In Sweden, the police are increasingly discovering a weapon printed on a 3D printer – a recent surge occurred in the city of Malmo.

During the year, local authorities twice found in the city a 3D-printed weapon. In the first case, during the citywide operation to combat crime, the police found a self-made submachine gun almost entirely made of plastic – later the examination confirmed that it was printed on a 3D printer. According to reports, homemade weapons resembled the Czech Skorpion submachine gun, but of a different caliber. It seems that some of the details were borrowed from other weapons, while most of the items were printed on a 3D printer, and the submachine gun was in working order. During another search, the police found another model of a 3D-printed weapon in a parking lot in Malmö.

The weapons were confiscated in January and February – it was already tested in the Swedish National Center for Forensic Science. According to Malmö police chief Stefan Sinteus, the engineers fired six test shots from the weapons and confirmed that it is in working order. Thus, the models printed on the 3D printer are classified as illegal weapons.

It is reported that both models of weapons were made in a similar way: the developers dismantled conventional weapons, scanned the details and recreated them on a 3D printer, and then collected. Such a method is a problem for the police. According to the Swedish laws, you can legally own parts of the weapon – only after the assembly the weapon becomes illegal. The police insist that the weapon printed on the 3D printer must be equated to the usual one – nevertheless, the final decision will be taken by the court.

Cases of printed weapons are increasingly encountered by law enforcement and other countries: we have already written about a similar situation in Australia.