Last month, officers from the Met's Specialist Crime Command discovered a suspected makeshift 3D firearm factory at a home in London.
The met stated the seizure was “one of the largest” ever conducted in the UK and, it demonstrates the emerging threat of 3D firearms in the country.
“The raid was part of an operation involving officers from the Met’s ‘Operation Viper’ team, who lead on developing firearms intelligence. This operation demonstrates how we continue to relentlessly target those who attempt to put lethal firearms on the streets of London,” commander Paul Brogden stated.
The discovery comes as some experts also warn of a growing threat. Matthew Perfect, head of the National Firearms Targeting Centre at the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), says the latest 3D weapons are "stuff that you definitely, wouldn't want to see on the streets in the UK. These are automatic weapons. These are weapons that are capable of multiple rounds of discharge.”
At present, the 3D printed components only form some of the parts needed to make a gun, at most 80 to 90% of the weapon, Mr. Perfect added. Key metal components such as the barrel typically have to be manufactured in more traditional ways. And the guns still require ammunition.
John Maytham speaks to professor of criminology and public policy at the University of Brighton, Peter Squires, about the growth of 3D-printed firearms in the UK and the threat that they pose within the illicit firearm market.
Rajan Basra, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at King's College London, says the situation in the UK impersonates a trend visible around Europe. While most violent extremists will prefer established weapons, printed guns are an alternative for those who can't obtain illicit firearms.
“They're popping up all over Europe and police in the UK are intercepting them and burning them in London and Manchester. This is something that we thought was a slow-burn issue and that it would constitute a serious threat in years to come but suddenly they're turning up in real-world in both components and fully fabricated firearms,” Basra stated.
Designing and owning homemade firearms, including 3D-printed guns, is banned in EU nations. In the UK, for example, the Home Office Guidelines of Firearm Licensing Law were updated in 2013 to specifically criminalize the manufacture, purchase, and sale of 3D-printed guns and gun parts. The first known conviction in the UK for producing a fireable 3D-printed gun came in 2018.
