Australian police are investigating a faculty trainer who allegedly introduced a 3D printed handgun to highschool. In response to official reviews, the trainer, who works at a faculty in Canberra, didn’t show the firearm in school and returned residence later that day.
Nevertheless, police have been alerted after receiving details about the incident. They later executed a search warrant on the trainer’s residence, the place they seized the 3D printed firearm together with the printer used to fabricate it. Authorities consider the trainer supposed to display 3D printing capabilities however emphasised that creating firearms or firearm components utilizing 3D printers with out a license is against the law.
3D printed weapon seized at Canberra trainer’s residence. Picture courtesy of the Australian Federal Police.
Throughout Australia, legislation enforcement companies are more and more encountering 3D printed firearms. Police worldwide have famous that these weapons, typically untraceable, current vital challenges to public security. In actual fact, this isn’t the primary time there was an arrest in Australia associated to the manufacturing of 3D printed firearms. In October 2024, Western Australian police seized 21 privately made 3D printed weapons from a Perth residence. A yr earlier than, Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Policing confiscated a number of 3D printed firearms and ammunition from a 17-year-old in Garran, whereas one other teenager was accused of illegally manufacturing firearms utilizing a 3D printer.
What’s extra, latest latest information from 3DPrint.com exhibits that the whole variety of arrests associated to 3D printed firearms in Australia grew from 19 between 2013 and 2023 to 26 by mid-2024. This represents about 8% of the whole arrests reported and signifies a 36.8% enhance in only one yr.
Police and authorities reviews declare that 3D printed weapons are sometimes turning up within the arms of criminals. Officers throughout Australia and different international locations have reported a number of arrests the place 3D printed weapons or components have been discovered alongside medication or stolen items, and even in circumstances linked to human trafficking.
What issues police most is that these weapons aren’t simply being made; they’re being utilized by individuals already engaged in severe felony exercise. In some circumstances, criminals have additionally used 3D printers to supply conversion units—small parts that may flip commonplace firearms into semi-automatic weapons. It is a rising risk that legislation enforcement has additionally grappled with over the previous yr because the know-how turns into extra accessible and tougher to manage.
The Canberra neighborhood is being reminded that 3D printed weapons and gun components are unlawful. Extra: https://t.co/ykXl47lNAJ pic.twitter.com/KZNFyb1M5u
— ACT Policing (@ACTPolicing) April 15, 2025
This rise in arrests has drawn consideration to how Australia is tightening its legal guidelines round 3D printed weapons. Again in 1996, after a tragic mass capturing in Tasmania, Australia launched the Nationwide Firearms Settlement, a country-wide plan to cut back gun violence. Since then, strict guidelines have been in place, together with requiring a correct license to personal or make a firearm, and banning sure varieties of weapons altogether. Which means making a gun with a 3D printer, with out a license, is against the law.
3D printed weapon seized at Canberra trainer’s residence. Picture courtesy of the Australian Federal Police.
Now, with the rise of 3D printing, some states are updating their legal guidelines even additional. New South Wales and Tasmania have handed legal guidelines making it unlawful to own the digital recordsdata used to 3D print a firearm, and South Australia is contemplating doing the identical. Within the ACT, which incorporates Canberra, the nation’s capital, there is no such thing as a particular legislation in opposition to possessing digital blueprints for 3D printed weapons. Nevertheless, manufacturing firearms with out a license stays unlawful.
Subscribe to Our Electronic mail E-newsletter
Keep up-to-date on all the newest information from the 3D printing business and obtain info and gives from third celebration distributors.
Add your 3D Fashions and get them printed shortly and effectively.
