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To the untrained eye these are just plastic parts. But take another look and see a trigger
and a gun magazine which have been created by this 3D printing machine. These are believed
to be the UK's first of it's kind.
The parts are now being tested by weapon specialists who will find out whether they could be put
together properly and made to fire bullets. Police seized the components after executing
warrants in the Baguley area of Manchester as part of an anti-organised crime campaign
where one man was arrested.
Officers say this could be the next generation of firearms and that more needs to be done
to understand the technology. Anyone can own a 3D printer - it can be bought on the high
street for just over a grand. The printer squirts out molten plastic to produce the
shapes of whatever design is downloaded.
However, this is not the first time weapon parts have been fashioned from a downloadable
blueprint. This AR-15 receiver just one that has been used manufactured in America. The
problem for police is now not just accessibility but how production could remain secret with
parts smuggled easily and able to avoid being detected by X-ray.