In recent days NSW Police have found several examples of FGC-9 semi-automatic carbines. These guns would seem to be the first of this make found by police in Australia, though our research of publicly available information indicates others may well have been manufactured within our shores.
Ironically, this has occurred in New South Wales – the only state that specifically prohibits even possession of ‘blueprints’ of firearms. As we predicted this was a pointless law that would do nothing to hamper or dissuade real criminals, instead the laws have only been used to prosecute cosplayers ignorant of NSW’s strict laws against replica firearms. Naturally whilst the police have reported them as being semi-automatic firearms, the anti-gun Australian media has seen fit to exaggerate and describe them as sub-machine guns.
This is just the natural outcome of the latest wave of 3D printed guns that have been primarily driven by pro-gun, anti-authoritarian activists based primarily in the US and Europe. Some of the designs being produced in the US look legitimately interesting and have a reasonably attractive aesthetic, the files are freely available online, hosted in foreign jurisdictions that are well beyond the reach of Australian authorities.
The below photo shows an FGC-9 that appears to have allegedly been made in Australia, and the police seem to have not found yet. You will note it appears to have also been fitted with a home made suppressor, and 3d printed 30 round Glock style magazine. It is also missing a fire control group, which would imply to us that the maker of this gun does not have the ability to legally purchase firearm parts in Australia. However this limitation in the FGC-9 has already been alleviated and a near fully 3d printed fire control group is now available, meaning the only parts that are not able to be fabricated at home by the average person are easily acquired springs, screws and steel. Even 9mm suppressors are now able to be made on a 3d printer and held together with standard bolts. Whilst the fully 3d printed guns are still fairly janky looking, it seems like with the improvements being made from the growing community interested in them that they will only continue to improve.
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