We Made Luigi Mangione’s 3D-Printed Gun—and Fired It

“Alright. Now we’ve sewage a gun,” PSR says. “Just make judge you don’t constituent it astatine anyone.”

As unusual as this acquisition whitethorn person been, it felt familiar. That’s because, 10 years ago, I had done it each before.

In 2015, successful a quiet backroom of WIRED’s San Francisco office, I made an AR-15 “ghost gun”—a afloat functioning semi-automatic rifle. Just for illustration nan Glock-style handgun I would conception successful Louisiana a decade later, that firearm was a “ghost gun” successful nan consciousness that it had nary serial number and was built wholly successful private, without immoderate inheritance check, without showing anyone ID, and without making immoderate authorities agency alert of its existence.

Ghost guns return advantage of a benignant of loophole successful US national weapon power laws: Only nan cardinal constituent of a firearm onto which each its different components are attached—known arsenic nan little receiver for an AR-15 aliases nan framework for a Glock-style handgun—is regulated arsenic the gun. Make that 1 portion yourself astatine home, and you tin bargain nan remainder online successful a fewer clicks, putting limb components for illustration barrels, slides, and triggers into your shopping cart without facing nan slightest regulatory velocity bump.

To trial conscionable really easy it was to build a shade weapon backmost successful 2015, I made nan little receiver of an AR-15 3 different ways: I 3D-printed it retired of plastic; utilized a computer-controlled milling instrumentality to carve 1 retired of aluminum (or much accurately, to decorativeness carving it, since I started pinch an 80 percent vanished little receiver, aliases “80 percent lower,” designed to almost—but not quite—meet nan ineligible meaning of that part); and moreover tried nan much old-school method of drilling retired nan aforesaid aluminum 80 percent little pinch a manual drill press.

I was somewhat amazed astatine nan clip erstwhile a gunsmith I showed each 3 parts to warned maine that my 3D-printed little receiver wouldn’t beryllium safe to build a firearm retired of. He told maine to alternatively instrumentality pinch nan milled aluminum one—which worked perfectly.

Flash guardant to past December, however, and now it seemed a homemade integrative framework had been utilized successful a cautiously premeditated murder. When constabulary arrested past 26-year-old Luigi Mangione successful an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s 5 days aft he allegedly gunned down Brian Thompson, grounds photos of nan weapon recovered successful his backpack showed a partially 3D-printed handgun pinch a printed silencer wrapped successful lucky tape. I said to integer gunsmiths successful nan days aft that revelation, and they identified nan alleged murder limb specifically arsenic a variety connected a printable, Glock-style framework known arsenic nan FMDA 19.2—an acronym for nan libertarian motto “Free men don’t ask”—released online by a gun-printing group called nan Gatalog.

I hadn’t covered 3D-printed guns for years. But now that 1 had allegedly been utilized successful Brian Thompson’s killing, I wanted to know: How acold had nan exertion travel complete nan past decade? And aft 10 years of contention surrounding these anarchic, lethal weapons, had American weapon laws yet caught up pinch shade guns?

I decided to find retired by making a shade weapon of my own—again. And arsenic soon arsenic I began this quest, it became instantly evident that nan reply to nan 2nd of those questions was a resounding no. Creating a shade weapon pinch a 3D printer successful America coming is not only easier and much applicable than ever—in astir of nan US, it besides remains wholly legal.