Bear Arms N’ Bitcoin 2021: Freedom Tech is Back

I spoke with Ragnar Lifthrasir, founder of Guns N’ Bitcoin and we went over some of the changes for this year’s Freedom Tech conference.

What Is Bear Arms N’ Bitcoin?

Bear Arms N’ Bitcoin is a one-and-a-half-day conference with a focus on DIY gun creation, firearm skills, and using Bitcoin for financial autonomy and privacy. On Saturday, top expert speakers will give talks and workshops. On Sunday we will go to a private gun range for various firearm activities.

What’s New In 2021?

New for 2021, Saturday afternoon the conference will be divided into two smaller groups, where one will be focused on firearms and the other will be focused on Bitcoin. You’re encouraged to bring your notepad or computer and learn in real time in these hands-on seminars alongside the speakers.

A new addition (which I find absolutely great) is the first ever “3D Firearms World Championship” with a total prize purse of $600 in bitcoin. The contest will have three stages, each utilizing a different aspect of the firearm: accuracy, speed, and reliability. It will feature three categories:

• 100% build (barrel and bolt carrier group permitted)
• 80% build (barrel, bolt carrier group, fire control group, Slide/upper)
• Peoples choice (any submission will qualify entry; however, a vote will decide after the competition which gun was most liked)

The winner in each category will receive $200 in bitcoin. The newly formed 3D Printed Gun Association will run the contest. A complete guide to the championship with rules is available as a downloadable PDF on the Guns N’ Bitcoin home page. The cost to enter the competition is $25 per category.

Real world activities like this are exactly what we need in the 3D printing community, and I believe that competitions like these with monetary rewards are excellent for incentivizing more practical designs and will popularize 3D printed guns as a whole.

Also, another change is that unlike back in 2020, now photos and video recording will not be entirely prohibited. So, if you want to have a photo taken with your buddies or favorite cool 3D gun designer then you can head over to a special photo wall, where you can have as many photos taken and video recorded to your heart’s desire. There will also be a professional talented team recording material for an upcoming documentary about BANB, so if you’d like to be a possible guest in it be sure to keep a look out for them.

Now a question I’ve heard from people I’ve spoken about the event is “Will BANB always happen in Austin?”

Short answer: Maybe

Every year it will be reassessed where the event takes place. This is based on a number of things such as local laws (both gun and for hosting large events),and on Covid or other special situations present at the time. Ragnar and the team behind BANB are open to feedback and suggestions of people, so feel free to contact them with suggestions. As for Covid, BANB will follow the health department guidelines for wearing masks and social distancing. Regardless, they’re encouraging attendees to protect their privacy by covering themselves in any way they see fit and by paying with bitcoin using any fake pen name they wish.

Conferences like this where those involved truly care about people’s privacy, and go out of their way to recommend people hide their real data are extremely rare. One which is still going on despite Covid and despite all the political pressure to shutdown is one in a million. Bear Arms N’ Bitcoin 2020 was a resounding success, one which we were extremely honored to be a part of and I cannot recommend them enough. Well worth the flight or drive to Texas if you’re remotely interested in decentralized firearm manufacturing and Bitcoin.

Get updates from the event by joining the Telegram group clicking here
And register by clicking here

In this cyberpunk dystopian reality that becomes harsher by the day, the tools for freedom tech are not merely useful, but an absolute necessity.