NSW Police have arrested and charged a Sydney man for allegedly manufacturing firearms using a 3D printer.
Police said that the arrest is the result of an investigation by the State Crime Command’s Firearms Squad.
The man was arrested in Waverly yesterday and is due to face court today.
Police said that they seized four imitation pistols” including a 3D-printed small Glock, a 3D-printed Glock and a 3D-printed Sig 250. The police said they had also seized two air pistols, computer equipment, and two 3D printers.
“A 27-year-old man was arrested at the location and taken to Waverley Police Station, where he was charged with cause advertisement for firearms to be published, possess digital blueprint for manufacture of firearms, manufacture pistol without licence/permit, and possess less than three unregistered firearms, one is prohibited/pistol,” a NSW Police statement said.
New South Wales in 2015 banned possession of files that can be used to 3D print firearms.
The Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 states that a person “must not possess a digital blueprint for the manufacture of a firearm on a 3D printer or on an electronic milling machine.” The maximum penalty is 14 years’ jail.
The 2015 report of a federal parliamentary inquiry recommended the federal and state governments look into uniform regulations covering 3D printing of firearms.