1st conviction for making gun with 3D printer

LONDON: A man has been convicted of making a gun using a 3D printer in what is thought to be a UK legal first.

Tendai Muswere, 26, of Tachbrook Street, Pimlico, central London, admitted the offence at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to one count of manufacturing a firearm, namely a 3D printed gun.

Police found the components for the weapon, which was usable, during a drugs raid on Muswere’s home in October 2017, when they also found cannabis plants. He claimed that he was doing a university film project and was not aware that the parts he had made would be capable of firing.

But his internet search history showed he had viewed instruction videos on how to use a 3D printer to make a functioning gun. A second police raid in February 2018 found more firearm components.

Acting Detective Sergeant Jonathan Roberts, who led the investigation, said: “Muswere claimed that he was printing the firearms for a ‘dystopian’ university film project but he has not explained why he included the component parts necessary to make a lethal barrelled weapon.“We know that Muswere was planning to line the printed firearms with steel tubes in order to make a barrel capable of firing. This conviction, which I believe is the first of its kind relating to the use of a 3D printer to produce a firearm, has prevented a viable gun from getting into the hand of criminals.”