#FGC-9

Underground Arms Watch returns from the dead with a look at some recently confiscated weapons and emerging trends.

The London Metropolitan Police Force announced last week that they had raided what they described as a ‘suspected makeshift 3D firearm factory’. The Metropolitan Police claimed that the raid led to one of the largest seizures of 3D-printed firearm components in the UK – ever. Craft-made firearms components were found during a raid at a home in North West London on Friday, 7 October. The raid was part of an operation involving officers from the Metropolitan Police Force’s ‘Operation Viper’ team. The Viper team take the lead on intelligence relating to illegal firearms use and manufacture.

It is our unfortunate duty to report that the creator of the FGC-9 3D-printed gun has passed away this last week following a police raid on his home by German police. Known only as JStark, many consider him to be the father of 3D firearms printing and a hero in the 3D printing community. JStark does speak fluent English (although it has a slight accent) and this helped him communicate with 3D printers stateside to spread his ideas and files to all who were interested. His death was reported on October 9th via Der Spiegel (a German news magazine).

Welcome back to the Underground Arms Watch. The first week of June saw a number of seizures of the FGC-9, the widely reported on 3D printable 9mm carbine released by Deterrence Dispensed last year. The example below was one of two seized from a ‘factory’ operating in Tampere, Finland which was uncovered during raids on addresses connected to criminal groups making use of the compromised encrypted chat network known as AN0M.

The FGC-9 is a 3D-printed firearm designed by JStark1809 of Deterrence Dispensed that is easily made even in countries where firearms gun control is extreme. A recent “crackdown” from New South Wales (NSW) Police resulted in two Australian FGC-9 guns being seized along with a smattering of other items that were reportedly stolen.

Jake Hanrahan, a British journalist and filmmaker known for his project Popular Front, recently published a new 26-minute documentary called ‘Plastic Defence’ on ‘Illegal 3D Printed Guns in Europe’. The documentary see Hanrahan travel to an undisclosed location in Europe and interview JStark, a prominent individual involved in Europe’s 3D printed firearms community.

The latest ARES report published March 30 examines emergent technologies currently enabling further ease in the production of DIY firearms, including (but not limited to) advances in 3D printing. The 54-page report covers a wide range of production methods and firearm types currently being experimented with in the growing DIY gun sphere.

Deterrence Dispensed has been hard at work refining their designs for the FGC-9 and their 3D printed Polymer framed pistols. In the background, Deterrence Dispensed member point9cmbenis has been pouring his efforts into a new piece of hardware that harkens back to the origins of 3D printed firearms. The hardware in question is the PolyPlinker.