Deadly danger of the 3D printer

Booth: 06:18 | Duration of reading: 3 minutes

I In the United States, a court ruled that construction manuals were used in 3D printers be distributed via the Internet. What is the danger of these weapons? Sebastian Fiedler, acting federal president of the German Detective Agency (BDK), says that other weapons are even more dangerous. However, specially made firearms are part of a continuing trend

WORLD:

When will we know the first crime committed in Germany with a weapon taken from the 3D printer?

Sebastian Fiedler: [19659007] The data is very bad because these cases are not recorded separately. However, the weapons from this production are still not a fundamental problem: on the one hand, 3D printers are still quite expensive, and the weapon models are immature and particularly dangerous for the shooter himself . Right now, it is more likely to be a phenomenon for hobbyists.

What is the legal situation in Germany?

If you create or possess such a weapon, you expose yourself to prosecution. As you know, the United States has a fundamentally different and more liberal arms law. In this country, there are specific conditions from the moment when a self-construction falls under the law of arms. Legal classification does not matter if such a weapon is made of plastic or metal.

The models that exist up to now are considered impractical. How big is the danger?

The technique will evolve. Universities already have 3D printers that process metal. It is conceivable that such a 3-D printer will be in every other household in a few years. Overall, we will have to keep an eye on this, that it will also be nonsense and abuse. But frankly, freely available weapons, those that are in their own construction or the diversion of objects intended for the use of force, are not new.

It is already possible today to do a lot of harm with normal budgetary resources. On the Internet, there are very specific instructions on how police officers can be killed with knives or how to drive a vehicle with vehicles. There are also building instructions for the manufacture of explosives. The firearms of the 3D printer would then be "just" an extra facet in the future.

Some experts warn that plastic weapons are harder to detect during checks. How do you evaluate that?

It should make no difference to airport controls if a weapon is made of metal or plastic. The technology available at the checkpoints can detect plastic items. That terrorists want to smuggle such weapons into planes in the future, I think only one problem among many others. In my opinion, 3D printers can be dangerous in the future for other reasons: for example, security parts, such as spare parts in a car, could be manufactured and installed or distributed illegally. We must therefore follow this development closely.

Terrorists and criminals do not necessarily depend on 3D printers. In your opinion, is the illegal trade the preferred source of weapons?

In the foreseeable future, yes. There are millions of weapons in illegal markets. These are also traded on the Darknet. It's much easier to have a weapon than to make it yourself. Currently, people do not depend on the instructions for the 3D printer. It is easier to obtain weapons by other means. With this problem, it is simply a matter of knowing how much resources the police gets to tackle such a trade. This is like trading in counterfeit drugs or medicines. Unfortunately, the fight against the illegal arms trade is currently not a political priority. Despite the terrorist threat still high in Europe. Adding weapons from the 3D printer can make this problem worse.