The use of 3D printing is generally regarded as a promising and non-invasive technology. But what happens when one can rapidly, discreetly and easily print essential gun parts at home?
Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, was shot dead in the street, sparking speculation as to whether the weapon was 3D-printed. Although initial videos and images shared on social media platforms seem to be not the case, information about the murder is still surfacing.
firing
Abe, 67, was wounded twice by gunfire from behind while speaking at a rally for his political party in the western city of Nara. He bled after suffering two severe neck injuries, which severely ruptured an artery. It is the first time since the 1930s that a serving or former Japanese prime minister has been assassinated.
The gunman, identified in media reports as 41-year-old Yamagami Tetsuya, appeared impassioned when speaking with investigators and is quietly responding to interrogations.
However, he told the police officers that he had used a hand-made gun.
As reported, police officers in the Nara area said: “This is the claim of the suspect, and we have determined that (the gun) is clearly handmade in appearance, although our analysis is currently ongoing.”
An official said the suspect said he complained against a particular organization and committed the crime because he believed former prime minister Abe had links to it.
This incident shook the whole world because Japan is not a country of guns or gun violence. Under Japanese law from 1958, the possession of firearms and swords is prohibited in the country.
Handguns are banned in Japan, but weapons can be obtained for hunting after multiple trials and criminal record checks. Also, there is a need to inform the police about such weapons as the officers inspect these weapons once in a year.
As a result, Japan has one of the lowest per capita gun ownership levels in the G7 group of wealthy nations, with only 0.3 per 100 residents, compared to 120.5 per 100 people in the case of the US. The data also shows that the Asian country has the lowest gun fatality rate at 0.03 per 100,000 residents.
However, it should be noted here that Tetsuya was a member of the Navy’s Maritime Self-Defense Force for three years, where he probably received firearms training. Meanwhile, local reports have revealed that police have discovered more detailed versions of the gun at the suspect’s home.
It was also claimed that all these seized weapons included both 5 and 9-barrel shotguns, which appeared to be electrically fired. So are all these weapons as 3D-printed as netizens suspected?
Not many details regarding the gun have been released, but photos show two metal barrels, probably aluminum, coupled with a wooden base, all wrapped in black tape.
NR Janzen-Jones, a weapons and munitions intelligence expert and director of the UK-based Armament Research Services (ARES), said daily animal: “I think the first interesting observation is that it is apparently electrically fired.”
Describing the gun further, the expert said: “There is an electric wire passing through each of those loops which you can see in one of the images. This indicates to me that it is powered by electricity.” shotgun. My hunch is that it’s probably a muzzle-loading design. It’s probably a smooth-bore weapon—by which I mean, like a shotgun, but again, it’s not certain.”
So it is understood that there were no 3D-printed parts unless they were hidden under tape. However, given that the rest of the equipment was so rudimentary, it’s impossible to imagine why any of these would need to be made with a 3D printer.
But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been cases where a 3D-printed shotgun has been used in the past. In fact, arrests related to 3D-printed guns are on the rise around the world.
staring at the barrel
As 3D printing became more popular in the early 2000s, new opportunities emerged for do-it-yourself enthusiasts. In this new wave of 3D-printed products, the first polymer models for firearms and firearm components began to appear.
However, the first fully functional 3D-printed firearm didn’t debut until 2013 and was named the Liberator, created by Cody Wilson, founder of Defense Distributed, an online open-source hardware organization.
Later, several groups inspired by Wilson developed, sharing ideas for 3D-printed firearms on forums and social media. So today, using 3D printing technology, it is possible to print simple single-shot Liberators or even semi-automatic guns.
Currently, 3D-printed firearms are classified into three types, which are fully 3D-printed (F3DP), hybrids, and parts kit completion (or parts kit conversion).
Some F3DP models, such as Songbird, Washbear, and Zigzag, have attracted considerable attention, while hybrids combine some non-printed, commercially produced, or homemade parts with some 3D-printed parts, usually the frame and lower receiver. Additionally, parts kits are completion kits that use complete or nearly complete parts and demand that the user personally prints or purchases the missing parts.
It should be noted that the cost of a 3D printer, which uses layers of filament to create functional handgun components based on design files, is a potential constraint but these printers have become more affordable in recent years .
recent cases
In early June this year, police in Western Australia arrested a teenager and charged him with gun crimes after discovering a fully powered handgun they believe used a 3D printer. Had built it at home.
After the arrest, police said: “It is very worrying that this man was able to manufacture this firearm at home with a 3D printer and readily available materials.”
According to reports, the seized firearm is capable of firing 15 rounds with one pull of the trigger, while the police claimed that it took two days to make the weapon with the required materials costing less than 40 Australian dollars (about Rs 2,100). Started.
Significantly, this particular incident happened after the Western Australian government proposed changes to firearms laws to make plastic 3D weapons illegal.
It was also recently reported that in the UK, 3D-printed firearms are starting to appear more often. Since 2019, 6 individuals in the UK have been charged with crimes involving 3D-printed firearms, despite the fact that UK laws are among the strongest.
In the UK, a Metropolitan Police official said one of these confiscated guns, the FGC 9, was found in the north-east London borough in September 2021.
It was said that 5 out of 6 people charged with 3D-printed firearms learned and researched how to make guns online.
Separately, reports revealed that in 2019, a neo-Nazi in Germany killed two people and attacked a synagogue using guns and other household weapons.
Some of the firearms the offender had were made from a combination of steel, aluminum, wood, and 3D-printed parts.
In 2018, EUROPOL issued a warning that as technology advanced, more people would have access to 3D printing, which could lead to an increase in the illegal production and trade of firearms across Europe.
The European Commission identified the production of so-called hybrid 3D-printing firearms, which relied on both 3D-printed parts and readily available, globally unregulated components, such as steel tubing, metal bar stock, and springs, as the most threatening hazard. We do. Report of October 2021 to the Parliament and Council of the European Union.
In that report, the commission said it was deciding whether to outlaw not only the possession of 3D-printed weapons but also the sharing of their plans.
Meanwhile, what happened in the US was President Joe Biden’s commitment to crack down on unregistered “ghost guns”, rekindling interest in handguns that could be manufactured at home using individual components, kits, or 3D printers. made alive.
The Biden administration claims that mandating dealers to put serial numbers on ghost weapons that get in their way will help curb crime as hand-held weapons increasingly appear in deadly shootouts across the country. However, pro-gun organizations claimed that the US government was encroaching on and violating their rights.
online purge
Since online platforms play a major role in knowledge and information sharing, it is important for these companies to take immediate action against posts or forums related to gun violence.
However, several platforms have already claimed that they are shutting down accounts that are found to violate their firearms-related policies.
For example, accounts that violate the rules of Instagram and YouTube, which ban content intended to teach users how to make 3D-printed guns, have been removed.
Additionally, Twitter said that it also takes immediate action against accounts that go against the rules for using the platform for illegal activities.
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