Police investigating the December 4, 2024 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson have revealed that the alleged attacker did so used a 3D printed weapon. Several high-profile crimes In recent years these have been home-made or partially home-made weapons.

Often called “Ghost gunsBecause these firearms are difficult to detect, they could be made partially or entirely from components comprised of metal or plastic using commercially available 3D printers. The US Supreme Court is taking legality into consideration current federal restrictions on these firearms.

The first known criminal case The use of a 3D printed weapon led to the arrest of a British man in 2013. But since then, police all over the world have reported finding an increasing number of of those weapons.

My Research focuses on the economic and social impacts of advanced digital technologiesincluding 3D printing. I see that using 3D printed weapons in criminal and violent activities will likely proceed to extend. And it’ll likely turn out to be increasingly difficult for governments and police to manage these firearms.

Increase in arrests and seizures

Arrests and seizures related to 3D printed guns are increasing rapidly. Between 2017 and 2021, US law enforcement agencies seized and reported just about all cases 38,000 suspected ghost weaponsin response to a 2024 report from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2021 alone 19,273 suspected ghost weapons were traced, a major increase from 8,504 in 2020. In New York State alone, the variety of 3D printed guns seized increased dramatically 100 in 2019 to 637 in 2022.

Arrests related to 3D printed weapons are also increasing. The world recorded 108 arrests in the primary half of 2023in comparison with 66 arrests in all of 2022.

North America leads the country in arrests related to 3D printed guns, with 166 cases from 2013 to June 2023. Europe followed with 166 cases 48 arrests, while Oceania ranked third with 24 arrests.

The USA is a selected hotspot with a share of 36% of the overall world population Arrests related to 3D printed firearms in 2023. But Canada is close behind at 34%. The UK had 10% and Australia had 8%.

Growing global security threat

Police and media reports indicate that there have been many attempts to buy or produce 3D printed firearms associated with plans for violent actions.

These weapons were utilized by various groups including Right-wing extremists, ethno-separatists, jihadists, left-wing anarchists, organized crime groups in Europe and pro-democracy rebels in Myanmar.

From 2019 to mid-2022 there have been a minimum of nine documented cases in Europe and Australia by extremists, terrorists or paramilitary groups that produce or try to produce firearms using 3D printing technology. This is shown by an evaluation of 165 cases of 3D printed firearms from 2013 to mid-2024 15% were related to terrorism. In terrorism-related cases, right-wing extremist groups seem like essentially the most common users.

A various legal landscape

3D printed weapons are sometimes home-made firearms with out a serial number. The lack of identification makes them attractive to criminals since it makes it harder for law enforcement to link certain weapons to specific crimes or suspects. Different countries take very different approaches to regulating these weapons.

Japan enforces strict laws regulating the manufacture, possession and sale of firearms. Its legal system strictly prohibits the illicit manufacture of firearms, including 3D printed weapons. In 2014 it was a 28-year-old Japanese man sentenced to 2 years in prison for making 3D printed plastic firearms.

In 2023 Canada is effectively banned Ghost guns. It's illegal they own or make with out a state license.

In Australia there’s one 3D printed firearms are illegaland in some states, possessing a digital blueprint to create one can be a criminal offense. In the state of New South Wales, an individual convicted of possessing blueprints could withstand 14 years in prison. In the state of Tasmania, the punishment will be even harsher – as much as 21 years in prison.

Across the European Union, making or owning homemade firearms, including 3D printed ones, is common principally forbidden. However, laws and penalties vary, and a few countries even criminalize possession of digital files or blueprints related to 3D printed weapons.

In the UK, where firearms are heavily restricted, 3D printed guns are considered illegal. But in November 2022 the federal government will The laws have been updated to specifically prohibit owning, purchasing or manufacturing parts for 3D printed weapons. The proposal goals to explicitly ban 3D printed guns, directly addressing their unique challenges, reasonably than counting on existing laws designed for traditional firearms. Britain's National Crime Agency has called for a ban even have blueprintsAnd Parliament is currently considering two bills propose such a ban.

Federal rules within the USA

The U.S. Constitution presents some unique challenges to regulating ghost guns, particularly for the federal government, but additionally for the states.

For regular firearms – people who usually are not 3D printed – US federal law requires that a key component called ” lower receiverBear a unique serial number. Purchasing a lower receiver requires a Federal background check and conducting the transaction through a merchant who a Federal firearms license.

The situation is more complicated in terms of 3D printed weapons. The First Amendment protects freedom of expression, including the sharing of digital files which will contain firearm designs. And the Second Amendment protects the rights of residents. Right to bear arms.

In the United States, a federal license is required to sell 3D printed firearms. But making or owning homemade firearms for private use is permitted. This includes 3D printing of the lower receiver component and Assembling the remainder of the weapon with unregulated parts.

Current federal law, is being considered by the Supreme Courtalso requires 3D printed weapons to fulfill certain guidelines, even if that is so don’t contain any currently regulated regulations Firearm components. This rule requires manufacturers of ghost gun kits to buy one Federal license, conducting background checkscollect details about their customers and add serial numbers to their products.

The kind of weapon also plays a job in determining the legality of a 3D printed firearm. Automatic weapons or machine guns can proceed to fireplace ammunition so long as the user holds down the trigger. These weapons were heavily regulated by federal law for nearly 90 years.

Criminals have used 3D printer to make “Glock switches” or automotive Searswhich Convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic machine guns. That makes this stuff machine guns under federal law and makes them machine guns illegal. Owning such a 3D printed conversion device can result in a Maximum 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 effective.

In the States

States also can regulate firearms, and plenty of try to realize control over 3D printed weapons.

Until November 2024, 15 US states had passed regulations on ghost gunsalthough exact requirements vary. The rules typically require a serial number, background checks when purchasing firearm components and reporting to authorities that an individual is making 3D printed weapons.

In New Jersey, for instance, a 2019 law requires all ghost guns for use have a serial number and be registered. Under current New York law, owning or distributing a 3D printed gun is a misdemeanor. However, one bill goals to enhance the manufacturing of firearms using 3D printing technology to against the law.

As technology advances and rules evolve, criminals using 3D printed firearms will proceed to pose a threat to public safety, and governments will proceed to play catch-up to effectively regulate these weapons.

“Much too late”

Today is Tuesday, July 16, the 198th day of the 12 months 2024. There are 168 days left within the 12 months.

Today’s highlight of the story:

On July 16, 1945, the United States detonated its first experimental atomic bomb within the Alamogordo Desert in New Mexico. That same day, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis departed the Mare (mar-AY') Island Naval Shipyard in California on a secret mission to deliver atomic bomb components to the island of Tinian within the Marianas.

Also on this date:

In 1862, Flag Officer David G. Farragut became the primary Rear Admiral of the United States Navy.

In 1951, JD Salinger's novel The Catcher within the Rye was first published by Little, Brown and Co.

In 1957, Major John Glenn of the Marine Corps set a transcontinental speed record by flying a Vought F8U Crusader jet from California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes and eight.4 seconds.

When Barry M. Goldwater accepted the Republican nomination for president in San Francisco in 1964, he declared: “Extremism in the defense of liberty is not a vice” and “moderation in the pursuit of justice is not a virtue.”

In 1969, Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, on the primary manned mission to the lunar surface.

In 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn, and her sister Lauren Bessette died when their single-engine plane, piloted by Kennedy, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

In 2004, Martha Stewart was sentenced by a federal judge in New York to 5 months in prison and five months of house arrest for lying a couple of stock sale.

In 2008, Casey Anthony of Florida, whose two-year-old daughter Caylee had been missing for a month, was arrested on charges of kid neglect, making false statements and obstructing an investigation. (Casey Anthony was later acquitted at trial of murdering Caylee, whose skeletal stays were present in December 2008; Casey was convicted of lying to police.)

In 2015, a jury in Centennial, Colorado, convicted James Holmes of 165 counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges in reference to the 2012 Aurora movie show shooting that left 12 people dead.

In 2017, ten people died at a well-liked swimming lake in Arizona's Tonto National Forest after a rainstorm triggered a flash flood.

In 2018, after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, President Donald Trump openly questioned the finding by his own intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered within the 2016 US election to its advantage. (Trump said a day later that he had made a slip of the tongue.)

Today's birthdays:

• Margaret Court, member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, is 82.
• Football Hall of Fame member Jimmy Johnson is 81.
• The violinist Pinchas Zukerman is 76.
• The actor and singer Ruben Blades is 76.
• Rock composer and musician Stewart Copeland is 72.
• Playwright Tony Kushner is 68.
• Dancer Michael Flatley is 66.
• Former actress and teenage model Phoebe Cates is 61.
• Actor Daryl “Chill” Mitchell is 59.
• Actor and comedian Will Ferrell is 57.
• Football Hall of Fame member Barry Sanders is 56.
• Actor Corey Feldman is 53.
• Actress Jayma Mays is 45.
• Former soccer star Carli Lloyd is 42.
• Actress AnnaLynne McCord is 37.
• Actor and singer James Maslow (Big Time Rush) is 34.
• Actor Mark Indelicato is 30.
• Pop singer and musician Luke Hemmings (5 Seconds to Summer) is 28.

Originally published: July 16, 2024 at 01:00

San Mateo police arrested a person Sunday morning on suspicion of various crimes, including possession of illegal fireworks, drugs and a firearm.

The suspect, a 22-year-old San Mateo man, was booked into the San Mateo County Jail on charges of transportation of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by an unauthorized person, possession of a silencer, possession of unlicensed paraphernalia, possession of marijuana on the market, possession of a threaded barrel semi-automatic pistol and possession of fireworks with no permit, in keeping with a news release from San Mateo police Tuesday.

At around 10:46 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to an altercation between a pair at a house within the 300 block of North Grant.

Police found the suspect in a parked automobile near the home. After searching the automobile, officers found illegal fireworks and marijuana.

An investigation of the house uncovered nine kilos of marijuana, 162 grams of methamphetamine, an unregistered pistol with a silencer and ammunition, and greater than 140 kilos of illegal fireworks, authorities said.

Fireworks are illegal in San Mateo County, apart from so-called “safe and sane” fireworks, that are allowed in Pacifica and San Bruno. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office will host three fireworks buyback events to encourage residents to show in fireworks.

They can be held in other locations along the coast, in addition to in North County and North Fair Oaks. The sheriff's office can even reward people as much as $200 for turning in fireworks.

Here you could find out when and where the district's three buyback events will happen:

• Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Coastside Fire Protection District headquarters in Half Moon Bay (1191 Main St.)
• Saturday, June 22, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the Northern Branch Courthouse in South San Francisco (1050 Mission Rd.)
• Saturday, June 29, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the brand new Redwood City Sheriff's Office branch (690 Broadway St.)

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pledged Monday to proceed sending U.S. weapons to Ukraine as Kiev faces considered one of its hardest times within the face of a renewed attack from Russia.

Austin and as much as 50 defense leaders from Europe and around the globe met Monday to coordinate more military aid to Ukraine because it tries to fend off a Russian offensive within the northeast while launching its own massive attack on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula start.

“We meet at a moment of challenge,” Austin said, noting that Russia’s latest attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, showed why engagement is crucial. Austin vowed to maintain U.S. weapons moving “week after week.”

Austin told reporters the group spent plenty of time talking about Ukraine's urgent need for air defense systems, which he said would help deter Russian attacks.

“We will continue to work to ensure that Ukraine owns its airspace and can defend its citizens and civilian infrastructure far from the front lines,” he said after the meeting ended.

Speaking alongside Austin, Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that while there are currently no plans to send U.S. instructors back to Ukraine to work with Ukrainian forces, the U.S. will accomplish that after the war could.

“Once this conflict is over and we're feeling better, then I would suspect we'll be able to get the coaches involved again,” he said.

The U.S. didn’t announce any latest aid packages on Monday, whilst Ukraine's armed forces proceed to complain that weapons are slow to enter the country after being stalled for months by a funding blockade in Congress. Pentagon officials said weapons pre-deployed in Europe were transported to Ukraine shortly after aid funding was approved in late April.

It is unclear how much of this has reached a few of the front lines where Russian troops have stepped up their attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that Moscow's offensive within the northeastern Kharkiv region was geared toward making a buffer zone, but there have been no plans to capture town.

Ukrainian troops are fighting to stop Russia's advance within the Kharkiv region while stepping up offensive attacks in Crimea, including on military infrastructure on the Black Sea coast and within the Russian-occupied city of Sevastopol.

Ukraine is struggling to get enough troops to the front because the war enters its third yr and fighting takes its toll. To increase troop numbers, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed two laws allowing prisoners to affix the military and increasing fines for conscientious objectors fivefold. The controversial mobilization law comes into force on Saturday.

In the 4 weeks since President Joe Biden signed the $95 billion foreign aid package, which included about $61 billion for Ukraine, the U.S. has stockpiled $1.4 billion value of weapons from the Pentagon and announced that they would supply $6 billion in funding through the Security Assistance to Ukraine initiative. USAI pays for longer-term contracts with the defense industry, meaning it could take many months or years for the weapons to reach.

The U.S. can also be providing additional coastal and riverine patrol boats, trailers, explosive munitions, high-speed anti-radiation missiles, protective equipment, spare parts and other weapons and equipment.

The State Department has also approved a planned emergency sale of HIMARS to Ukraine for an estimated $30 million. The state said Ukraine had asked to purchase three of the missile systems funded by the German government.

Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, the US has now provided around $50.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine.