International First person in UK jailed for 3D-printing two firearms

[tac]

University student is first UK person to be jailed for making a GUN with a 3D printer as he is sentenced to three years behind bars despite claiming weapons were props for a sci-fi movie

• Tendai Muswere, 26, printed revolver and handgun at his flat in Pimlico, London
• The student, from Zimbabwe, claimed he would be using them as project props
• He has now been jailed for three years after pleading guilty to making the guns

By DANYAL HUSSAIN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 18:27, 19 September 2019 | UPDATED: 18:27, 19 September 2019

A film student has become the first person in the UK to be jailed for making a gun with a 3D printer.

Tendai Muswere, 26, printed a revolver and a handgun using plastic resin at his flat in Pimlico in October 2017 and later claimed they were just props for a project.

He has been jailed for three years after he pleaded guilty to making the guns, which he said would be used in a film project for his course at London South Bank University.

The Zimbabwean admitted producing a plastic Washbear revolver as well as a so-called Hexen Pepper-box handgun - both specially designed for 3D printing.

Tendai Muswere, 26, outside Southwark Crown Court, printed a revolver and a handgun with a 3D printer and has now been jailed for three years

Police found the plastic pistols after raiding his home based on information that he was growing cannabis in the flat.

Prosecutor Hugh Forgan told an earlier hearing: 'He was at the time, a student.

'The contentious issue, in a nub, is it is all very well saying you were making a film but why did you need a lethal weapon?'

The firing pin on one of the pistols had been replaced with a more durable copper component, Southwark Crown Court heard.

There was also evidence that Muswere had been searching for a replacement metal barrel on Amazon.

Mr Forgan added: 'There is no need for a lethal weapon, why had it been adapted?'

Police had found two 3-D printers that were in the process of printing a barrel of a revolver and components for making Washbear and Reprringer firearms.

On the second occasion, Muswere threw an incomplete and melted 3-D printed cylinder for a Reprringer pepper-box handgun out of the kitchen window as police forced their way inside.

He admitted printing a Washbear revolver and a Hexen Pepper-box handgun using a machine at his flat in Pimlico, south London in October 2017

He made a revolver and a handgun, which he claimed were for props for a university film project

Muswere admitted two counts of manufacturing a prohibited firearm and two counts of possession of a prohibited firearm.

Claire Holder, from the CPS, said: 'Muswere claimed that the firearms found in his flat were made for a university film project and were incapable of firing deadly shots.

'However, he was using 3-D designs found on the internet which were specifically for the making of live firearms. Evidence also showed that he had made repeated attempts to print the weapons, which we believe showed that he was trying to perfect a workable firearm.

'It is illegal to manufacture or possess prohibited weapons without a licence. This was the first prosecution of its kind in the UK and we hope it serves as a warning to anyone who is considering possessing and manufacturing firearms.'

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[awshoot]

'It is illegal to manufacture or possess prohibited weapons without a licence. This was the first prosecution of its kind in the UK and we hope it serves as a warning to anyone who is considering possessing and manufacturing firearms.'

For the criminally inclined, exactly what is the warning?

• Don't grow pot and print guns in the same location?
• If a print fails, don't just toss it, fully destroy it?
• If you are doing something illegal in your apartment, don't share that information with others because others might tell the police?

Anything else?

 

[tac]

All of these things. The discovery of the printed or part-printed firearms led in another direction, as you read. The warning goes to anybody thinking of trying to make a 3D gun who might HEED the warning and stop there.

Of course, the criminal won't do that, but that's why they are called criminals.

There seems, for unfathomable reasons, to be an immense disconnect between people like you and me, and those in the judiciary. They remain convinced that making more laws will reduce crime, when in fact all it does is to expand the possibilities of criminal activities by extending the list of things that are illegal.

Odd, that, wouldn't you say?

 

[Alexx1401]

Sounds a lot like stupid is as stupid does

 

[tac]

Yup, he sure do look like a person where the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor...

Mind you, three years in a British jail is lot more comfortable than going back to Rhodesia, where this 'student' would probably be dying in a road-side ditch within a couple of weeks. Right now, that poor country is in the biggest mess it's possible to be. My guess is that his five-year sentence has been curtailed so that he can get an early release for deportation.

I'm good with that. He can take as many of his similar brethren back with him when he goes.

 

[awshoot]

... They remain convinced that making more laws will reduce crime, when in fact all it does is to expand the possibilities of criminal activities by extending the list of things that are illegal.

Odd, that, wouldn't you say?

Maybe not odd, maybe more self-interest in job security. ;-)

 

[Capn Jack]

Am I in trouble???

 

[KKG]

Am I in trouble???

View attachment 618521

It seems that printing 3D Black Powder Gun parts is still VERY much up in the air.

 

[JustShoot]

For the criminally inclined, exactly what is the warning?

• Don't grow pot and print guns in the same location?
• If a print fails, don't just toss it, fully destroy it?
• If you are doing something illegal in your apartment, don't share that information with others because others might tell the police?

Anything else ?

-
AUHhhhh Ya .. The Guy is just two digits above high functioning mongoloid . Was his 3D printer connected to internet or cloud platform when operating at anytime ?
Especially if your living in a country like Brittan that is a surveillance police state and that already has a huge hardon against it's citizens owning firearms . If your average home PC, copier scanner, printer will Rat Your A$$ Out for copywriter and counterfeit . Is a just NOT common sense to realize that a 3-D printer will also Alert, Redflag you select unwanted activity for LE review ? .
.

 

[awshoot]

-
AUHhhhh Ya .. The Guy is just two digits above high functioning mongoloid . Was his 3D printer connected to internet or cloud platform when operating at anytime ?
Especially if your living in a country like Brittan that is a surveillance police state and that already has a huge hardon against it's citizens owning firearms . If your average home PC, copier scanner, printer will Rat Your A$$ Out for copywriter and counterfeit . Is a just NOT common sense to realize that a 3-D printer will also Alert, Redflag you select unwanted activity for LE review ? .
.

Most 3D printers are standalone devices that read gcode off an SDcard, some connect to a computer by USB. There are some ways to network printers but you have to go out of your way to do that. It appears some printers are now coming with wifi or ethernet connectivity, but the SDcard method is still the norm (for example, 2/3 of Ultimaker's printers have networking: Ultimaker 3D printers: Reliable and easy to use ).

I built a pen plotter using an arduino and grbl shield (the software is open source ). It doesn't communicate with anything except a serial port, easily monitored: Amazon.com: arduino grbl cnc shield

Anyway, I wouldn't be suspicious of most 3d printers because most are airgapped from the internet, and the way I understand this story, is the cops went to find an illegal grow, and found illegal prints.

 

[tac]

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AUHhhhh Ya .. The Guy is just two digits above high functioning mongoloid . Was his 3D printer connected to internet or cloud platform when operating at anytime ?
Especially if your living in a country like Brittan that is a surveillance police state and that already has a huge hardon against it's citizens owning firearms . If your average home PC, copier scanner, printer will Rat Your A$$ Out for copywriter and counterfeit . Is a just NOT common sense to realize that a 3-D printer will also Alert, Redflag you select unwanted activity for LE review ? .

Holy Shirt!!!! The paranoia is strong in this one!

In order to examine ANYBODY's computer, a court order is required. Same even for a cell-phone, and no matter what you read about the yUK, it has not gone THAT far down the line of overarching fascism.

Funny you should mention the seeming antipathy held by the 'state' for firearms, considering that so far, this year has seen the greatest increase, year-on-year of firearms 'licenses' since records began. Apologies for the slight OOF - I just happened to have this page about my person....




Sure, I appreciate that there are probably more guns in your average city block that are mentioned here, but shooting and shooting sports put almost THREE BILLION DOLLARS into the exchequer every year, and growing.

Don't be putting us down over here, OK?

Oh, BTW, I have nineteen of these much-hated and feared firearms. My chief constable [county chief of police here] is a keen shooter, too. Trap and skeet are his thing, but there's no harm in that, eh?

 

[JustShoot]

Holy Shirt!!!! The paranoia is strong in this one!

-
I am paranoid ? .
SO it's not a 2-way 'street' data stream in the 21st century ???? . Your saying that if person purchases and is using a electronic device like a home PC, copier, scanner, smart phone., tablet/book, or 3-D printer ..etc. . If a person then connects his Electronic system/device online to that company's website . Your telling me, that industry Do Not have software that works in the background to send, receive, store data, or monitor that devices activity ?
.
edit to add :
The UK Sucks . ( for owning, shooting and firearms related activities ) . compared to what I take for granted every day in life .
.

 

[DirectDrive]

I suppose a P80 would really rile them up.

 

[awshoot]

-
I am paranoid ? .
SO it's not a 2-way 'street' data stream in the 21st century ???? . Your saying that if person purchases and is using a electronic device like a home PC, copier, scanner, smart phone., tablet/book, or 3-D printer ..etc. . If a person then connects his Electronic system/device online to that company's website . Your telling me, that industry Do Not have software that works in the background to send, receive, store data, or monitor that devices activity ?
.
edit to add :
The UK Sucks . ( for owning, shooting and firearms related activities ) . compared to what I take for granted every day in life .
.

I get the skepticism around computerized stuff and I do a lot to try to protect myself, but I'm not that worried about most 3D printers. Like you, I wouldn't chose one that is networkable, but most printers (not all, but most and certainly the most affordable ones) do not connect to the internet at all. You do your work on a computer (which is not required to be connected to the internet), copy the data to an SDcard, walk it over to the printer, stick the SDcard in the printer, select the file, and then print.

It's certainly more private than ordering an 80% from anywhere and having it delivered. It's even more private than using a trim router with a jig on an 80% you bought with cash in an in-person transaction (because you don't have to involve any other person).

And while Bob Ferguson may dream of a printer that phones home, when the computer guts of such a system can be had for $18 (*), and you can tell by looking at the parts that there are no antennas (you'd have to pay extra for that), and run open source software, that's just a fantasy that won't ever happen.

(*) The bulk of the money in a printer goes to stepper motors, acme screws, toothed belts, precision ground rods, bearings, the frame, heaters, and other like "dumb" objects.

 

[JustShoot]

..." I get the skepticism around computerized stuff and I do a lot to try to protect myself, but I'm not that worried ".

-
let me redefine that a little for you . I have a skepticism ( healthy Respect ) for all electronic devices linked online because two that know my thoughts, activities, location are one to many .
.

 

[ma96782]

Aloha, Mark

 

[tac]

dit to add :
The UK Sucks . ( for owning, shooting and firearms related activities ) . compared to what I take for granted every day in life .

Nice to meet you, too. Have a great day, eh?

 

[awshoot]

-
let me redefine that a little for you . I have a skepticism ( healthy Respect ) for all electronic devices linked online because two that know my thoughts, activities, location are one to many .
.

I'm in total agreement with you. I treat everything that connects to the internet as essentially toxic.

 

[bolus]

So the picture the media has of him looks like he is modelling a winter coat for Macy's?

If I was going to fake a news story to keep the sheep in line I'd use the booking photo and not a action shot they somehow got of him before he was arrested?