{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1278316"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1278316/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014GY2818/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014GY2818/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014GY2818","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GY2820","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GY2819","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1278316","accessionNumber":"CD.1:1 to 16-2013","objectType":"Handgun","titles":[{"title":"The Liberator","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Texan law student Cody Wilson founded Defense Distributed to ‘defend the civil liberty of popular access to arms as guaranteed by the United States Constitution’. He created designs for guns and gun components that can be downloaded by anyone anywhere in the world and printed out on a 3D printer.\n\r\nWilson fired the world’s first 3D-printed gun, The Liberator, on 6 May 2013. The invention of this so-called wiki weapon sparked intense debate. It transforms the way we think about new manufacturing technologies and the unregulated sharing of designs online. \n\r\nDesign drawings for the handgun were downloaded over 100,000 times after they were released online on the day of firing. The files were seized by the US government a few days later and Wilson was ordered to remove them from his website. Wilson says of his work that he ‘never thought of it in terms of design’. The design and distribution of The Liberator is for him a political act.\r\n\r\nThe Liberator gun parts in nylon and plaster were printed by Digits2Widgets in London in September 2013 from the STL (stereo lithography) files released by Wilson. The need to print in London came about because The Liberator weapon and parts acquired by the museum directly from Wilson are yet to arrive at the V&amp;A due to multiple delays caused by obtaining relevant export licenses. \n\r\nThe Digits2Widgets gun parts are an important acquisition in their own right because they tell a story of the awkward, semi-regulated space in the law that the 3D-printed weapon represents. To ensure that Digits2Widgets were not manufacturing a workable handgun (the company do not have a licence to manufacture handguns) the frame, grip, barrel and hammer body were 3D printed in plaster. The springs, trigger spring, frame pins, trigger, hammer, hammer pin, grip pin and a washer are made from ABS plastic. Further to this, the dimensions of the Liberator gun parts made in plaster were also modified by a millimetre to ensure the pieces would not fit together.","physicalDescription":"3D printed hand gun, frame, barrel, grip and hammer body in grey, springs, trigger, trigger springs, washer, frame pins, hammer pins, base section and cage section in white.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Digits2Widgets","id":"AUTH329382"},"association":{"text":"manufacturers","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Defense Distributed","id":"AUTH332298"},"association":{"text":"designers","id":"AAT25190"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plaster","id":"AAT14922"},{"text":"plastic","id":"AAT14570"}],"techniques":[{"text":"three-dimensional printing","id":"THES270986"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"3D printed in plaster and plastic","categories":[{"text":"Rapid Response Collecting","id":"THES262867"},{"text":"Firearms","id":"THES49007"},{"text":"Interiors","id":"THES48933"},{"text":"Household objects","id":"THES48939"},{"text":"Shekou","id":"THES279777"},{"text":"Values of Design","id":"THES279818"},{"text":"Design Society","id":"THES279819"},{"text":"3D printed","id":"THES398642"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"DAD","id":"THES260586"},"images":["2014GY2818","2014GY2820","2014GY2819"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES412658"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"handguns","id":"AAT37158"}],[{"text":"3-D printed objects","id":"THES398644"}],[{"text":"barrels","id":"AAT203978"}],[{"text":"grip safeties","id":"THES398720"}],[{"text":"hammers","id":"AAT225076"}],[{"text":"hammers","id":"AAT225076"}],[{"text":"springs","id":"AAT204911"}],[{"text":"springs","id":"AAT204911"}],[{"text":"springs","id":"AAT204911"}],[{"text":"triggers","id":"AAT203991"}],[{"text":"washers","id":"AAT36432"}],[{"text":"pin","id":"AAT36423"}],[{"text":"pin","id":"AAT36423"}],[{"text":"pins","id":"AAT36423"}],[{"text":"pins","id":"AAT36423"}],[{"text":"base","id":"AAT1656"}],[{"text":"cages","id":"AAT127475"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Texas","id":"x29815"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"August 2013","earliest":"2013-08-01","latest":"2013-08-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased by the Design Fund","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"13/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-13","latest":"2015-08-13"},"part":"","note":"Laid out as in first image"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"27","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"13/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-13","latest":"2015-08-13"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"23","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"13/08/2015","earliest":"2015-08-13","latest":"2015-08-13"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"3D printed hand gun, in plaster and plastic, printed by Digits 2 Widgets, manufactured from the CAD designed by Defense Distributed, 2013. ","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"This object sits in the \"Data and Communication\" section of the Design 1900-Now gallery, opened June 2021\n\n<b>The dangers of distributed manufacturing</b>\r\n‘The Liberator’ was the first 3D-printed gun. In\r\n2013 Cody Wilson, a staunch defender of the right\r\nto bear firearms, released a digital file for the gun\r\nthat could be downloaded by anyone anywhere\r\nin the world. The ability to print a gun at the press\r\nof a button sparked intense debate about new\r\nmanufacturing technologies and the unregulated\r\nsharing of designs online.\r\n\n<b>3D-printed gun\r\nThe Liberator, 2013</b>\r\nDesigned by Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed\r\nPrinted by Digits2Widgets, UK\r\n3D-printed ABS plastic and plaster\r\nPurchased through the Design Fund\r\nMuseum no. CD.1:1 to 16-2013","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["CD.1:1-2013","CD.1:2-2013","CD.1:3-2013","CD.1:4-2013","CD.1:5-2013","CD.1:6-2013","CD.1:7-2013","CD.1:8-2013","CD.1:9-2013","CD.1:10-2013","CD.1:11-2013","CD.1:12-2013","CD.1:13-2013","CD.1:14-2013","CD.1:15-2013","CD.1:16-2013"],"accessionNumberNum":"1","accessionNumberPrefix":"CD","accessionYear":2013,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Frame","Barrel","Grip","Hammer body","Hammer section","Spring","Spring","Trigger spring","Trigger","Washer","Frame pin","Frame pin","Frame pin","Hammer pin","Base section","Cage section"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-10-14","recordCreationDate":"2014-01-17","availableToBook":false}}