German police test 3D printed gun threat by printing their own

German police are being very pro-active by testing the latest 3D printed gun threat, by printing their own. Concern was raised when Cody Wilson, founder of the Defence Distributed company made his own plans for a crude 3D printed handgun, available online.

Wilson and his team spent more than a year developing the ‘Liberator' gun and were able to build and fire one using a $8,000 3D printer. Designs for this gun were downloaded more than 100,000 times before the US Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance demanded that the blueprints be ‘removed from public access'.

The German Federal Police have decided to investigate the concerns raised in parliament by Die Linke (The Left Party). They plan on testing the weapon to see how it could get through security checks and pose a possible risk under certain circumstances.

The Australian Police force downloaded the blueprint for the Liberator and printed it out for testing. They built it from materials costing only $35. Australian Police said the gun could fire a bullet 17cm into a standard firing block, although it could explode when discharged, potentially causing damage to the user. At the time they said being on either end of the weapon could be lethal.

Concerns have been raised that as the technology develops and improved that more advanced and dangerous weapons could be created.

Kitguru says: The potential for 3D printed weapons seems high.

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