British investigators found parts connected to the country's first black market plastic gun, lying next to the 3-D printer that most likely manufactured it, The Telegraph reported.
Authorities didn't find a complete gun during their raid of a Manchester residence on Thursday, just the trigger mechanism and a magazine capable of holding bullets, according to The Telegraph. They have one suspect in custody.
Sir Peter Fahey, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, confirmed the plastic gun and printer were new "phenomenons" of criminal activity, The Telegraph reported. He said his officers will do anything to stop their spread. Detective Inspector Chris Mossop of GMP, however, emphasized the implications of "gun printing."
"If what we have seized is proven to be viable components capable of constructing a genuine firearm, then it demonstrates that organized crime groups are acquiring technology that can be bought on the high street to produce the next generation of weapons," Mossop said.
The threats posed by plastic guns containing no metal parts (except the bullets) were realized earlier this year when a man from Texas printed a plastic gun he dubbed, "The Liberator," according to The Huffington Post. Video of that gun and commentary on its complications can be found below.
Mossop said the technology allows common people to easily produce weapons that avoid detection by traditional means.
"In theory, the technology essentially allows offenders to produce their own guns in the privacy of their own home, which they can then supply to the criminal gangs who are causing such misery in our communities," Mossop said. "Because they are also plastic and can avoid X-ray detection, it makes them easy to conceal and smuggle. These could be the next generation of firearms."
"We will really need to look at this new development. Certainly we feel that we are having success - and the important thing is not to be defeatist about this," Fahey added. "It is not to think that we'll never win that these people are cleverer than us, they are not, they are just more violent than us."
