Preet Kaur Gill MP
3 min read
A Labour MP who is leading calls to outlaw 3D guns has welcomed the news that the Home Office will introduce legislation to close what she described as a “really bizarre” and dangerous loophole.
Preet Kaur Gill, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, said she was “delighted” by the announcement.
“I look forward to working with the Government to get this right once legislation comes before Parliament, so we can crack down on these lethal blueprints and give law enforcement the powers they need,” she told PolitcsHome.
In an interview with PoliticsHome before the Home Office announcement, Gill expressed concern that the little-known threat of 3D-printed firearms could become a “trend” in the UK.
She had introduced a bill to Parliament that sought to make it an offence both to possess a blueprint for the production of a firearm by 3D printing and to possess a part of a firearm produced by 3D printing and for connected purposes.
As things stand, downloading and possessing the blueprints — which walk the reader through the making and assembly of a firearm part by part — is not illegal, a loophole that Gill described as “really bizarre”.
A Home Office spokesperson on Thursday confirmed that the department would introduce legislation “to criminalise owning with the intention to be used for crime, supplying and offering to supply templates or manuals for 3D-printed firearms components”.
The spokesperson added: “A 3D-printed firearm is subject to the law in the same way as any other firearm. The maximum penalty for possessing a prohibited weapon is ten years imprisonment, with a minimum penalty of five years.”
Gill is concerned that not enough people are aware of the threat posed by 3D guns, including her fellow MPs.
“Lots of colleagues didn’t even understand that there was an issue. They weren’t aware of this,” she said in her interview with PoliticsHome.
The Labour MP said she expected to encounter something resembling a Nerf gun sold in toy shops when she first saw a 3D-printed firearm. However, what she saw instead was something much more “sophisticated”.
“It’s really important to recognize that while these are 3D-printed guns, they have become so much more sophisticated because of the technology. Yes, they’re plastic, but they absolutely look like a real gun, and the technology has advanced so much that we just haven’t kept up with it,” she said.
Gill said the use of these weapons is not just for “imitation”.
“They can kill, they can seriously harm somebody.”
3D-printed guns — or ‘ghost guns’ — have made international headlines in recent weeks due to their alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of the United Healthcare CEO in New York.
The printing of illegal firearms is already taking place in the UK.
Just last month, a Newport teenager who bought several items capable of manufacturing an illegal but viable semi-automatic weapon was jailed for almost five years.
In 2023, two men were jailed for making FGC-9 sub-machine guns using a 3D printer.
Last year, the head of the National Crime Agency urged ministers to make possessing 3D-printed gun blueprints illegal, following a fourfold increase in seizures of the firearms.
“The problem with the 3D-printed firearms is that they are untraceable weapons, and that’s what makes it much more difficult to track the circulation,” said Graeme Biggar.
Gill said she was concerned that the shooting of Brian Thompson in the US could raise awareness of 3D-printed guns in the UK among “those who want to commit crime”.
“My concern as a politician is this is the type of thing that can become a trend, just because it’s so easy to access the blueprints. And of course, you can get a 3D printer for about £150 from Amazon,” she told PoliticsHome.
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