As technology advances, society and the legal system sometimes have a hard time keeping up. For instance, a century ago automobiles started popping up everywhere long before anyone had time to invent traffic signals, so it was only after cars became reality that we started to figure out rules and regulations to keep drivers and pedestrians safe. Today, a modern example of society needing to catch up to technology is 3D-printed guns.

Just as 3D printers can be used to manufacture all kinds of objects from plastic, they can also be used to make parts for guns. The necessary computer files can be shared online, and people have already been doing so for several years. Thousands of people have downloaded those files, though there is no way of knowing how many of those people followed through and actually manufactured their own gun parts. Of course, the technology is still developing, so it is not as if you can just hit “print” and have a working gun appear. There are also legal issues that require such files to be incomplete, so theoretically users must still acquire or make other parts themselves. However, between continuing technological advances and the ingenuity of people who figure out loopholes and ways around laws and limitations, it is likely that more and more people will soon be 3D-printing guns.

This raises some tricky questions. 3D-printed guns are not registered, so they can be difficult or impossible to trace. Anybody with access to the right equipment could make one, even if they are not legally permitted to own a firearm (like minors, convicted felons, or people with certain mental illnesses). By 3D-printing guns, people can avoid background checks, waiting periods, licensing, or any other restrictions that could be imposed by local governments. With mass shootings and school shootings in the news, and gun control being such a hot topic for debate, many people are concerned this means that 3D-printed guns could add to gun violence.

Obviously, guns are a big political issue. Plenty of people do not want the government restricting access to any kind of firearms, not just 3D-printed ones. Groups like the NRA (National Rifle Association) fight regulation of 3D-printed guns just like they fight other gun control measures. Are 3D-printed guns just part of that ongoing debate? Or do they represent a whole new issue?

Legally, there have been attempts to stop people from posting blueprints for 3D-printed guns online, but at least in the United States, posting any kind of information online is usually protected as free speech. In the past, even publishing or distributing instructions for making bombs has been protected for that reason. Does this new technology mean that we have to choose between free speech and safety?

Things get even more complicated when you remember that the Internet has no borders. Even if US laws made it illegal to post files for 3D-printing guns, that would still not stop people here from accessing websites based in other places. Do we need some kind of international agreement? Or does the Internet basically make it impossible to stop the spread of 3D-printed guns? Think about how difficult it is to stop people from sharing things like bootleg music, movies, and games online. Even if everybody in the US or even the whole world agreed that sharing files for 3D-printing guns should be illegal or regulated, would it even be possible to enforce such rules? And if restricting technology doesn’t work, what happens next? Will 3D-printed guns be the final step in making gun control impossible?

These are all complicated questions without easy answers, but new technologies change the way we live, so keeping up means changing the way we think. For example, gun control advocates often argue that the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to bear arms, was written at a time when nobody imagined today’s military-style automatic weapons. In the same way, modern gun laws were written before 3D-printing existed.

A century ago, people realized that old rules for horse-drawn carriages were useless when it came to automobiles. Today’s rules about guns may turn out to be useless too, thanks to new technologies like 3D printing. As a result, we might have to make tough decisions about our basic values, like free speech, public safety, and the right to bear arms. However, society already makes those kinds of decisions all the time, through the court system and by voting. We just have to pay attention to what is happening in the real world, so we are dealing with the way things are instead of the way they used to be.