Is this e-reader case a gun?

Is an e-reader case as dangerous as a Glock 19? Last month, Louisville, Kentucky-based creator Luke The Maker showed off a bizarre, 3D-printed, pistol-shaped case design for the popular minimalist Xteink X4 e-reader. The X4 lies vertically atop the plastic gun’s slide, with a cutout on the side to access its buttons. Though the frame was digitally modeled after a real gun, this “case” can’t shoot bullets. Squeezing the trigger does nothing at all. He calls his contraption the “Gundle.” In a post showing off the wacky accessory, Luke (whose last name is Blackford) can be seen flipping through Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye before tossing the gun e-reader case in his car’s center console. “The perfect e-reader for public reading,” text reads over the clip. But even though this internet experiment is clearly intended as a joke or commentary, it’s possible future 3D printers won’t see it that way. Lawmakers in multiple states are pushing for laws mandating gun-blocking software on all new printers sold. This still-evolving technology would, in theory, scan every file before it’s physically printed and try to algorithmically determine whether it’s a firearm or firearm part. If the…