‘Untraceable’ gun with 3D-printed parts seized in Yellowknife

A loaded handgun with 3D-printed parts has been seized after RCMP were called to a Yellowknife home, police say.

According to RCMP, the gun was uncovered at a home on Gitzel Street after police received “a complaint of unwanted guests” on Sunday, February 26.

A 39-year-old man from Brooks, Alberta was arrested. Police say he had 240 grams of cocaine in his possession alongside the gun.

“Closer examination of the handgun revealed that parts of it had been manufactured on a 3D printer,” RCMP stated in a Friday news release.

Police said most parts of a handgun can be 3D-printed and then legally sold as replacement parts without the purchaser having a firearms licence.

A handgun’s receiver is regulated in Canada but can be created on a 3D printer with “schematics that are easily found on the internet,” RCMP stated, “to create a firearm that cannot be traced.”

The 39-year-old is in custody and faces charges related to cocaine trafficking, resisting arrest, mischief and possessing the proceeds of crime, police said.

RCMP say he also faces seven charges “relating to the possession and concealment of a prohibited firearm.”

Yellowknife RCMP Staff Sgt Byron Donovan said 3D-printed weapons are “cheap, quick to produce and easily accessible,” and never used “by lawful gun owners or for a lawful purpose.”

“The manufacturing quality of these firearms is often poor and they present a risk to the user as much as they do to the general public,” Donovan was quoted as saying in Friday’s news release. 

“The use of firearms in conjunction with drug trafficking poses a serious risk to the community. The Yellowknife RCMP remain committed to getting these weapons off the streets and holding those in possession of them accountable.”