering Ethical Humans
Some argue it’s the only way to save the species
August 1, 2018 … The age of the downloadable gun formally begins.” So says the website of Defense Distributed, a nonprofit that creates and publishes blueprints for 3-D printed weapons. Cody Wilson — the founder of Defense Distributed, a libertarian and one of the 15 most dangerous people in the world according to Wired magazine — put up plans for a printable gun in 2013. Called “the Liberator,” it was a single-shot pistol made mostly of plastic. Shortly after the blueprints were put online the State Department ordered them removed, citing a possible violation of firearm export rules. Wilson sued, and in June the State Department decided to settle his case, winning him the right to put the plans back online — while also recouping nearly $40,000 in legal fees from the U.S. government.
Gun-rights advocates are celebrating the settlement as “the end of gun control,” in the words of Fox News columnist John Lott Jr.
That may seem hyperbolic, if only because a gun is one thing that is not hard to buy in America. While a printed, largely plastic gun may be able to slip past some metal detectors and won’t carry a serial number, the designs are still inferior to conventional firearms, and…
