Introduction
In the ever-evolving landscape of global security, guns and small munitions are the lifeblood of political resistance. In the United States, the Second Amendment (2A) to the Constitution gives every US citizen the right to bear arms. At a time of heightened socio-political division in the US, emerging technologies like 3D printing provide an avenue of accelerationist mobilisation for absolutist 2A supporters. In this realm, domestic extremists have linked a constitutionalist framework to the online gun-printing community. Many of these inter-connected individuals and groups believe that the only way to resist the perceived anti-white, globalist agenda of the ultra-liberal left is through the assembly of armed resistance that is true to the Constitution’s Second Amendment. Because of loopholes in state and federal law, the 3D printing of weapons is largely unregulated and has gone underground, supplemented by unmoderated content on social media platform X. Despite some US lawmakers recently taking action to try and ban the production of untraceable ‘ghost guns’ using 3D printers, the sharing of downloadable files with step-by-step gun-printing instructions has become commonplace on mainstream social media.
This Insight will examine the nexus between the online 3D2A community and accelerationist ideology in an attempt to delineate how the promotion of gun printing technology is aligned with accelerationist rhetoric and active, budding domestic extremism.
Linkages Between the 3D2A Community and Anti-Establishment Views
Online, the pro-2A gun-printing community overlaps with the call for hateful accelerationist violence against social groups, US political institutions and anyone else viewed as an obstacle in the way of underground weapons procurement. Central to this rhetoric is resistance to the democratic liberal rule, where many users describe themselves as anti-Marxist and anti-communist, suggesting that gun control is a Marxist mechanism of political and social control. The presence of this decentralised group of firearm developers descends from a collective named Deterrence Dispensed (DetDisp), which became infamous as a result of leader JStark1809’s FGC-9 (‘Fuck Gun Control 9mm’), a semi-automatic weapon consisting of no regulated gun parts. DetDisp has seemingly evolved into a 3D2A community that uses a firearm design platform known as ‘The Gatalog.’ While ‘The Gatalog’ appears as a detached and distinct entity of DetDisp, many 3D gun printers on X use DetDisp’s recognisable ‘Come and Take It’ computer folder logo and other related insignia. The emblem has become symbolic of the 3D2A community, and users can even purchase merchandise, including patches of the symbol, on various 3D2A-focused websites. These individuals, including DetDisp’s former ‘Beta’ manager ‘DrDeath1776,’ engage with extremist rhetoric and far-right memes, including Pepe the Frog and mottos and namesakes like ‘chaos reigns.’ In response to online criticism, users taunt the FBI and CIA, even tagging their social media accounts. Some users have posted videos and images showing ‘what a mass shooter looks like’ (Figure 1) and urging followers to ‘be the militia violent extremist the government thinks you are’ (Figure 2). The rhetoric and dialogue that some in the 3D2A community engage with suggest a disdain for government and a desire for armed accelerationist mobilisation, affirming a tapestry of overlap between violent extremism and 3D-printed weapons under the guise of the Second Amendment.
Figure 1. 3D2A user posts a video claiming to show what ‘training to be a mass shooter looks like.’
Figure 2. 3D2A user encourages followers to ‘be the militia violent extremist the government thinks you are…
The Race War and ‘Peaceful’ Calls for Violence
While many messages shared within the 3D2A community reflect sentiments of contempt towards the government, other messages extend this ethos and directly flirt with violent rhetoric, using subliminal calls for violence to galvanise a movement against society and government. One creator known for printing the gun known as the ‘Urutau,’ retweeted a tweet in late August 2024 that reads: “You can’t truly call yourself ‘peaceful’ unless you are capable of great violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless.” This remark is accompanied by a masked figure holding what is presumably a 3D-printed gun, with the caption, “I am extremely peaceful.” The user that posted the original tweet wrote: “Peaceful, not harmless.” On 5 September 2024, another user popular within the 3D2A community posted an image of a man being arrested alongside the caption: “When the race wars start and the white nationalists you befriended turn they [sic] back on you and deport you even tho they said you were one of the good ones (you are brown).” This comment directly implies that extremism is a common thread that pulls together the 3D2A community, suggesting that the 3D2A community as a whole is resistant to liberal society and that the act of arming oneself with 3D weapons is in response to the coming ‘race war.’ Discussions of race wars are commonplace within far-right circles, and are often indicative of conspiracy theories like the Great Replacement Theory, which posits that society’s institutions are purposefully driving out white people.
Memed Accelerationist Violence and the Second Amendment as a Human Right
As indicated above, the 3D2A community is insistent on creating chaos through violence or the suggestion of violence. On X, many members of the 3D2A community present themselves as defenders of personal liberties and staunch opponents of any regulatory institutions and authority figures, like the ATF and members of the police force (Figure 3 and Figure 4). The bio of one Michigan-based X user who claims to be a 3D weapons ammunition producer reads, “Premier ammo supplier for the Militia Industrial Complex. Self defense is a human right.”
Figure 3. 3D2A user says ‘fuck the ATF!’ in a repost of a weapons attachment giveaway
Figure 4. User posts an image affirming that the Second Amendment is ‘for shooting cops’
The Second Amendment is viewed as sacred and immutable by the 3D2A community. Memes representing this sentiment are commonplace within the community, including statements that allude to a blatant disregard of any regulatory law against the production of 3D weapons (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Meme posted by a 3D2A user
Many users belonging to the 3D2A community taunt and poke fun at those who attempt to dismantle their underground weapons development. In response to an article shared on X suggesting that 3D-printed weapons are ‘lethal Lego sets’ by gun-violence prevention-focused non-profit GIFFORDS, a 3D2A user responded, “Did you know you can build your own Lethal Lego Untraceable Ghost Gun at home with just a 3D printer and some basic hand tools? … You too can build these by going to TheGatalog.”
In November 2024, a Brazilian gunsmith posted an image of a gun part etched with the phrase “Live Free or Die,” reflecting the view of many 3D2A gun developers that civil liberties and the freedom to 3D print should be maximised. This was retweeted by another well-known Brazilian firearm developer. Also retweeted by the latter user was an image of a mass shooter wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat and an Israeli flag patch, preparing to shoot at schoolchildren in what appears to represent a Palestinian classroom. (Figure 6). Such content emphasises the vitriol and maximalist language used in many spaces in support of the 3D2A cause.
Figure 6. Meme retweeted by 3D2A developer portraying mass violence
Furthermore, in the aftermath of the brazen shooting that killed UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson on 4 December 2024, footage of his assassination was memed, with many renditions of the footage going viral within online communities. For the 3D2A community, the shooting was of regulatory concern due to the assassin’s use of a 3D-printed gun and silencer. Several online gunsmiths shared their fear that the shooting would cause government institutions to attempt to ban such weapons. However, the incident presented an opportunity for the 3D2A community to propagate their hatred for perceived elitist authority figures. One 3D gun developer posted an image taken from the shooting footage and labelled Thompson as a ‘sheriff’ and the assassin as ‘I,’ depicting the death of Thompson as the killing of a police officer. The witness, who managed to get away, is labelled as ‘deputy,’ suggesting that the creator of the meme is only interested in violently eliminating those in positions of power. (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Meme shared by a 3D2A user suggesting a desire to kill police officers
During the week of 9 December 2024, it was revealed by multiple news sources that the gun used by the perpetrator was a 3D-printed ‘ghost gun’ that was fully homemade. This raised questions about the legalities of 3D printed firearms, with Andy Greenberg, a contributor for WIRED Magazine, tracing the weapon back to ‘The Gatalog.’ As a result, members of the 3D2A community alerted their followers that news reporters had reached out to them. One user said “all the homies are getting hit up by journalists lmao… We’re the rats.” This comment alludes to the 3D2A community’s response to such journalists with a meme involving a 3D model of a rat, often with the song ‘Free Bird’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd playing in the background. This meme was turned into a fake VICE News article created by the 3D2A community, titled ‘Meet the Xanicels: The Gun Loving Extremists Who Keep Sending Us Videos of a Horizontally Spinning Rat When We DM Them’ (Figure 8). This fake article clearly delineates that the 3D2A community is comfortable referring to themselves as ‘extremists,’ and that they find amusement in being labelled as such.
Figure 8. Fake VICE News article created by the 3D2A community
Recommendations
Addressing the use of 3D-printed weapons and the subsequent saturation of online activity related to underground weapons procurement demands a multifaceted approach aimed at stifling both the creation and dissemination of homemade weapons and printing instructions. Agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF) in the US should redefine legal definitions to include 3D-printed weapon parts and mandate serialisation of all gun components to reduce accessibility to ghost guns. Additionally, background checks should be mandated for the purchase of any firearm parts, thereby reducing the anonymity of weapons purchases and the accessibility of weapons to individuals with violent or potentially violent mental or criminal histories. Further, legislative bodies in the US and abroad should focus their attention on regulating the sale of filament materials used in the production of 3D-printed guns in order to disable ease of access to individuals aiming to procure gun parts without a background check.
Internet service providers might constrain access to websites providing downloadable weapon development instructions through governmental means. They might also enforce online platforms to authenticate user history to administer proper protocol.
Conclusion
3D-printed weapons development is growing, and it’s only going to get bigger. While it is important that the Constitution is upheld to embolden personal liberties, certain restrictions must be enforced in order to alleviate potential threats related to gun manufacturing. The 3D2A community has shown no signs of slowing down and has only ramped up their trolling and taunting as they have faced more scrutiny. As the technology becomes more advanced, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, 3D-printed weapons will continue to grow in effectiveness, blanketing the illicit gun market with dangerous levels of untraceability and unpredictable violence.