The owner produced and sold online 3D gun components, mostly Roni conversion kits that make handguns more accurate at longer ranges.īrazil’s high gun-related murder rates likely provide a favorable environment for 3D firearms.

In May, authorities uncovered a clandestine facility in Gravatai, near Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil. Finally, since 3D firearms are not serialized and hence untraceable, they are ideal for Latin American criminals who smuggle cocaine over borders and need to maintain control of territory in vast urban slums that are continually policed.īrazil has shown the most interest among Latin American countries in 3D-printed weapons. As a result, more regions would specialize in the trafficking of guns, and more criminal organizations will likely deal in them. In civilian hands, there are 61,900,300 conventional guns, most of which are unregistered.Īlso, 3D weapons have the potential to undermine some regional gateways for illicit arms, such as Paraguay, in favor of an equal distribution of criminal power. The region is the most violent worldwide, accounting for 33% of all murders globally. Until today, the US, as the world's largest exporter of armaments, had a prominent role in sustaining the legal and illicit flow of firearms and ammunition to Latin America. However, as drug trafficking has become more sophisticated, 3D firearms have become a booming market enabling criminal organizations to control production while reducing their reliance on imports from the US. In Latin America, 3D-printed plastic weapons, also known as ‘ghost guns,’ are relatively new due to technological delays and high import costs.

According to the European Commission, the multidimensional (3D and 4D) printer market is estimated to be worth 9.64 billion euros. Since 2013, when Texas University student and gun-rights activist Cody Wilson released online blueprints for the Liberator, the world’s first 3D-printable weapon, the 3D-printed firearms industry has expanded globally.

4d printing guns