Fireman hit the nail on the head. 3D printers are a tool. Depending on the printer, will yield you different sets of tools. Whether it's high precision, high speed, strength, or a combo of all of these. Part design for metal parts and "plastic" (term used lightly) parts will be different to gain strength properties.

The company I work for sells, uses, and works on, one of the top 3d printers that's being manufactured on the market currently You'd be surprised at what customers are printing...

One type of printer we have is a production machine to replace the need for injection molding for certain types of businesses. Different materials are available to yield different part characteristics and more materials are on the horizon. Speed has also gained traction with 3D printing. For example, we can print 40 of the frames above in about 16 hours and I wouldn't hesitate to replace the factory frame with this printed frame and shoot with it. Granted I would only try 1 or 2 to see how confident I was with it, but there hasn't been much testing on printed guns...yet. Ours wasn't printed to shoot, but was mainly to show the precision on the printer.

It just seems that the left is trying to grasp at (California assault) straws of anything to deal with firearms.

I know only what I've read about 3D printers. My understanding is that this whole outcry is due to someone posting (I guess selling) plans on how to build a gun with a 3D printer. I'm guessing that the plans are really just a computer file of data that drives a 3D printer. I assume there is a standard "language" or instruction set of code for these printers just like programming a CNC machine. Like most computer files, once one is out, it gets electronically propagated & multiplied across the Internet. So what is done is done already with existing "gun" files.

I put this is in the same bucket as bump-stocks & binary-triggers. As a gun enthusiast, who cares! But as a believer in the constitution & the 1st & 2nd amendment, outlawing this stuff erodes & weakens our rights.