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Improvised firearm

Improvised firearms (sometimes called zip guns, pipe guns, or slam guns) are firearms manufactured other than by a firearms manufacturer or a gunsmith, and are typically constructed by adapting existing materials to the purpose. They range in quality from crude weapons that are as much a danger to the user as the target to high-quality arms produced by cottage industries using salvaged and repurposed materials.[1][2][3]

A homemade pistol, confiscated by the Swedish Police. Given to the Museum of Vänersborg in 1985

Improvised firearms may be used as tools by criminals and insurgents and are sometimes associated with such groups;[4][5] other uses include self-defense in lawless areas and hunting game in poor rural areas.[6]

Types edit

Zip guns edit

Zip guns are generally crude homemade firearms consisting of a barrel, breechblock and a firing mechanism. For small, low-pressure cartridges, like the common .22 caliber rimfire cartridges, even very thin-walled tubing works as a barrel, strapped to a block of wood for a handle. A rubber band powers the firing pin, which the shooter pulls back and releases to fire. Such weak tubing results in a firearm that can be as dangerous to the shooter as the target; the poorly fitting smoothbore barrel provides little accuracy and is liable to burst upon firing.[1] The better designs use heavier pipes and spring loaded trigger mechanisms. Larger zip guns, such as homemade shotguns called tumbera (Argentina), bakakuk[7] (Malaysia), or sumpak[8] (Philippines) are also made of improvised materials like nails, steel pipes, wooden pieces, bits of string, etc.

Pen guns edit

 
Homemade pen guns (Museum of the History of Donetsk militsiya)

Pen guns are zip gun-like firearms that resemble ink pens.[9][10] They generally are of small caliber (e.g., .22 LR, .25 ACP, .32 ACP, etc.)[11][12][13] and are single shot.[12][14] Early examples of pen guns were pinfired, but modern designs are rimfire or centerfire.[9] Some pen guns are not designed to fire regular cartridges, but rather blank cartridges, signal flares, or tear gas cartridges.[9][15]

In the United States, pen guns that fire bullets or shot cartridges do not require a reconfiguration to fire, (e.g., folding to the shape of a pistol) and are federally regulated as an Any Other Weapon (Title II). They require registration under the National Firearms Act and a tax in the amount of $200 to manufacture or $5 to transfer is levied.[15][16]

Pipe guns edit

Pipe guns were first seen in the Philippines during World War II.[17] The "paliuntod" is a type of improvised shotgun commonly used by guerrillas and the joint American and Filipino soldiers who remained behind after Douglas MacArthur's withdrawal. Made of two pieces of pipe that fit snugly together, the "paliuntod" were simple, single shot guns. These pipe guns are still in use by both criminals and rebels in the Philippines.[18][19]

In 1946, pipe guns were patented in the United States by Iliff D. "Rich" Richardson, who fought with the Filipino insurgents during the Japanese occupation.[17][20] Made by "Richardson Industries" as the "Model R5 Philippine Guerrilla Gun", these 12 gauge shotguns sold for $7 at the time.[17]

Improvised versions are made by using two pipes and an end-cap; they usually fire shotgun shells. To fire the gun, the user inserts a shotgun shell into the smaller diameter pipe, places the smaller pipe into the larger diameter pipe, and forcefully slides it back until the shell's primer makes contact with a fixed firing pin located inside the end-cap.[4][5] Other improved versions use improvised detachable magazines.[21]

 
A homemade pipe shotgun that shoots .410 shotgun shells.

Repurposed or conversions edit

Flare guns have also been converted to firearms. This may be accomplished by replacing the (often plastic) barrel of the flare gun with a metal pipe strong enough to chamber a shotgun shell, or by inserting a smaller-bore barrel into the existing barrel (such as with a caliber conversion sleeve) to chamber a firearm cartridge, such as a .22 Long Rifle.[22][23]

 
A zip gun constructed from a toy cap gun. The gun is capable of shooting a .22 caliber round

More advanced improvised guns can use parts from other gun-like products. One example is the cap gun. A cap gun can be disassembled, and a barrel added, turning the toy gun into a real one. A firing pin can then be added to the hammer, to concentrate the force onto the primer of the cartridge. If the cap gun has a strong enough hammer spring, the existing trigger mechanism can be used as-is; otherwise, rubber bands may be added to increase the power of the hammer.[24]

Air guns have also been modified to convert them to firearms. The Brocock Air Cartridge System, for example, uses a self-contained "cartridge" roughly the size of a .38 Special cartridge, which contains an air reservoir, valve, and a .22 caliber (5.5 mm) pellet. Examples of BACS airguns converted to firearms, either by drilling the barrel out to fire a .38 Special cartridge or by altering the cylinder to accept .22 caliber cartridges, have been used in a number of crimes. Blank-firing guns can also be converted by adding a barrel, although the low-quality alloys used for cheaper blank-firing guns may break with the pressures and stresses of a real bullet being fired.[25]

Cryptic firearms edit

Some more complex improvised firearms are not only well-built, but also use mimicry as camouflage, taking the appearance of other items. Improvised firearms in the form of flashlights, cellular telephones, canes and large bolts have all been seized by law enforcement officials.[citation needed] Most of these are .22 caliber rimfires, but flashlight guns have been found ranging from small models firing .22 Long Rifle to larger ones chambered for .410 bore shotgun shells.[26][27]

While most improvised firearms are single-shot, multiple-shot versions are also encountered. The simplest multi-shot zip guns are derringer-like, and consist of a number of single-shot zip guns attached together. The pepper-box design is also used in homemade guns because it is relatively easy to make out of a bundle of pipes or a steel cylinder. In late 2000, British police encountered a four-shot .22 LR zip gun disguised as a mobile phone, where different keys on the keypad fire different barrels. Because of this discovery, mobile phones are now X-rayed by airport screeners worldwide. Authorities believe they were manufactured in Croatia, and they still turned up in Europe as late as 2004, according to a report by Time magazine.[28][29]

Submachine guns edit

Homemade submachine guns are often made by copying existing designs, or by adapting simple, open-bolt actions and leveraging commonly available hardware store parts.[2][30]

The Błyskawica (Polish for lightning) was a submachine gun produced by the Armia Krajowa, or Home Army, a Polish resistance movement fighting the Germans in occupied Poland. Together with a Polish version of the Sten sub-machine gun, with which it shares some design elements, it was the only weapon mass-produced covertly in occupied Europe during World War II.

The Bechowiec (also known as the Bechowiec-1) was a Polish World War II submachine gun developed and produced by the underground Bataliony Chłopskie (BCh, Peasants' Battalions) resistance organisation. It was designed in 1943 by Henryk Strąpoć and was produced in underground facilities in the area of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. Its name was coined after the Bataliony Chłopskie organization members who were informally called bechowiec (plural: bechowcy).

The Borz (Борз, Chechen for "wolf") submachine gun is one of a number of improvised firearms produced in Chechnya. It was produced in small numbers from 1992 to 1999. It was used primarily by Chechen separatists. It is named after the Borz (wolf) because of its position as Chechnya's national animal.

The Carlo (also referred to as Carl Gustav) is a submachine gun manufactured by small workshops in the West Bank. The design has been inspired by the Swedish Carl Gustav m/45 and its Egyptian Port Said variant; however, the similarity is often only passing. Produced in several locations and often with second-hand gun parts, the specifications are not uniform. Typically the weapon is automatic. Often chambered for 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridges, variants for .22 LR, .32 ACP, 9mm Makarov, and 5.56 NATO are also produced. The weapon itself is cheap to manufacture but is inaccurate and prone to jamming and misfires.[31][32][33][34][35][36]

Liberators edit

The FP-45 Liberator and the Deer gun were crude zip gun-like single-shot pistols or derringers manufactured by the United States government for use by resistance forces in occupied territories, during World War II and the Vietnam War, respectively.

 
FP-45 Liberator (Zip Gun)

The FP-45 was designed to be cheaply and quickly mass-produced. It had just 23 largely stamped and turned steel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture. It fired the .45 ACP pistol cartridge from an unrifled barrel and five rounds of .45 ACP ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip. Due to this limitation, it was intended for short range use, 1–4 yards (0.91–3.66 m). Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft (7.6 m). At longer range, the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course. The original delivered cost for the FP-45 was USD$2.10/unit, lending it the nickname "Woolworth pistol".[37]

 
Deer gun (or Zip Gun)

The Deer gun fired the 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridge. It was made of cast aluminium, with the receiver formed into a cylinder at the top of the weapon. The striker protruded from the rear of the receiver and was cocked in order to fire, and a plastic clip was placed there to prevent an accidental discharge, as the Deer gun had no mechanical safety. The grip had raised checkering, was hollow, and had space for three 9mm Parabellum rounds and a rod for clearing the barrel of spent cases. The Deer gun lacked any marking identifying manufacturer or user, in order to prevent tracing of the weapons, and all were delivered in unmarked polystyrene boxes with three 9mm Parabellum rounds and a series of pictures depicting the operation of the gun. A groove ran down a ramp on top for sighting. The barrel unscrewed for loading and removing the empty casing. A cocking knob was pulled until cocked. The aluminium trigger had no trigger guard.

3D printed firearms edit

 
The 'Liberator' is a 3D-printable single shot handgun, the first such printable firearm design made widely available online

In 2012, the U.S.-based group Defense Distributed disclosed plans to design a working plastic gun that could be downloaded and reproduced by anybody with a 3D printer.[38][39] The Liberator is a physible, 3D-printable single shot handgun, the first such printable firearm design made widely available online.[40][41][42] The open source firm Defense Distributed designed the gun and released the plans on the Internet on May 6, 2013. The plans were downloaded over 100,000 times in the two days before the United States Department of State demanded that Defense Distributed retract the plans, deeming them a violation of the Arms Export Control Act.[43][44][45] In 2015, Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson sued the United States government on free speech grounds and in 2018 the Department of Justice settled, acknowledging Wilson's right to publish instructions for the production of 3D-printed firearms.[46][47]

 
The Solid Concepts 3D printed 1911 pistol

Defense Distributed has also designed a 3D printable AR-15 type rifle lower receiver (capable of lasting more than 650 rounds) and a variety of magazines, including for the AK-47.[48] In 2013 a California company, Solid Concepts, demonstrated a 3D printed version of an M1911 pistol made of metal, using an industrial 3D printer.[49]

Around the world edit

In the United States, creating an improvised firearm for personal use does not require licensure, registration, a background check, or the stamping of a serial number, but the firearm created must be detectable by a metal detector per federal law.[50][51] California, however, passed a law in 2016 that requires anyone planning to build a homemade gun to obtain a serial number from the state (de facto registration) and pass a background check.[52] However, such firearms are often illegal in other jurisdictions and are commonly associated with gangs, where they may be used to facilitate violent crime, such as homicide.[1] In other cases, they may be used for other criminal activities not necessarily related to violent crime, such as illegal hunting of game.[6] Improvised firearms are most commonly encountered in regions with restrictive gun control laws.[citation needed] While popular in the United States in the 1950s, the "zip gun" has become less common.

 
Copies of British Martini and Snider firearms built in the Khyber region

A Khyber Pass copy is a firearm manufactured by cottage gunsmiths in the Khyber Pass region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The area has long had a reputation for producing unlicensed, homemade copies of firearms using whatever materials are available – more often than not, railway rails, scrap motor vehicles, and other scrap metal. The quality of such firearms varies widely, ranging from as good as a factory-produced example to dangerously poor. Much of the gunsmithing is centered around the town of Darra Adam Khel.

In India, use of improvised country-made pistols is widespread, especially in the regions of Bihar and Purvanchal. The manufacture of these weapons has become a cottage industry, and the components are often manufactured from scrap material; examples include gun barrels fashioned from truck steering columns.

In areas like South Africa, improvised firearms are more common. In a study of Zululand District Municipality, South Africa, it was found that most improvised firearms were crude, 12-gauge shotguns, with a simple pull-and-release firing mechanism; like .22 rimfire cartridges, shotgun shells operate at low pressures, making them more suited for use in weak, improvised barrels.[25]

Even in the absence of commercially available ammunition, homemade black powder weapons can be used; such firearms were the subject of a crackdown in the People's Republic of China in 2008.[6] In many areas of Africa, such as Zimbabwe, poachers use improvised muskets and shotguns loaded with black powder stolen from mines.[53]

The city of Danao in Cebu, Philippines, has been making improvised firearms so long that the makers have become legitimate, and are manufacturing firearms for sale. The Danao makers manufacture .38 and .45 caliber revolvers, and semi-automatic copies of the Ingram MAC-10 and Intratec TEC-DC9.[2]

In 2004, an "underground weapons factory" was seized in Melbourne, Australia, yielding among other things a number of silenced copies of the Owen submachine gun, suspected to have been built for sale to local gangs involved in the illegal drug trade.[54]

Improvised firearms have also been used in Russia,[55][56] where they have been used in domestic homicides and terrorism.

Improvised firearms were used by the perpetrator of the Halle synagogue shooting; the homemade shotgun and "Luty" submachine gun repeatedly malfunctioned. The attacker, an antisemitic neo-Nazi terrorist, said while livestreaming the attack, "I have certainly managed to prove how absurd improvised weapons are."[57]

In Italy, Naples, Caivano, multiple illegal weapons by the notorious Camorra were found during a raid, among them was a homemade 22-caliber gun, 400 homemade shells (likely for another gun such as a lupara, another type of gun that is often homemade), a homemade suppressor, and a pen gun.[58]

In Japan, an improvised shotgun was used in the assassination of Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, on 8 July 2022.[59]

See also edit

References edit

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  58. ^ [Camorra Arsenal Discovered in the Neapolitan Region: Kalashnikovs and one pen gun]. 2 April 2017. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023.
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Further reading edit

External links edit

  • DIY flintlock pistol ()
  • Improvised & Craft-Built Firearms (Archive)

improvised, firearm, sometimes, called, guns, pipe, guns, slam, guns, firearms, manufactured, other, than, firearms, manufacturer, gunsmith, typically, constructed, adapting, existing, materials, purpose, they, range, quality, from, crude, weapons, that, much,. Improvised firearms sometimes called zip guns pipe guns or slam guns are firearms manufactured other than by a firearms manufacturer or a gunsmith and are typically constructed by adapting existing materials to the purpose They range in quality from crude weapons that are as much a danger to the user as the target to high quality arms produced by cottage industries using salvaged and repurposed materials 1 2 3 A homemade pistol confiscated by the Swedish Police Given to the Museum of Vanersborg in 1985 Improvised firearms may be used as tools by criminals and insurgents and are sometimes associated with such groups 4 5 other uses include self defense in lawless areas and hunting game in poor rural areas 6 Contents 1 Types 1 1 Zip guns 1 2 Pen guns 1 3 Pipe guns 1 4 Repurposed or conversions 1 5 Cryptic firearms 1 6 Submachine guns 1 7 Liberators 1 8 3D printed firearms 2 Around the world 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksTypes editThis section is missing information about electric ignition other improvised ammo setups Please expand the section to include this information Further details may exist on the talk page July 2022 Zip guns edit Zip guns are generally crude homemade firearms consisting of a barrel breechblock and a firing mechanism For small low pressure cartridges like the common 22 caliber rimfire cartridges even very thin walled tubing works as a barrel strapped to a block of wood for a handle A rubber band powers the firing pin which the shooter pulls back and releases to fire Such weak tubing results in a firearm that can be as dangerous to the shooter as the target the poorly fitting smoothbore barrel provides little accuracy and is liable to burst upon firing 1 The better designs use heavier pipes and spring loaded trigger mechanisms Larger zip guns such as homemade shotguns called tumbera Argentina bakakuk 7 Malaysia or sumpak 8 Philippines are also made of improvised materials like nails steel pipes wooden pieces bits of string etc nbsp Improvised firearm used during WWII nbsp Improvised zip gun with interchangeable barrels nbsp Zip gun nbsp A very crude yet functioning homemade gun made by a man in India it is constructed mostly out of plumbing material nbsp Collection of Zip guns Pen guns edit nbsp Homemade pen guns Museum of the History of Donetsk militsiya Pen guns are zip gun like firearms that resemble ink pens 9 10 They generally are of small caliber e g 22 LR 25 ACP 32 ACP etc 11 12 13 and are single shot 12 14 Early examples of pen guns were pinfired but modern designs are rimfire or centerfire 9 Some pen guns are not designed to fire regular cartridges but rather blank cartridges signal flares or tear gas cartridges 9 15 In the United States pen guns that fire bullets or shot cartridges do not require a reconfiguration to fire e g folding to the shape of a pistol and are federally regulated as an Any Other Weapon Title II They require registration under the National Firearms Act and a tax in the amount of 200 to manufacture or 5 to transfer is levied 15 16 Pipe guns edit Pipe guns were first seen in the Philippines during World War II 17 The paliuntod is a type of improvised shotgun commonly used by guerrillas and the joint American and Filipino soldiers who remained behind after Douglas MacArthur s withdrawal Made of two pieces of pipe that fit snugly together the paliuntod were simple single shot guns These pipe guns are still in use by both criminals and rebels in the Philippines 18 19 In 1946 pipe guns were patented in the United States by Iliff D Rich Richardson who fought with the Filipino insurgents during the Japanese occupation 17 20 Made by Richardson Industries as the Model R5 Philippine Guerrilla Gun these 12 gauge shotguns sold for 7 at the time 17 Improvised versions are made by using two pipes and an end cap they usually fire shotgun shells To fire the gun the user inserts a shotgun shell into the smaller diameter pipe places the smaller pipe into the larger diameter pipe and forcefully slides it back until the shell s primer makes contact with a fixed firing pin located inside the end cap 4 5 Other improved versions use improvised detachable magazines 21 nbsp A homemade pipe shotgun that shoots 410 shotgun shells nbsp Improvised pipe gun showing barrel receiver and a 12 gauge shotgun shell nbsp Improvised pipe gun showing dimensions nbsp Improvised pipe gun showing firing pin inside receiver nbsp Improvised pipe gun showing 12 gauge shotgun shell Repurposed or conversions edit Flare guns have also been converted to firearms This may be accomplished by replacing the often plastic barrel of the flare gun with a metal pipe strong enough to chamber a shotgun shell or by inserting a smaller bore barrel into the existing barrel such as with a caliber conversion sleeve to chamber a firearm cartridge such as a 22 Long Rifle 22 23 nbsp A zip gun constructed from a toy cap gun The gun is capable of shooting a 22 caliber round More advanced improvised guns can use parts from other gun like products One example is the cap gun A cap gun can be disassembled and a barrel added turning the toy gun into a real one A firing pin can then be added to the hammer to concentrate the force onto the primer of the cartridge If the cap gun has a strong enough hammer spring the existing trigger mechanism can be used as is otherwise rubber bands may be added to increase the power of the hammer 24 Air guns have also been modified to convert them to firearms The Brocock Air Cartridge System for example uses a self contained cartridge roughly the size of a 38 Special cartridge which contains an air reservoir valve and a 22 caliber 5 5 mm pellet Examples of BACS airguns converted to firearms either by drilling the barrel out to fire a 38 Special cartridge or by altering the cylinder to accept 22 caliber cartridges have been used in a number of crimes Blank firing guns can also be converted by adding a barrel although the low quality alloys used for cheaper blank firing guns may break with the pressures and stresses of a real bullet being fired 25 Cryptic firearms edit See also Title II weapons Any other weapon Some more complex improvised firearms are not only well built but also use mimicry as camouflage taking the appearance of other items Improvised firearms in the form of flashlights cellular telephones canes and large bolts have all been seized by law enforcement officials citation needed Most of these are 22 caliber rimfires but flashlight guns have been found ranging from small models firing 22 Long Rifle to larger ones chambered for 410 bore shotgun shells 26 27 While most improvised firearms are single shot multiple shot versions are also encountered The simplest multi shot zip guns are derringer like and consist of a number of single shot zip guns attached together The pepper box design is also used in homemade guns because it is relatively easy to make out of a bundle of pipes or a steel cylinder In late 2000 British police encountered a four shot 22 LR zip gun disguised as a mobile phone where different keys on the keypad fire different barrels Because of this discovery mobile phones are now X rayed by airport screeners worldwide Authorities believe they were manufactured in Croatia and they still turned up in Europe as late as 2004 according to a report by Time magazine 28 29 nbsp U S manufactured covert firearms Clockwise from bottom 7 8 inch Bolt gun Flashlight gun Pen gun All are 22 caliber Double barrel 32 caliber key chain gun nbsp Improvised firearm disguised as a flashlight torch nbsp Four shot gun disguised as a mobile phone nbsp Cane gun nbsp Cane gun grip and trigger close up nbsp Finger ring gun nbsp Zippo lighter gun nbsp Marlboro filter cigarette pack gun Submachine guns edit Homemade submachine guns are often made by copying existing designs or by adapting simple open bolt actions and leveraging commonly available hardware store parts 2 30 The Blyskawica Polish for lightning was a submachine gun produced by the Armia Krajowa or Home Army a Polish resistance movement fighting the Germans in occupied Poland Together with a Polish version of the Sten sub machine gun with which it shares some design elements it was the only weapon mass produced covertly in occupied Europe during World War II The Bechowiec also known as the Bechowiec 1 was a Polish World War II submachine gun developed and produced by the underground Bataliony Chlopskie BCh Peasants Battalions resistance organisation It was designed in 1943 by Henryk Strapoc and was produced in underground facilities in the area of Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski Its name was coined after the Bataliony Chlopskie organization members who were informally called bechowiec plural bechowcy The Borz Borz Chechen for wolf submachine gun is one of a number of improvised firearms produced in Chechnya It was produced in small numbers from 1992 to 1999 It was used primarily by Chechen separatists It is named after the Borz wolf because of its position as Chechnya s national animal The Carlo also referred to as Carl Gustav is a submachine gun manufactured by small workshops in the West Bank The design has been inspired by the Swedish Carl Gustav m 45 and its Egyptian Port Said variant however the similarity is often only passing Produced in several locations and often with second hand gun parts the specifications are not uniform Typically the weapon is automatic Often chambered for 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridges variants for 22 LR 32 ACP 9mm Makarov and 5 56 NATO are also produced The weapon itself is cheap to manufacture but is inaccurate and prone to jamming and misfires 31 32 33 34 35 36 nbsp Homemade Blyskawica submachine gun in Warsaw Uprising nbsp Homemade Bechowiec submachine gun in Warsaw Uprising nbsp A Chechen fighter holds up his homemade Borz submachine gun during the battle for Grozny January 1995 nbsp Three homemade Carlo submachine guns Liberators edit The FP 45 Liberator and the Deer gun were crude zip gun like single shot pistols or derringers manufactured by the United States government for use by resistance forces in occupied territories during World War II and the Vietnam War respectively nbsp FP 45 Liberator Zip Gun The FP 45 was designed to be cheaply and quickly mass produced It had just 23 largely stamped and turned steel parts that were cheap and easy to manufacture It fired the 45 ACP pistol cartridge from an unrifled barrel and five rounds of 45 ACP ammunition could be stored in the pistol grip Due to this limitation it was intended for short range use 1 4 yards 0 91 3 66 m Its maximum effective range was only about 25 ft 7 6 m At longer range the bullet would begin to tumble and stray off course The original delivered cost for the FP 45 was USD 2 10 unit lending it the nickname Woolworth pistol 37 nbsp Deer gun or Zip Gun The Deer gun fired the 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridge It was made of cast aluminium with the receiver formed into a cylinder at the top of the weapon The striker protruded from the rear of the receiver and was cocked in order to fire and a plastic clip was placed there to prevent an accidental discharge as the Deer gun had no mechanical safety The grip had raised checkering was hollow and had space for three 9mm Parabellum rounds and a rod for clearing the barrel of spent cases The Deer gun lacked any marking identifying manufacturer or user in order to prevent tracing of the weapons and all were delivered in unmarked polystyrene boxes with three 9mm Parabellum rounds and a series of pictures depicting the operation of the gun A groove ran down a ramp on top for sighting The barrel unscrewed for loading and removing the empty casing A cocking knob was pulled until cocked The aluminium trigger had no trigger guard 3D printed firearms edit nbsp The Liberator is a 3D printable single shot handgun the first such printable firearm design made widely available online Main article 3D printed firearms In 2012 the U S based group Defense Distributed disclosed plans to design a working plastic gun that could be downloaded and reproduced by anybody with a 3D printer 38 39 The Liberator is a physible 3D printable single shot handgun the first such printable firearm design made widely available online 40 41 42 The open source firm Defense Distributed designed the gun and released the plans on the Internet on May 6 2013 The plans were downloaded over 100 000 times in the two days before the United States Department of State demanded that Defense Distributed retract the plans deeming them a violation of the Arms Export Control Act 43 44 45 In 2015 Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson sued the United States government on free speech grounds and in 2018 the Department of Justice settled acknowledging Wilson s right to publish instructions for the production of 3D printed firearms 46 47 nbsp The Solid Concepts 3D printed 1911 pistol Defense Distributed has also designed a 3D printable AR 15 type rifle lower receiver capable of lasting more than 650 rounds and a variety of magazines including for the AK 47 48 In 2013 a California company Solid Concepts demonstrated a 3D printed version of an M1911 pistol made of metal using an industrial 3D printer 49 Around the world editIn the United States creating an improvised firearm for personal use does not require licensure registration a background check or the stamping of a serial number but the firearm created must be detectable by a metal detector per federal law 50 51 California however passed a law in 2016 that requires anyone planning to build a homemade gun to obtain a serial number from the state de facto registration and pass a background check 52 However such firearms are often illegal in other jurisdictions and are commonly associated with gangs where they may be used to facilitate violent crime such as homicide 1 In other cases they may be used for other criminal activities not necessarily related to violent crime such as illegal hunting of game 6 Improvised firearms are most commonly encountered in regions with restrictive gun control laws citation needed While popular in the United States in the 1950s the zip gun has become less common nbsp Copies of British Martini and Snider firearms built in the Khyber region A Khyber Pass copy is a firearm manufactured by cottage gunsmiths in the Khyber Pass region between Pakistan and Afghanistan The area has long had a reputation for producing unlicensed homemade copies of firearms using whatever materials are available more often than not railway rails scrap motor vehicles and other scrap metal The quality of such firearms varies widely ranging from as good as a factory produced example to dangerously poor Much of the gunsmithing is centered around the town of Darra Adam Khel In India use of improvised country made pistols is widespread especially in the regions of Bihar and Purvanchal The manufacture of these weapons has become a cottage industry and the components are often manufactured from scrap material examples include gun barrels fashioned from truck steering columns In areas like South Africa improvised firearms are more common In a study of Zululand District Municipality South Africa it was found that most improvised firearms were crude 12 gauge shotguns with a simple pull and release firing mechanism like 22 rimfire cartridges shotgun shells operate at low pressures making them more suited for use in weak improvised barrels 25 Even in the absence of commercially available ammunition homemade black powder weapons can be used such firearms were the subject of a crackdown in the People s Republic of China in 2008 6 In many areas of Africa such as Zimbabwe poachers use improvised muskets and shotguns loaded with black powder stolen from mines 53 The city of Danao in Cebu Philippines has been making improvised firearms so long that the makers have become legitimate and are manufacturing firearms for sale The Danao makers manufacture 38 and 45 caliber revolvers and semi automatic copies of the Ingram MAC 10 and Intratec TEC DC9 2 In 2004 an underground weapons factory was seized in Melbourne Australia yielding among other things a number of silenced copies of the Owen submachine gun suspected to have been built for sale to local gangs involved in the illegal drug trade 54 Improvised firearms have also been used in Russia 55 56 where they have been used in domestic homicides and terrorism Improvised firearms were used by the perpetrator of the Halle synagogue shooting the homemade shotgun and Luty submachine gun repeatedly malfunctioned The attacker an antisemitic neo Nazi terrorist said while livestreaming the attack I have certainly managed to prove how absurd improvised weapons are 57 In Italy Naples Caivano multiple illegal weapons by the notorious Camorra were found during a raid among them was a homemade 22 caliber gun 400 homemade shells likely for another gun such as a lupara another type of gun that is often homemade a homemade suppressor and a pen gun 58 In Japan an improvised shotgun was used in the assassination of Shinzo Abe former prime minister of Japan on 8 July 2022 59 See also editPhilip Luty Improvised explosive device Improvised artillery in the Syrian civil war Barrack busters Improvised mortars Improvised weapon Technical vehicle Narco tank Insurgency weapon Marble gun Privately made firearm TM 31 210 Improvised Munitions HandbookReferences edit a b c Harlan Ellison 1983 Memos from Purgatory Ace Books ISBN 0 441 52438 9 Chapter 4 a b c Solon foresees export potential in local gun making industry Sun Star May 30 2008 Archived from the original on August 29 2008 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Weisman Steven R Times Special To the New York April 27 1987 India s Corner of Mystery Bihar s Poor and Lawless The New York Times Archived from the original on November 10 2012 a b April 1997 Questions And Answers oldguns net Archived from the original on August 18 2021 a b Defeating Spain in the Philippines Handmade Filipino Gun Smithsonian Institution 2 August 2021 Archived from the original on January 3 2023 a b c Gun briefing backfires in China BBC News 18 July 2008 Archived from the original on July 19 2008 Retrieved January 5 2010 Jamili Nais 1996 Kinabalu Park and the Surrounding Indigenous Communities Malaysia South South Cooperation Programme on Environmentally Sound Socio Economic Development in the Humid Tropics Retrieved 12 May 2013 Small arms survey 2003 development denied Oxford University Press 2003 pp 34 ISBN 978 0 19 925175 9 Archived from the original on March 28 2023 Retrieved 12 May 2013 a b c John Minnery 1990 Fingertip Firepower Pen Guns Knives and Bombs Paladin Press pp 33 38 ISBN 0 87364 560 X Helias Doundoulaki 2008 I was Trained to be a Spy A True Life Story p 65 ISBN 978 1425753795 Wright James D Rossi Peter H Daly Kathleen 1983 Under the Gun Weapons Crime and Violence in America Hawthorne NY Aldine de Gruyter ISBN 0202303063 a b J David Truby 1993 Zips Pipes And Pens Arsenal Of Improvised Weapons Paladin Press p 132 ISBN 0873647025 Instructions 25 ACP Archived from the original on January 11 2007 Retrieved 2014 02 18 Stephen D Carpenteri October 2013 Gun Trader s Guide Thirty Fifth Edition A Comprehensive Fully Illustrated Guide to Modern Firearms with Current Market Values Skyhorse Publishing ISBN 978 1626360259 a b Identification of Firearms Within the Purview of the National Firearms Act Archived from the original on March 5 2023 Retrieved 2014 02 18 National Firearms Act Handbook Archived from the original PDF on March 24 2022 Retrieved 2014 02 18 a b c Richardson Industries M5 Philippine guerrilla gun A gun to get a gun Archived 2018 08 08 at the Wayback Machine Richardson Industries M5 Philippine guerrilla gun A gun to get a gun 5 14 17 by Chris Eger Nina Catherine Calleja June 5 2008 3 suspected cattle rustlers killed in Cavite shootout Inquirer net permanent dead link Lizanilla J Amarga June 13 2007 Communists admit slay of 2 Cafgus datus Sun Star Archived from the original on October 11 2007 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link McCollum Ian 2021 01 27 Richardson Industries Slamfire Guerrilla Shotguns Forgotten Weapons www youtube com Archived from the original on 2021 02 06 Retrieved 2021 02 07 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Gordon Dahle November 10 2023 Homemade Slam Fire Shotgun with Detachable Magazine YouTube Archived from the original on November 25 2023 US Department of Justice District of Connecticut Project Safe Neighborhoods PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2004 07 25 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v BARRY WILLIAM DOWNER PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2012 03 06 Retrieved 2008 08 14 Bruce Barak Koffler March 1970 Zip Guns and Crude Conversions When converted to a muzzleloader the cap s can be used as a percussion cap using powder extracted from cap s or scraped off match heads Identifying Characteristics and Problems The Journal of Criminal Law Criminology and Police Science Northwestern University 115 125 a b Vincent J M Di Maio M D 1999 Gunshot Wounds CRC Press ISBN 0 8493 8163 0 Crypto bolt gun The Gun Zone Archived from the original on 2008 06 13 Retrieved 2008 06 19 Cops on alert for flashlight guns BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA NEWSDAY STAFF WRITER June 13 2006 Zagorin Adam Press M for Murder Cell Phones That Kill Time Magazine Archived from the original on April 23 2005 Video of cellphone gun firing Archived from the original on 2007 10 04 Retrieved 2008 06 19 P A Luty 1998 Expedient Homemade Firearms PDF Paladin Press ISBN 978 0 87364 983 4 Archived from the original PDF on March 7 2023 Retrieved 2016 04 04 Meet the Carlo Al Monitor Shlomi Eldar 17 March 2016 Archived 2022 12 07 at the Wayback Machine Homemade Carlo gun becoming weapon of choice for Palestinian attackers Newsweek Jack Moore 6 November 2016 Archived 2022 07 05 at the Wayback Machine Say hello to Carlo the cheap lethal go to gun for terrorists Times of Israel Judah Ari Gross 16 March 2016 Archived 2022 12 30 at the Wayback Machine Homemade guns used in Palestinian attacks on Israelis Guardian 14 March 2016 Archived 2023 03 23 at the Wayback Machine Cheap but lethal the makeshift gun used by Palestinian shooters in Tel Aviv terror attack Telegraph Raf Sanchez 10 June 2016 Archived 2023 03 23 at the Wayback Machine The West Bank Deadly DIY The Economist 7 April 2016 Archived 2022 09 01 at the Wayback Machine Thompson Leroy 3 May 2011 The Colt 1911 Pistol Bloomsbury Publishing p 87 ISBN 978 1 84908 836 7 Greenberg Andy August 23 2012 Wiki Weapon Project Aims To Create A Gun Anyone Can 3D Print At Home Forbes Archived from the original on March 8 2023 Retrieved August 27 2012 Poeter Damon August 24 2012 Could a Printable Gun Change the World PC Magazine Archived from the original on August 16 2022 Retrieved August 27 2012 US government orders removal of Defcad 3D gun designs BBC News 10 May 2013 Archived from the original on October 31 2022 Retrieved 13 May 2013 Biggs John What You Need To Know About The Liberator 3D Printed Pistol TechCrunch Archived from the original on August 3 2013 Retrieved 13 May 2013 Hutchinson Lee 3 May 2013 The first entirely 3D printed handgun is here Ars Technica Archived from the original on December 26 2022 Retrieved 13 May 2013 Blueprints for 3 D printer gun pulled off website www statesman com Archived from the original on 2013 10 29 Retrieved 2013 11 10 Defense Distributed v United States Department of State harvardlawreview org Archived from the original on August 23 2022 Retrieved 2017 10 01 Greenberg Andy 3D Printed Gun s Blueprints Downloaded 100 000 Times In Two Days With Some Help From Kim Dotcom Forbes Archived from the original on August 1 2013 Retrieved 13 May 2013 Kopel David 2018 07 10 US government drops prohibition on files for 3D printed arms Reason com Archived from the original on 2018 07 13 Retrieved 2018 07 13 Greenberg Andy 2018 07 10 A Landmark Legal Shift Opens Pandora s Box for DIY Guns Wired com Archived from the original on 2018 07 10 Retrieved 2018 07 13 Farivar Cyrus March 1 2013 Download this gun 3D printed semi automatic fires over 600 rounds Ars Technica Archived from the original on September 26 2022 Retrieved February 5 2015 Gross Doug 2013 11 09 Texas company makes metal gun with 3 D printer CNN Archived from the original on September 27 2022 Retrieved 9 November 2013 Does an individual need a license to make a firearm for personal use Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives www atf gov Archived from the original on March 22 2023 Retrieved 2017 10 01 Ghost Guns Giffords Law Center Archived from the original on March 15 2023 Retrieved 25 May 2020 California governor signs bill to require registration of ghost guns Reuters 2016 07 23 Archived from the original on August 30 2022 Retrieved 2017 10 01 McCollum Ian May 12 2020 Confiscated Homemade Poachers Guns from Zimbabwe youtube com Forgotten Weapons Archived from the original on May 24 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Brendan Nicholson Daniel Ziffer July 23 2004 Submachine guns found in weapons factory The Age Melbourne Archived from the original on April 4 2022 Chechen Self Made Weapons English Russia June 4 2007 Archived from the original on June 27 2022 Stanley Alessandra January 17 1995 Seized Guns in Russia The New York Times Archived from the original on August 5 2020 Retrieved May 5 2010 Germany s Jewish leaders condemn police response to Halle attack www theguardian com 10 October 2019 Archived from the original on October 13 2022 Camorra arsenale nel Napoletano Trovati kalashnikov e una pen gun Camorra Arsenal Discovered in the Neapolitan Region Kalashnikovs and one pen gun 2 April 2017 Archived from the original on March 28 2023 Kim Chang Ran June 7 2022 Shinzo Abe shot while making election speech in Japan Reuters Archived from the original on 8 July 2022 Retrieved 8 July 2022 Further reading editTrub J David 1993 Zips Pipes And Pens Arsenal Of Improvised Weapons Paladin Press ISBN 0 87364 702 5 Anonymous 1983 Improvised Weapons of the American Underground Desert Publications ISBN 0 87947 110 7 Luty P A 1998 Expedient Homemade Firearms The 9mm Submachine Gun Paladin Press https archive org details Expedient Homemade Firearms 9mm Submachine Gun P A Luty Paladin Press page n3 ISBN 0 87364 983 4 Brown Ronald 1999 Homemade Guns amp Homemade Ammo Breakout Productions ISBN 1 893626 11 3 McLean Don 1992 Do It Yourself Gunpowder Cookbook Paladin Press ISBN 0 87364 675 4 Hollenback George 1996 Workbench Silencers The Art Of Improvised Designs Paladin Press ISBN 0 87364 895 1 Metral Gerard 1985 Do It Yourself Submachine Gun Paladin Press ISBN 0 87364 840 4 Milosevic Marko 2012 Prepravljeno i rucno pravljeno oruzje Converted and Improvised weapons http www bezbednost org upload document rucno pravljeno oruzje pdf Archived 2015 02 26 at the Wayback Machine BCSP ISBN 978 86 6237 018 1External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Improvised firearms DIY flintlock pistol Archive Improvised amp Craft Built Firearms Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Improvised firearm amp oldid 1219161001, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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