On January 21, 2025, a round of gunfire in a Utica neighborhood set off an investigation that quickly spiraled into something bigger. Police arrived to find shell casings on the ground, a car, and a home damaged by bullets. But when they began tracking those involved, they discovered a 16-year-old running a small-scale 3D printed gun operation from home.
After officials responded to a call about gunfire on Rutger Street, surveillance footage and advanced license plate reader technology helped them track down the 16-year-old suspect who had the weapon used in the shooting. When investigators searched his home, they found a 3D printer actively manufacturing firearms and firearm components for sale.
The teenager was arrested and charged with illegal gun possession. The following day, officers arrested a second suspect—a 14-year-old boy who had allegedly fired the weapon—charging him with multiple firearm-related offenses, including a charge for dangerously putting others at risk.
Unlike traditional firearms, homemade ghost guns, including 3D printed ones, lack serial numbers, making them virtually untraceable. While U.S. laws allow people to manufacture their own firearms, the growing use of 3D printed guns by criminals—especially minors—has become a serious concern for law enforcement.
Officers uncover 3D printed gun operation. Image courtesy of Utica Police Department via Facebook.
This isn’t the first time Utica police have charged criminals with 3D printed firearms. In August 2024, an investigation into ghost guns led to the discovery of an illegal gun manufacturing operation in nearby Yorkville. Police executed a search warrant and found seven fully assembled handguns, an AR-15 rifle, a homemade sawed-off shotgun, and multiple high-capacity magazines, including a 3D printed drum magazine, seventeen 3D printed lower receivers, a 3D printer, and an inert hand grenade. The two suspects arrested and charged were 19 and 20 years old.
Even before that, in October 2022, another case put the spotlight on the issue when a man found a loophole in New York’s gun buyback program and used a 3D printer to mass-produce firearm parts. He turned in 60 printed auto sears, which are small devices that convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons and earned $21,000 in gift cards from the program. While he claimed he intended to expose the flaws in the system, it highlighted how easily 3D printing can be used to produce dangerous weapons.
More than 280 guns recovered at a gun buyback event in Utica on August 27, 2022. Image courtesy of New York Attorney General’s Office.
The rise of 3D printed guns presents a unique challenge for law enforcement globally. Unlike traditionally manufactured firearms, these weapons can be produced at home with very few resources, and because they lack serial numbers, they can’t be easily traced. This loophole makes them very appealing to criminals.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Utica Police Department, are investing in advanced technology to track and prevent violent gun crimes. For example, Police have used Flock Safety’s license plate readers and teamwork in investigations to track down and arrest people involved in illegal gun activity.
“This is another shining example of how the investment in technology by the City of Utica and New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services under the GIVE Grant, coupled with dedicated investigations into violent gun related crimes, has reduced shootings and brought many successful resolutions to dangerous incidents,” stated the Utica Police Department referencing the Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) Initiative program in New York that provides funding to local law enforcement agencies to reduce shootings and firearm-related violent crime.
But as this recent case with two teenagers shows, stopping the 3D printed guns from ending in the hands of criminals is a tough challenge. Many say the real issue isn’t stopping law-abiding citizens from making guns but keeping criminals from using 3D printing to avoid gun laws. Police departments nationwide are facing similar challenges, with ghost guns turning up in more crimes. What’s more, this is not just a big-city problem; smaller cities and towns like Utica are also seeing more homemade guns showing up in crimes.
AI-generated photo of a Glock weapon. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com
As 3D printing technology becomes more accessible, the debate over ghost guns will only intensify. Supporters of gun rights in the U.S. explain that banning the technology altogether would infringe on individual freedoms. On the other hand, law enforcement agencies warn that without stricter rules, criminals will keep printing weapons in secret.
As many recent cases like this one show, the problem is not going away anytime soon. The real challenge is finding a balance between protecting the rights of responsible gun owners and ensuring that untraceable weapons don’t end up in the wrong hands. However, with teenagers now printing and selling weapons from their bedrooms, the conversation about 3D printed guns has moved from hypothetical concerns to a real issue.
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