First person jailed in Japan for making a 3D printed gun

A MAN has been sent to jail after completing a rather unusual DIY project using his 3D printer. And Australian police are genuinely worried.

A JAPANESE man has become the first known person to be sentenced to prison for manufacturing a 3D-printed gun.

Yoshimoto Imura, a 28-year-old from Kawasaki, was arrested in May after posting videos online of him assembling his DIY gun and has now finally been sentenced to two years in the slammer. Like Australia, Japan takes their gun laws very seriously, including those weapons printed in your garage.

Police around the world are on edge at the threat of 3D-printed weapons. Last year, British police were the laughing stock of the internet after seizing what they thought were 3D-printed gun parts. These were later proved to be just parts of the 3D-printer itself. If UK police did find parts of a 3D-printed gun, the owner could land in jail for up to 10 years.

The NSW police admit they’re “terrified” of 3D-printed weapons - they held a press conference in May last year to talk about the issue.

NSW’s Police Pommissioner showing off their 3D-printed gun.

At the conference, they showed off a 3D-printed gun known as ‘The Liberator’ which they made after downloading a design off the internet. They printed two guns, with it taking 27 hours to print the parts and only a minute each to assemble with a firing pin made out of a steel nail.

Both guns were fired into a block of resin designed to simulate human flesh. The first .38 caliber bullet penetrated 17 centimetres. The NSW Police Ballistics division confirmed this could kill.

The second gun, however, exploded when fired.

While The Liberator can only hold one bullet at a time, Imura’s model, named “the Zigzag” can hold six. Its design is also available online to the public, meaning anyone with access to a 3D printer can start making the deadly weapon.

Online black markets are full of people selling 3D-printed guns and usually for less than $500. They are easily concealed, completely lethal and cannot be detected by metal detectors or X-rays.

As NSW Police Commisioner Andrew Scipione said, “they are truly undetectable, truly untraceable, cheap and easy to make.”

The parts for the ‘Liberator’ gun, which can be printed for $35 if you have a 3D-printer.

While the threat is definitely real and the police are acknowledging it, our laws just can’t keep up. Earlier this month, there was a senate inquiry into gun violence with a big call into the crackdown of 3D-printed weapons.

Howard Brown from the Victims of Crime Assistance League told the ABC that even though 3D-printed weapons aren’t widespread yet, it’s only a matter of time before someone will be shot by one.

“Our laws are failing to keep pace with that level of technology,” he said.

“We’re going to have all sorts of problems getting that matter through the courts, because of the failure of courts keeping to pace with that technology.”

Welcome to the future of crime.