When we talk about gun control, it's important to understand just what we're talking about. Gun control is a term where the key word is "control." The word "gun" is just an adjective meant to modify "control."

There's a reason why many gun control groups now use euphemisms like "gun safety" or "gun sense." Americans aren't generally fond of being controlled.

And, unfortunately, it works in far too many cases.

The problem is that while gun control has never really worked as advertised--criminals have always had little issue getting guns, all things considered, no matter what laws you put in place--any hope it had of being truly effective is gone.

To frame my argument, let's look at this arrest in Baltimore.

A Baltimore Police Department SWAT team gathered outside of a McElderry Park rowhome on Dec. 29, 2022, preparing to break down the door. Inside, the officers had learned, was a man who had been 3D-printing gun parts en masse for weeks.

After they busted down Kevin Wallace’s door, police found dozens of 3D-printed handgun components, an assortment of pieces in a variety of colors that could be readily assembled into a usable weapon. The handgun frames and receivers were in pink, green, gray, tan, even “Tiffany blue,” according to court records. Some were hanging like ornaments on an artificial Christmas tree.

Fast forward a year and a half and federal prosecutors are seeking to send Wallace, 40, to prison for two years, according to court records.

...

“These firearm parts in the wrong hands would only serve to exacerbate the already dire firearm and violence problem in Baltimore City,” prosecutors wrote in Wallace’s sentencing memo. “Therefore, not only was it illegal for Wallace to possess the 9mm ammunition found in his home, but it was dangerous and reckless for the public for Wallace to be producing these privately made firearm parts en masse.”

Wallace pled guilty to a charge of possessing ammunition while a prohibited person.

But that kind of highlights the point for me. 

Allegedly, Wallace was using a growingly common piece of technology--the 3D printer--to produce firearms "en masse" for whatever purpose he wanted to make them for, and there was literally no way to prevent it.

Many think restricting 3D printers is an answer, but the issue is that these devices are used for infinitely more things than just firearms. They're sitting in schools and public libraries, for crying out loud. If you restrict their purchase too much, those buildings will just become targets for enterprising criminals looking for a way to make a few bucks.

And that's assuming that no one is interested in building their own printer.

Technology marches on and in this case, it's completely eclipsed any hope of gun control doing the job. P.A. Luty may have built a submachine gun in his garage with parts he got from a hardware store, but building a gun like that is intimidating. A lot of people won't bother, which is why we don't see a ton of them floating around, even if the plans are easy to find.

But 3D printers have taken the concept and made it less intimidating.

If you try to restrict more, more people will find a way around it. It's now just too easy to make these components.

If we want to address violent crime and armed criminals, it's time to take a step away from the failure we call gun control and start looking elsewhere. You're not going to stop criminals from getting guns, even if the hysteria around so-called ghost guns is grossly overstated by an alarmist media.

The truth, though, is that the more you try to restrict, the more attractive this technology will become. It's time to come to terms with that and recognize that control is never going to happen, so finding an alternative solution is the only rational course forward.

Unfortunately, I've seen little to suggest rationality will come into play here.