New California ghost gun lawsuit takes aim at company that sells 3-D printer filament

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨jballs@sh.itjust.works⁩ to ⁨3dprinting@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-10-10/san-diego-california-ghost-gun-3d-printer-filament-lawsuit

San Diego County jumped into California’s sprawling ghost gun fight this week, suing a 3-D printing filament manufacturer it says hocks material for homespun firearms in violation of state law.

Working with the Giffords Law Center, the county counsel sued manufacturer Polymaker, alleging the company made a “strategic business choice” to market and sell 3-D printer filament to Californians for the express purpose of building illegal weapons. The polymer filament is sold in spools that feed into 3-D printers, allowing the devices to form designs created by their owners.

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SabinStargem@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
If things goes the way I think it will, California will need more guns to fight off the Trump Regime during the opening years of the 2nd American Civil War.

I hope this lawsuit fails.

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FoxAlive@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I’m not a gun guy but from my understanding of ghost guns you pretty much buy the whole gun online in parts, and you just 3d print a handle.

So I don’t understand why people are so afraid of 3d printing when it really has minimal to do with the final product. From what I can tell you can’t just 3d print a gun from start to finish like its a llm. You still have to buy the actual gun parts from the manufacturer. To me this sounds completely unrelated and like a issue with regulating gun parts.

You can carve a handle out of soap, wood, or buy a solid chunk of plastic and its the same result.

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- rumba@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
  They used to make guns out of umbrella parts.
  
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- jballs@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  You can print all sorts of gun parts though, like suppressors and modifications to allow a gun to shoot faster than normal.
  
  With that being said, trying to ban 3d printing or sue filament manufacturers is monumentally stupid.
  
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rumschlumpel@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Don’t tell them about pipes.

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- Sludgehammer@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I believe they’ll eventually come for those too.
  
  IMO the real end goal of these laws isn’t to ban ghost guns, it’s to ban plebs from being able to build or create anything at all. 3D printing a plastic piece to fix a broken tab in some gizmo cuts into corporate profits so a manufactured moral panic about ghost guns appears. I’m sure they’ll eventually get to a pipe rifle moral panic at some point to lock down DIY plumbing.
  
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  - LongLive@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    " Oi, you got a licence for that sewage mate? "
    
    I am skeptical about that, though the visual is funny.
    
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empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
hold on let me go sue home depot for selling black iron pipe because someone made a pipe bomb.

Someone’s looking for a payout settlement

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- terranoid@lemmy.cafe ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  you could literally make a shotgun with that too. Saw a YouTube video. Two pipes, one fit in the other, small one was the right size to hold a shell, and a nail at the end of the closed pipe triggered it if you used your hands to hit it.
  
  Super effective and easy one shot shotgun. there’s no real way to regulate guns IMO. They’re not complicated devices.
  
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  - Kalothar@lemmy.ca ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Guns are just a slight evolution of the sling, just us throwing rocks further and faster.
    
    Same as it ever was.
    
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  - fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    The shit shovel too AK guide is still on my favorite guides that were floating around on the interwebz
    
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ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
They used fear of guns to attack Right to Repair and small manufacturing. It was never about guns.

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percent@infosec.pub ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

Polymaker did not respond to requests for comment.

Statements like these always seem deceiving to me. Like, how much time did you give them? Some of these people race to get their story out too quickly, without giving a reasonable amount of time for a response.

What if they respond later? I guess they could update the article, but that’s still after people have already read it and formed their opinions based on the original contents.

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- jake_jake_jake_@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  This is very normal, and not meant to be deceiving. If the group who didn’t respond to the request does respond after the article was published, that will be removed and a statement that reads something like “Polymaker (insert title or department) responded after initial publishing with this statement” and that statement will follow after. From a journalistic integrity standpoint it shows that they wanted to get both sides of a story, especially if one side was interviewed or quoted. The alternative of not stating that comment was requested is we read the article and wonder if Polymaker ever got a chance to speak their side.
  
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  - percent@infosec.pub ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    
    The alternative of not stating that comment was requested is we read the article and wonder if Polymaker ever got a chance to speak their side.
    
    But that’s kinda my point: I still don’t know if they had a chance to speak their side before the article was published, nor do I know if they will.
    
    It’s really just a nitpick on my part. If they plan to publish a follow-up article about the response, then it would seem a bit more honest to just add one word: “yet”
    
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LovableSidekick@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
The specifics revolve around a 3d-printed-gun advocate named Sean Aranda, whose youtube channel focuses on that subject. According to him, when youtube demonetized the channel in 2023 Polymaker approached him with a sponsorship offer. A couple months later Polymaker announced Aranda as a new member of its marketing team.

So regardless of where you stand on the Calif anti-3d-gun law, this isn’t a simple case of going after egg farmers because of illegal omelets.

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- Jiral@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  You’ve got some point there, but doesn’t demonstrate the uselessness of the law? Unless of course they are going after every producer of technical filaments, which is like going after anyone with a lathe or a CNC machine.
  
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ShutUpWesley@piefed.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
That is completely bizarre.

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Noite_Etion@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Americans can order guns to their doors, but the 3d printers are the issues you choose to tackle…

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- tinyvoltron@discuss.online ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  No, they can’t. Guns can only be legally shipped to a federally licensed gun dealer. The dealer cannot transfer it to the buyer without the mandated background check.
  
  The gun laws are already fucked up enough. You don’t have to make shit up.
  
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  - historicaldocuments@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    You can have long guns purchased through the Civilian Marksmanship Program shipped directly to your door. Those are a drop in the bucket compared to most firearm purchases in the US, though.
    
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  - cknight@fedinsfw.app ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Can order black powder revolvers to your door, and can buy replacement parts that allow them to fire cowboy cartridges, which are just low FPS lead rounds, like 800fps. They’ll kill a fella, but don’t have quite the same force as modern rounds. They also burn a lower grade powder and are a bit more smokey.
    
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  - Noite_Etion@lemmy.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Trump is trying to pass that law right now, a bit of hyperbole in my statement, but it reinforces my point
    
    www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12725
    
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  - monkdervierte@lemmy.zip@lemmy.zip ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    This also didn’t solve anything, if you look at the statistics.
    
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AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
They’re trying to make this a case over marketing and intent rather than materials.

The actual types of filament they’re concerned with are carbon fiber nylon (sold by many brands) and “PLA Pro” which is just a bit better regular PLA.

These are sold by tons of brands all across the internet.

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jballs@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
This is getting a bit fucking ridiculous. They’re suing filament manufacturers now.

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- Timpostma@mastodon.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  @jballs that’s like suing a hardware store for someone hit with a piece of wood my point is filaments are legal it is the end-product that is meant to be perceived
  #3DPrinting
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  - jballs@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Yeah, and they also want to make it illegal to print something without a magic algorithm sitting between your computer and printer determining if it’s a gun part or not. I can’t help but feel like these people don’t know the first thing about how 3d printing actually works.
    
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- chewypoops@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Polymaker is a Chinese supplier, selling to California residents, while also running ad campaigns through ghost gun content creators aimed at California residents, defining themselves explicitly as a ghost gun ingredient.
  
  If they didn’t want to get caught up in this, they shouldn’t have gotten involved in the illicit arms business. But they wanted to be known as the plastic supplier that is cool with you making ghost guns, and that isn’t going to fly in California.
  
  Plastic suppliers that don’t advertise themselves explicitly as being part of the ghost gun supply chain will be fine.
  
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  - holy_scroller@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    So polymaker actually choose the individual channels their ads (not about ghost guns) were put on…or was that an algorithm (AdSense)?
    
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  - Jiral@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Well, doesn’t that just show how useless that ban is?
    
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  - FlexibleToast@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Will be fine, for now.
    
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DaddleDew@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Sue the steel mills for guns too while you’re at it.

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- Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Hol up, those guns are made by corporations. What are you thinking?
  
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  - DaddleDew@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Anyone with machining knowledge can turn a block of metal into a working gun part
    
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umbrella@lemmy.ml ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
maybe we should be printing these

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the16bitgamer@programming.dev ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Pfffffff hahahaha, are you also going to go after weed walker too?

The USA is a joke

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BigTrout75@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Is this filament specifically designed for guns?

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- humanspiral@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  It’s like saying steel is specifically designed for guns. For plastics, stronger is a nice property for many applications.
  
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- Munkisquisher@lemmy.nz ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  No, polymaker just have a big range of engineering friendly filament, just as they have pretty artsy ones, and low cost workhorse filament for makers
  
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  - nanometer1625@thelemmy.club ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Sounds like the lawsuit is on thin ice, then.
    
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moldy_rice@piefed.keyboardvagabond.com ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
This seems awfully familiar to the gun crackdowns after the Black Panthers started using them for self defense.

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LovableSidekick@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I think you mean “hawks” as in selling, not “hocks” as in loogies.

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- stringere@sh.itjust.works ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Both are correct. Hock also means to pawn. Hawk can also mean to offer to sell, specifically by calling out in the street.
  
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- jballs@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I didn’t write the article
  
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grillgamesh@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
under the second amendment, and under the ATF’s ruling, citizens are allowed tomanufacturr their own firearms. this is getting struck down… if it were in Texas and not the gun-stealing California. I hope to the gods it gets struck down, because this would be a travesty for all my brothers, sisters and non binary pals in California… my heart goes out to y’all.

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- Cethin@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  2A is already abused to hell, but I see no way to make an argument to say it protects manufacturing a firearm. It, at best, protects possession. There are other reasons this is illegal, but please read the second amendment before you say dumb shit about it.
  
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  - grillgamesh@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    This is a direct quote from the ATF Director, Rob Cekada: The interview starts at 390 seconds.
    
    youtu.be/1h_wRotsHTw?t=390
    
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- just2look@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  States are allowed to add some restrictions to gun laws. So the new ATF rules likely won’t be decisive in this case.
  
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  - grillgamesh@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    If this goes up to the federal court level, it’s almost certainly getting struck down. It’s a pretty clear infringement upon the 2nd amendment.
    
    It’s a miracle that the CA gun laws haven’t been struck down at the federal level yet… By the gods, I hope they do. The situation in CA is utterly miserable for y’all.
    
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Alph4d0g@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Maybe they should sue steel manufacturers too since that’s the main material used for most fire arms.

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Malica@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Jfc these people are out of their minds

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Buelldozer@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
For fucks sake.

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GreenKnight23@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
huh. who knew the answer to gun violence in the US was to regulate 3D printers!

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terabyterex@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
i hope.polymarket fights this. this law ia wrong and should be challenged in court

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- nialv7@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  you mean polymaker
  
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  - terabyterex@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    yeah, typo
    
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  - DahGangalang@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Por que no los dos?
    
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danekrae@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Oh my God! America could end up having a real problem with gun violence…

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- pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Was it ever about the children? It’s not about the gun violence either
  
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Brkdncr@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
They are going about this all wrong. Just make possession a crime and enforce it.

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- riskable@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  But then I’d be guilty! I have some Polymaker filament right here! It’s still new in the box and everything…
  
  Shit, maybe there’s a sketchy filament black market where I can fence it…
  
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  - Brkdncr@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Sorry I misspoke. It’s fixed. Basically illegal firearms should be enforced better.
    
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- Korkki@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  How? Already If you want a above board gun you will just buy actual gun. If you are up to some shady shit or just an enthusiast, you go for 3d printed guns. You can’t effectively enforce this especially in the US unless you ban printers, preferably federally and ban 3d printing as a practice. You can’t effectively scrub the models from the internet, you can’t stop people from printing and you can’t really enforce distribution because everybody with a printer, will and a little knowhow can make their own.
  
  The real news here is the filament company are complete doofuses if they are marketing their high strength filament especially for gun making. That’s just like if OpenAI was marketing their new cutting edge image gen AI model as something meant for making deepfake P*rn of celebrities. One would think that they would cover their asses with more neutral wording and description regarding their product. That is a PR and legal problem bound to happen.
  
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  - Brkdncr@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    The same way that they enforce other crimes.
    
    Murdering someone is illegal. Murdering someone while being involved in a gang is extra illegal and affects sentencing for example.
    
    Caught with possession of a “ghost” gun? Insta-jail. Or maybe increase the charge to terrorism.
    
    The legal system has tons of options at their disposal. Going after filament manufacturers is like going after black powder suppliers.
    
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jballs@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Here’s another article with a bit more information: www.3dprintingjournal.com/…/san-diego-county-sues…

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- Kewlio250@lemmy.zip ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  So it seems the legal question is “was polymaker advertising their filament specifically for printing working firearms?”
  
  Them having a couple military style colors for printing toy guns seems pretty far from a specific gun use filament. I was expecting a specific blend of herbs and spices specifically for withstanding the rigors of shooting real ammo or something, not a fucking color that is “military”.
  
  Also, good luck trying to probe that they used specific advertising channels to market directly to the ghost gun groups. Flimsy reasoning at best.
  
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melsaskca@lemmy.ca ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Then lil’ Petey Hegseth ran out of guns and all this shit was suddenly legal. /s

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Bitflip@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Seems the safe option for others is to cease all shipments and sales of printers and filament to California.

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- saltesc@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  What about bullets?
  
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  - dRLY@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
    Gonna have to stop all sales of lead and brass in any form (don’t want to have access for people to melt things down). Gunpowder of course, including all the elements needed to make gunpowder. You know, just to cover all the bases.
    
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  - InFerNo@lemmy.ml ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I print my own bullets /s
    
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Natanox@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Weird how shit like this always is an issue in the USA and basically nowhere else. Must be the lack of freedom or sth., we’re just too suppressed in commie Europe to have these issues, can’t even buy 9mm rounds in the supermarket. Shame.

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