There are mounting concerns over the proliferation of 3D-printed weapons amid growing arrests across Europe of people downloading and or trying to build their own guns. “All you need is a weekend’s worth of time and $50 for the materials”. That was the advice of Stephan Balliet, a German Neo-Nazi who has been sentenced to life in prison for killing two people after attempting to attack a synagogue in the city of Halle on October 9, 2019. Balliet, 27, was referring to 3D-printed firearms. In the same post, on the now-defunct far-right messaging board, Meguca, Balliet wrote, just minutes before carrying out his attack: “Of course, there are dozens of other designs out there, so what’s special with mine? Simple, I prefer live testing.” He then provided a link to a livestream on the gaming platform, Twitch, which broadcast his gun attack. In his manifesto, which was also uploaded onto Meguca, apart from his objective of trying to “kill as many anti-Whites as possible, jews preferred”, Balliet also stated that he wanted to “prove the viability of improvised weapons”. Among the cache of firearms Balliet had in Halle was a sub-machine gun that had 3D-printed plastic components, such as the magazine and grip. Balliet’s attack is seen as a breakthrough moment among cases of far-right “extremism”, described by several experts as being the first perpetrator that had made and used a weapon from 3D-printed elements. (…) Since 2019, there has been an increase in the number of arrests and convictions in a number of European countries and elsewhere of people downloading and or trying to build their own 3D-printed guns. And so far, most seem to have far-right links, experts say. In April this year, Spanish police raided a workshop that was producing 3D-printed weapons in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. They recovered two 3D printers, a replica assault rifle and several gun barrels. Officers said they had also found manuals on urban guerrilla warfare and white supremacist literature. The owner of the workshop was arrested and charged with illegal possession of weapons.
Since 2019, there has been a surge of arrests and convictions of people downloading and/or trying to build their own 3D-printed weapons The next month, two men and a woman were arrested in the British town of Keighley, as part of an investigation into “right-wing terrorism”, police said. All three were charged with possessing components of a 3D-printed firearm. One of the suspects faces an additional charge of disseminating an image of the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh. And in June, a 15-year-old British girl from Derbyshire was charged with six terror offences, including the possession of a manual on how to make a firearm from a 3D printer.
via aljazeera: What’s behind far-right trend of using 3D tech to make guns?