Home made DIY guns 80% arms
JWT for TTAG

The right to craft and customize firearms is integral to the right to determine which arms one will “keep and bear.”

There is nothing strange or sinister about making and customizing one’s own means of personal defense. Assembling or crafting a gun is no more unusual than growing your own food in a garden or sewing an article of clothing. But accustomed to modern technology, some Americans have forgotten these basic realities — and yet, many of us still value self-sufficiency over a culture of centralization, dependency, and government control. …

If there is no right to make or customize our own guns, then there is ultimately no right to decide which arms we will keep and bear. Without that underlying right of choice, the right to keep and bear arms — a natural right, not granted by government — will be subject to the will of the government, not to the will of We the People.

— Cody J. Wisniewski in Gun Control Activists Are Targeting the Right to Self-Sufficiency

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

68 COMMENTS

  1. Yes. a great freedom. But these are not inheritable and you can’t give them away, so don’t plan to make to many. Possession is another problem. Great fun training your grandchildren how to make one. But then who holds it until they are permitted to have it?

      • Yeah, too much of that these days. I’m surprised at how many supposed POTG keep saying you can’t sell or transfer a gun you finished/assembled yourself. As long as you (1) are not in the business of “manufacturing”, (2) are not intending to sell/transfer at the time of creation, and (3) are not knowingly selling/transferring to a known prohibited person (straw transfer), then of course you can create one and later sell/transfer. At least, per Federal law.

        It’s generally recommended to keep said gun in your possession for at least six months before any transfer, to avoid any “constructive” arguments from ATF.

        • Indeed, however the nuances of the law never stopped the feds from raining on someone. I have seen many legitimate businesses in other market sectors get raided and set back by years because the feds wanted some headlines at the working class’ expense. A lot of lawyers, legal fees, wasted time and ultimately never any sticking charges.

          The process is used as a weapon because charges will never stick.

    • Phantom30,

      … [homemade firearms] are not inheritable and you can’t give them away, so don’t plan to make [too] many.

      In terms of federal law and most state laws, it is my understanding that homemade firearms are inheritable and you can, indeed, give them away. In fact I believe you can even sell them at some point several months/years down the road. What would be illegal: commencing a firearm manufacturing operation with the intention of selling the firearms that you manufacture — unless you have a federal firearms license.

      And on a somewhat practical note, even it were illegal to inherit or give away homemade firearms, how would prosecutors ever be able to prove who manufactured them or when they manufactured them? Government cannot prosecute you for something which they cannot establish/prove.

      Disclaimer:
      I am not an attorney. The above is my opinion and is not legal advice.

    • You definitely can inherit a homemade firearm. It just can’t be made for the purpose of being sold.

      You can actually sell homemade firearms, just be prepared to prove that it wasn’t your intent when you made it…

      • “You can actually sell homemade firearms, just be prepared to prove that it wasn’t your intent when you made it…”

        ….and add a permanent serial number IAW state law (if any). Otherwise, create a serial number all your own.

      • quite contrary. cockleshells.
        i put my pantyhose in the microwave for ten seconds to prevent yeast infections.
        the few times i was too late i got one f of a croissant.

  3. Some people do not understand the concepts of real freedom. The little they do understand is absolutely terrifying to them.

  6. SO…..easily controlled by the federal government under the interstate commerce clause and Wickard v. Filburn?

  7. Quote: “Making Your Own Gun is No Different Than Growing Your Own Food”

    For those old enough to remember, the USSR did not allow people to “grow their own food”, everything belonged to the Party and was dispersed by the Party.

    “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” and those needs were determined by the Party.

    The democrat party (communist party USA) has a goal of taking us to the USSA (United Socialist States of America).

    20 January 2021 was the first day of “The New Dark Ages” and we may never recover.

    Be Prepared !!!

    • And the 5% of arable land allowed to be used for private plots provided almost half the food for the nation. Shows the efficiency of collective farming.

  8. Well, I had linked a bunch of “growing your own food is illegal” articles but it must have triggered as spam.
    Suffice it to say the same people coming for your guns are coming for your gardens.

    • I have a 10 acre garden. Hope they bring a big truck and a whole lot of people.
      Because I need a new big truck.

      • > Because I need a new big truck.

        I don’t audibly snort very often over internet comments. However, I did with that. Thanks. I needed some levity.

      • Mr. Taylor,

        You truly are blessed to have a 10 acre garden.

        Many people do not have anywhere near that much land. (I certainly do not — 10 acres near me could easily cost over $500,000.)

        • We have a working farm and dairy. The dairy garden supports the business. We also have house gardens.
          10 acres is not “land”. 10 acres is a yard.

        • 10 acres is not “land”. 10 acres is a yard.

          Ha ha. I would expect no less since you are in Texas!

          In my parts the land alone for a farming operation would typically cost well north of $2 million if not $4 million. As a result, 99.9% of farming operations near me have been in the family since the middle 1800s. (A few years back I was able to inspect an authentic/original plot map of my township — from something like 1850 — and most of the properties and names are still here today.)

          The only exception that I know of is a local person, rumored to be worth close to $1 billion, who has been buying up huge tracts of land and began farming them. I am saddened to think that you have to be a multi-multi-millionaire to start a farming operation these days.

        • Uncommon, we have a free range organic farm and dairy. If we sold everything we would certainly get north of 10 million, and probably quite a bit north. And then everyone in the family would be out of a job and a home.
          We started with nothing, and subsisted well below the poverty level for decades. It has taken an entire family a generation of maintaining at least two full time jobs to be able to have what we have now. I have a family member who got sent to a prison hard labor camp and complained that she was getting fat because she had never had it so easy in her life. There were many, many years where everyone’s second job paid for the debts the farm accrued.
          And you know what, now we’re rich. My kids don’t think of themselves as rich, but they’ve never had to sleep in a car, they have no idea what it’s like to go to school wearing the clothes that other kids donated for the poor people, and they’ll never be hungry.
          This is the wealth that is still possible for anyone in America, if they are willing to work like hell.

        • Judging by your picture, you’re a white guy which means we’re supposed to assume that you only have that wealth due to your ancestors taking advantage of slave labor.

        • “10 acres near me could easily cost over $500,000”

          Yikes. And here I am stressing over spending $50,000 to buy 25 acres of riverfront property. It’s out in the boonies.

        • Mr. Taylor,

          I am glad to hear about your family’s collective success. Again, count your blessings. I don’t mean to take anything away from your hard work. Such successes are not always possible and do not always pan out for others.

          In my case for example, family on one side were orphans and had no family to leverage. They were, in many respects, lucky to have survived. On the other side, my family are immigrants displaced from Europe in World War II and literally escaped with nothing but the clothes on their backs and came to the U.S. not knowing a single word of English. Thus there was no large/extended family with resources to build upon. I myself have worked very hard (literally working myself physically ill on more than one occasion) on a business which had/has huge potential. One significant problem: a quasi public/private initiative — one of only two such endeavors in the entire United States — launched in my county one year after I launched my business and significantly hampered growth. And I know very hard times — including a six-month stretch where I had almost no food to eat until I shot a deer and a friend stole hamburger and sausage from a restaurant for me to eat. (Working more hours during that time was impossible since I was already doing about 60 to 70 hours per week and literally had no residual mental capacity to do anything.)

          I am not making excuses or crying the blues and I certainly do not begrudge you or your family’s success. I am simply pointing out that countless variables in life can and do result in hard work and wise decisions yielding relatively little financial success. As I stated, count your blessings. And enjoy them as well!

        • I always need workers. Always. It is very rare to find an American that is willing to work, essentially by themselves, whenever the work needs done. And that’s how farm work is.
          I am absolutely positive that the people they will bring would not be qualified, or have the appropriate work ethic to be successful on an American farm or ranch.

        • On that subject if a person really want to become self sufficient and not depend on the government as long as a person is willing to work and they are willing to learn a job is a job.

          That’s one thing about the honest so called illegal aliens from Mexico. They are hard workers and willing to work. For years we were dependent on Migrant workers because a lot of Americans have gotten lazy . The new administration want us that way

        • Farmed/Cattle/Horses all my life, retired.
          Love the smell of working dirt and cowshit smells like money. Hang time is when the pony takes off and you leave the saddle, them sport bikes ain’t got nothing.

    • Shire-man,

      I am interested in seeing the “growing your own food is illegal” articles.

      That would come as a surprise to me.

      Wickard v. Filburn implications not withstanding, what I can see is that state and/or federal “health” agencies may frown upon you growing food in your garden which you then sell en-masse to the public without their inspections/blessings.

      Note that there could be a righteous basis for that line of thinking since a home gardener could quite easily apply dangerous levels/types of chemicals to their garden which would be bad for the health of anyone consuming that produce.

      • Old memory from a history class popped into my head and a family story.

        At one time Americans grew ‘Victory Gardens’ and it was considered patriotic and doing your part for the war effort. People did this on their property and yards ect.

        These gardens helped take some of the pressure off of the food supply chain.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden

        • Manse Jolly,

          I have also heard about Victory Gardens. They show how resourceful and determined we can be in the United States.

      • The left will ignore and curse any/all court cases relative to any right to have a garden just as they do the 2nd amendment.

    • If we let them take our homemade gats you can bet they’ll come after all your roll your own ammo too.

      Gardens will wait until we’re fully disarmed. Except in Michigan.

      • Governor Le Petomane,

        Gardens will wait until we’re fully disarmed. Except in Michigan.

        There must be a joke in there somewhere but I am not seeing it. Can you elaborate/enlighten me?

        • The Governor of Michigan went wacko dictator on them at the start of ‘the covid’.

          Banned the selling of seeds in stores.

  9. Guns are only the evolution of the rock, humans have been murdering each other for 100’s of thousands of years. I would bet more murders are prevented by guns than caused by them. Statistics prove the more guns in the hands of law abiding citizens, the less crime. Build what you need or desire, the government need to stay the F out of your life. The object should not be illegal, improper and nefarious use of it has to be.

    • Indeed! To paraphrase one of my favorite online 2A personalities, the second amendment isn’t a suggestion, it is a directive. “Shall not be infringed” means what it says.

  10. “Making Your Own Gun is No Different Than Growing Your Own Food”

    An interesting take, but actually……

    One already needs (in most places) government permission to grow food. Zoning laws are a real thing. So, is it really a similarity between home grown food, and home grown guns? If so, it seems the reciprocal would be that if permission is needed to grow food, it is reasonable to have government permission to build home grown guns.

    Nest-ce pas?

    • I have never heard that it was illegal to have a vegetable garden. Maybe if you used what was supposed to be common area(like the area between the sidewalk and street) Or a pretty front yard. I am sure that you can grow a small plot on your own land(maybe 12’x12′). Now that would be a great issue for ACLU or any other likeminded group to fight.

      • “I have never heard that it was illegal to have a vegetable garden. ”

        After living in Alabama, Louisiana, North Dakota, Californication, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, Florida I can tell you that there are covenants, zoning laws, deed restrictions, regulations and homeowner associations bylaws that do prescribe whether or not one can grow food, and/or the size of the garden permitted.

        These regulations do not exist everywhere in the nation, I suppose, but if you cannot grow your own food, anywhere on your property as you like, then government is controlling what you can do, granting permission when and where they like.

  11. I enjoyed the piece on the Cobra handgun and the recommendation to buy a Taurus instead was nice. Based on this article, when are we going to see a zip gun reviewed?

  12. I was building zip guns when I was ten, and they worked. The hard part was getting ammo. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, oui?

    After 63 years, I’m reasonably certain that the statute of limitations has run.

    • yes. back then, the kid that had ammo was popular with certain types of cretins. my great uncle always had monkey wards long rifle in the toy chest on loon lake.
      “we know you didn’t do it, but we also know that you know who did.”
      building credibility with bad associates, and burning bridges with the influential.
      the more things change.
      of course, for all their recreational possibilities they didn’t compare to to that of the wrist rocket. never ran out of marbles/ pachinko balls/ loose bearings (like when i’m driving).

  13. Interesting thought; on the one hand it does appear to verify the concept of Freedom, but where do we draw the line, or do we? If one builds a gun capable of firing 1000 rounds a minute, that requires you to only push a button once, should there be concern? I realize that this is currently against the law. but the article opens the gate to this possibility in essence. From there we move to the explosives field. Some may say I am ridiculous, and others certainly would say: yes we should be free to do so.

    They say Freedom isn’t FREE; while there is much truth to that, there still needs to be some restrictions that the majority will follow. And hopefully, the majority of those that Do NOT follow or adhere to the Laws put in place, Do NOT have evil or ill intentions.

    Unfortunately, in order for a society and people to be FREE, the possibility of innocent people being killed shall always exist. The right for these innocent people to protect themselves and their property also needs to exist. This RIGHT, Shall NOT Be INFRINGED. Today there are some that would like that to mean: You have the right to One firearm, capable of shooting One round, holding no more than One round, and you cannot Own more than One round. Oh yeah, and you need to have that round locked up, in a separate container from the locked up Firearm, that has a device that makes it usable only by the fingerprint of the person it is registered to.

    There was a First Lady that once said: JUST SAY NO . . . it was and still is a very powerful message. In order to say NO, one must have the means to Support NO. Whether we are talking about telling a rapist, NO you are not raping me, or a carjacker from stealing you car, a thief from stealing your belongings. What is mine, regardless what it is, I should have the backing of the Government to Secure and Protect. Oh, the Constitution says I DO have that RIGHT. Yet somehow, the protections provided by that CONSTITUTION are being eroded. There needs to be a POINT, where the All ELUSIVE COMMON SENSE kicks in, and We SAY: NO, Enough is Enough.

    It is true, there are plenty of places where one cannot grow their own food. Often due to water usage restrictions.Where does it end? Self reliance is being legislated into oblivion. The vast majority of people cannot afford private security, or to live in a gated protected community. They cannot afford property where they might be able to actually sustain their existence through self reliance; because there are too many restrictions, taxes, and licenses required to do so.

    • “It is true, there are plenty of places where one cannot grow their own food. Often due to water usage restrictions.”

      Once lived, temporarily, in a town where it was illegal to capture rain water. Rain water was considered the property of the community as it reduced the usage of water systems to prevent yards from dying off in summer. There was a serious daily fine if it was discovered you captured rainwater. The official caution was that any containers left outdoors had to be inverted so as to not inadvertently capture any amount of rain water. Plants and vegetation in pots outdoors were exempt (so long as the items were planted in soil of some sort).

    • I think a person should be able to build whatever it is they want to build as long as that person doesn’t use it to hurt somebody . I said “as long as that person” because when I build my Perpetual Fusion Neutrino Blomb , some government is going to want it, and then that’ll be okay.

  15. ALL SOUNDS GOOD IN LAND OF OZ GUNSMITHING .
    HOWEVER AT 71 MY HANDS DON’T DO WELL .
    JUST LUCKY / ABLE TO CLEAN AND LOAD WEAPON .

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