Tests conducted by ballistic labs and a university in England showed that guns made with thermoplastics on 3D printers are far more dangerous to the shooter than the intended target.
A video released by the BBC showed in every case the 3D-printed guns broke or exploded under the chamber force of a bullet being fired. Pieces of the plastic gun were strewn around the firing range — even embedded in the ceiling.
The Liberator design gun printed by the U.K. test lab (Image: University of Warwick).
The university conducted its test in collaboration with West Midlands Police’s National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS).