Gun control has always been a losing proposition. The truth of the matter is that from the moment governments started trying to ban guns for civilian use, someone immediately went to work trying to circumvent those laws. In an era where people have large amounts of free time that allow them to accumulate expertise on various subjects for fun, it’s not hard to circumvent those laws.

Perhaps the best example is the backyard submachine gun that sprang up after the UK banned private ownership of firearms.

However, even that gun required skills that some people don’t have.

With the rise of the 3D printer, however, making guns is even easier. Which is probably why a university student in the UK was making them.

A university student in the U.K. has been jailed after successfully creating handguns using a 3D printer, in the country’s first prosecution of its kind.

Tendai Muswere, 26, was jailed for three years on Thursday following a court case in central London. The media student, described by his lawyer as a “loner,” claimed that he built the weapons to serve as props in a sci-fi film he was making, the BBC reported.

Police discovered the firearms during a drugs raid at Muswere’s home in October 2017. Officers also found cannabis during the search.

The student did not have a firearms licence, but told police that the guns were for use in a university film project. He was also found in possession of ammunition, which Muswere claimed he found in a park.

Regardless of why he was making them, the fact was that he was able to.

The 3D printer is an amazing bit of technology. I’m not typically a technophile, but I’ve been fascinated with this development from the start. The reason? You can make damn near anything you want from plastic and, in time, any other material you care to make.

It’s also because there’s absolutely no way to enforce gun laws anymore. None.

England has some of the toughest gun laws in the world. They’re an island, which makes it more difficult to smuggle in guns. The only all-land access to the island comes via other countries with tough gun control laws.

It. Doesn’t. Matter.

Technology has gotten to the point that a college kid with a glorified toy can crank out firearms in his apartment. They’re deluded if they think he’s the only one who’s doing this. I guarantee you that he isn’t.

Yet how many of those doing so are otherwise law-abiding people? Not very many.

Instead, they’ll be made by some of the worst sorts of people. Criminals who may not have ready access to already made firearms will simply build guns with a 3D printer that they can order online.

Meanwhile, the good, law-abiding folk of the UK are still going to be vulnerable to these sorts, all because their government seems to believe that good, decent folks can’t be trusted with firearms.

They’re wrong, of course. More importantly, though, is that the people the government should be worried about don’t care what the law says. They never do.