Gardaí have seized five 3D-printed guns in unrelated operations across the country in the last fortnight and believe a single individual is making them to order for feuding gangs.
The pistols can be created using readily available materials on a standard, commercially available 3D printer. Design plans for the firearms, which are known as Harlot pistols, are easily accessible online.
Initial Garda analysis of the seized guns, including their distinctive markings, suggest they are being created by the same person on a commercially available printer.
One line of investigation is that the guns are being sold relatively cheaply to low-level criminal gangs who lack the connections to source professionally made weapons.
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Officers fear the seizures are the beginning of a trend that will see large numbers of 3D-printed weapons becoming available to low-level criminals and feuding gangs.
“These printers are becoming better, smaller and cheaper. The barrier for entry is becoming much lower,” said a senior Garda source.
The latest seizure occurred on Friday, when gardaí from the Clare/Tipperary Division and national units searched four houses around Shannon. They found two Harlot pistols, along with ammunition, cocaine, cannabis, cash and a large quantity of counterfeit clothing. Two people were arrested.
On Tuesday, community gardaí from Kilmainham stopped a taxi in Inchicore in Dublin after detecting a strong smell of cannabis. One of the occupants was wearing a ballistic vest. When gardaí searched him, a Harlot pistol fell to the ground.
On Tuesday of last week, gardaí from the Tipperary drugs unit searched a house in the south of the county where they found two Harlot pistols, along with ammunition and drugs.
All the guns have the same ornate decorations but are very basic in design. “They are weak and have terrible accuracy. You are as likely to shoot yourself with them as anyone else. But in the right hands they can kill,” said a source.
They are based on a design that is created by American gun enthusiasts and easily accessible online. Some skill and knowledge of 3D printing is required, however.
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The pistols fire .22lr ammunition, which is widely available in Ireland through registered firearms dealers and is chiefly used for target shooting and hunting small animals.
The ammunition cannot be 3D printed, meaning criminals must source it through theft or other illegal channels.
The Department of Justice recently moved to impose stricter rules on the sale of ammunition from firearms dealers.
Previously, dealers just had to maintain a log of bullets sold. Now they must maintain a log recording any “movement” of ammunition. This means ammunition fired on the range or given away for free to customers must also be recorded, with the logs made available to gardaí for audit.
There have been a handful of seizures of 3D-printed weapons and parts in recent years. In 2021, Mark Wolf, a far-right extremist from the UK, was found by gardaí to be in possession of 3D-printed rifle parts and instructions. Gardaí believe Wolf, who was later jailed for 10 years, was in the early stages of planning a mass-casualty attack.
In a report published last month, Europol said the availability of 3D-printed guns has intensified and is “exacerbated by the ease of access to printing machines and computer-aided design plans freely circulating on the internet”.
It warned that artificial intelligence will make it easier to print these guns and to produce firearms capable of firing larger-calibre ammunition.
