Australian police have demonstrated the “Worldwide danger” of 3D printed guns in a remarkable YouTube video. Andrew Schipione, who is the commissioner for New South Wales Police, has urged people not to download the files required to create the gun, which is known as ‘The Liberator’.
3D printers are powered by Computer Aided Design (CAD) files, which are readily available on the internet already, despite the fact that home based 3D printing is still very much in its infancy. Users can download the CAD files to their printer, which then spits out the design in question which is then assembled manually. My Schipione’s team acquired The Liberators files, a 3D printer and assembled two working guns for a mere £22.
To avoid any doubt, this is a serious weapon. The Liberator is able to penetrate seven inches of resin block, which is approximately equal to human flesh. Therefore, the Liberator is more than capable of killing a person. So criminals are able to assemble deadly weapons for a cost of around £10.
The weapons are a particular threat because of the untraceable way that they’re manufactured. Unlike real firearms, they carry no traceable serial number. Mr Schipione added: “They are truly undetectable. They are untraceable because they have no serial numbers, no unique identifiers. They are cheap and easy to make.”
‘The Liberator’ pistol CAD files were downloaded 100,000 times before the US department of homeland and security had them removed.