UK police find first '3D gun-printing factory'

Oct.25, 2013

Undated handout photo made available by Greater Manchester Police in northern England Friday Oct. 25, 2013 of a 3D printer used to make plastic gun components which was found by officers during a raid on suspected gang members in the Bagley area of Manchester. (AP Photo/Greater Manchester Police)

British police said Friday they have seized components of a gun made from plastic on a 3D printer.

The Greater Manchester Police force said officers found a plastic magazine and trigger, along with a 3-D printer, in a raid against suspected gang members in the Baguley area, near Manchester in northwest England.

Police said the parts are being testing to see whether the gun would have worked. If the gun were viable it would be the first such seizure in Britain, it said in a statement.

Police said one man has been arrested on suspicion of making gunpowder and is being questioned.

Undated handout photo made available by Greater Manchester Police in northern England Friday Oct. 25, 2013 of a plastic gun clip made with a 3D printer which was found by officers during a raid on suspected gang members in the Bagley area of Manchester. (AP Photo/Greater Manchester Police)

Earlier this year a Texas student Cody Wilson said he had successfully test-fired a handgun created with a 3D printer, and posted blueprints for the weapon online. Such printers can be paired with a home computer to manufacture objects using layers of high-density plastic. The U.S. State Department ordered Cody Wilson and his organization Defense Distributed, to remove instructions for printing a handgun with a 3-D printer from its website.

Authorities worry the technology could allow anyone to manufacture guns which would pass unnoticed through metal detectors. "These could be the next generation of firearms and a lot more work needs to be done to understand the technology and the scale of the problem," said Detective Inspector Chris Mossop of the force's organized crime unit.

On Monday this week, Cecilia Malmstrom, EU home affairs commissioner said members of the European Union need to be wary of law enforcement challenges presented by the potential 3D printing of firearms. She said more than 1,000 people were killed each year in the EU by gun violence on average. Nearly 500,000 of the firearms reported stolen in the EU remain unaccounted for, she added.

"Firearms are not trivial goods, and when they end up in the wrong hands they have devastating consequences for communities," she said.

Malmstrom said lawmakers should consider further tracking of firearms to curb proliferation. She said new technologies like 3D printing of weapons or munitions created an additional security obstacle to law enforcement officials.

In Canada the federal Public Safety Department is also worried about the emergence of 3D printers that can easily manufacture guns without any kind of licensing control. The department is commissioning a study that will look at the advent of 3D technology and the feasibility of crafting firearms, gun parts and ammunition. It is also interested in possible technological solutions that could be applied to such printers to prevent them from making guns.

While 3D printers have been around for some time, their price has dropped to between $500 and $5,000, making them more accessible. "The emergence of 3D printing could transform manufacturing of firearms such that firearms could be more easily made by individuals and groups," says the Public Safety Department.

"As 3D printing technology becomes more available and refined, there is a need to examine its implications for the manufacture of firearms, their components and ammunition."

Update:

3D printer 'gun parts' found in Manchester raid may be parts for a printer

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

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James wrote at 10/27/2013 3:11:39 PM:

anyone with lethe machine or access in machine shop, can make the gun too, even better with plastic

James wrote at 10/27/2013 3:10:48 PM:

anyone with lethe machine or access in machine shop, can make the gun too, even better with plastic

aubenc wrote at 10/25/2013 6:41:57 PM:

"Police said one man has been arrested on suspicion of making gunpowder and is being questioned." Good they didn't came to my place yet! (may be they do now...) I was once playing around with some graphite (from pencils) in a naive attempt of making DIY bushings for my printer. It's very easy to find aluminum powder in my work bench because I use this material ofter to upgrade/downgrade my printer. I've tried to disolve PLA with almost every chemical you can get in hardware stores and supermarkets. There may even be some left over from Glicerine from once I tried to make my owh PLA... pffff... hope somebody will write me a letter from time to time if they use all this to put me in jail!

H wrote at 10/25/2013 4:14:01 PM:

Kit, I believe that you are correct. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:44906

Proteus wrote at 10/25/2013 4:12:45 PM:

These police are idiots. Mbot 2 can only print PLA, and if you make a gun out of that it will explode like an australian police force.

Bill C wrote at 10/25/2013 4:09:32 PM:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:44906 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:53125

Bill C wrote at 10/25/2013 3:56:25 PM:

This looks a lot like sensationalism and fear-mongering that I really believed the BBC was above doing. Apparently not.

T wrote at 10/25/2013 3:41:09 PM:

Unless the perp modified the printer that replicator 2 won't be the best for printing ABS or anything better and there is no way PLA is going to hold up.

Kit F wrote at 10/25/2013 3:41:04 PM:

That "gun clip" is a spool holder for the Replicator 2.

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