London, Every year on Easter Sunday, Irish republicans commemorate their martyrs, remembering the lives lost during the Easter Rising of 1916 and in the years that followed. These events have a pattern: a street parade, speeches and flowers in the cemetery.
The 2022 commemoration, however, was characterized by the presence of four men wearing balaclavas and dressed all in black. They were members of the dissident republican paramilitary group Óglaigh na hÉireann (ÓNH).
This was the group's first public appearance since their ceasefire announcement in January 2018, but it also had broader significance for terrorism experts because of the weapons two of the men were carrying. This was the first time paramilitary members in Northern Ireland were seen with 3D printed weapons, specifically, a .22 caliber modification of the FGC semi-automatic firearm.
FGC stands for “fuck gun control,” and the acronym reflects the ideological leaning of its designer – and many others involved in the development of 3D printed weapons.
The first 3D printed firearm emerged in May 2013 with the release of the Liberator, a pistol created by Cody Wilson, a University of Texas law student and libertarian pro-firearms activist.
Essentially a proof of concept, Wilson let the BBC film him firing the gun before releasing the design open source for anyone to download. Its release caused a sensation: the gun appeared on the front page of the New York Post, with fears that it could be smuggled through metal detectors onto airplanes (in fact, a metal detector would detect the gun's metal firing pin and any ammunition. ). .
Despite the hype, the reality was that the weapon was neither practical nor reliable. The Liberator could only fire one round before needing to reload and was prone to falling apart from the pressure of the shot. The technology still had a long way to go, both in terms of weapon designs and the accessibility of 3D printing.
It wasn't until spring 2020 that the threat of 3D printed weapons grew significantly with the appearance of the FGC-9 (“9” denotes its 9mm bullets). This futuristic looking pistol caliber semi-automatic carbine required no regulated components and was completely DIY. About 80% could be made from plastic using a standard 3D printer, while the remaining metal parts could be made from widely available steel tubes and springs.
The open source design, which was quickly shared in many like-minded chat rooms, was accompanied by a meticulous step-by-step instructional guide similar to an Ikea assembly booklet. All of this, the gun's creator wrote, was to overcome “tyrannical regulations and laws” on gun ownership. His group later published a guide to making homemade 9mm ammunition.
Since then, we have seen evidence of the use of firearms around the world. It dominates the online debate about 3D printed firearms and has been widely adopted by various hobbyists, organized criminals, insurgents and terrorists.
The weapon's mysterious designer, who used the pseudonym JStark1809 when posting in chat rooms, estimated that it would take a novice eight days to make the weapon from scratch. A year later he published an improved version of the FGC-9 Mark II and boasted in an anonymous interview that by submitting these designs and sharing them freely: “We've screwed up arms control forever... Arms control is dead.” , and we killed him."
Since the launch of the FGC-9, the appearance of 3D printed weapons has become more prevalent around the world, from organized criminals in Europe to anti-junta rebels in Myanmar.
In May 2022, police stopped a car in Bradford, United Kingdom, and discovered a man transporting an FGC-9. He sold, along with two accomplices, 3D printed weapons on the black market. A search of his accomplice's home revealed many more FGC-9 components. In 2023, the trio became the first people in the UK to be convicted of attempting to supply other criminal groups with 3D printed firearms; They were sentenced to a combined 37 years in prison.
As a researcher at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King's College London, I have been following this and many other cases around the world involving the production and use of 3D printed weapons. (The conversation)
RUP
The 2022 commemoration, however, was characterized by the presence of four men wearing balaclavas and dressed all in black. They were members of the dissident republican paramilitary group Óglaigh na hÉireann (ÓNH).
This was the group's first public appearance since their ceasefire announcement in January 2018, but it also had broader significance for terrorism experts because of the weapons two of the men were carrying. This was the first time paramilitary members in Northern Ireland were seen with 3D printed weapons, specifically, a .22 caliber modification of the FGC semi-automatic firearm.
FGC stands for “fuck gun control,” and the acronym reflects the ideological leaning of its designer – and many others involved in the development of 3D printed weapons.
The first 3D printed firearm emerged in May 2013 with the release of the Liberator, a pistol created by Cody Wilson, a University of Texas law student and libertarian pro-firearms activist.
Essentially a proof of concept, Wilson let the BBC film him firing the gun before releasing the design open source for anyone to download. Its release caused a sensation: the gun appeared on the front page of the New York Post, with fears that it could be smuggled through metal detectors onto airplanes (in fact, a metal detector would detect the gun's metal firing pin and any ammunition. ). .
Despite the hype, the reality was that the weapon was neither practical nor reliable. The Liberator could only fire one round before needing to reload and was prone to falling apart from the pressure of the shot. The technology still had a long way to go, both in terms of weapon designs and the accessibility of 3D printing.
It wasn't until spring 2020 that the threat of 3D printed weapons grew significantly with the appearance of the FGC-9 (“9” denotes its 9mm bullets). This futuristic looking pistol caliber semi-automatic carbine required no regulated components and was completely DIY. About 80% could be made from plastic using a standard 3D printer, while the remaining metal parts could be made from widely available steel tubes and springs.
The open source design, which was quickly shared in many like-minded chat rooms, was accompanied by a meticulous step-by-step instructional guide similar to an Ikea assembly booklet. All of this, the gun's creator wrote, was to overcome “tyrannical regulations and laws” on gun ownership. His group later published a guide to making homemade 9mm ammunition.
Since then, we have seen evidence of the use of firearms around the world. It dominates the online debate about 3D printed firearms and has been widely adopted by various hobbyists, organized criminals, insurgents and terrorists.
The weapon's mysterious designer, who used the pseudonym JStark1809 when posting in chat rooms, estimated that it would take a novice eight days to make the weapon from scratch. A year later he published an improved version of the FGC-9 Mark II and boasted in an anonymous interview that by submitting these designs and sharing them freely: “We've screwed up arms control forever... Arms control is dead.” , and we killed him."
Since the launch of the FGC-9, the appearance of 3D printed weapons has become more prevalent around the world, from organized criminals in Europe to anti-junta rebels in Myanmar.
In May 2022, police stopped a car in Bradford, United Kingdom, and discovered a man transporting an FGC-9. He sold, along with two accomplices, 3D printed weapons on the black market. A search of his accomplice's home revealed many more FGC-9 components. In 2023, the trio became the first people in the UK to be convicted of attempting to supply other criminal groups with 3D printed firearms; They were sentenced to a combined 37 years in prison.
As a researcher at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King's College London, I have been following this and many other cases around the world involving the production and use of 3D printed weapons. (The conversation)
RUP
