Tobie Laurin-Lépine, a 34-year-old Gatineau resident suspected of trafficking in firearms manufactured in his kitchen with a 3D printer, faces 19 new charges, including manufacture of an automatic weapon capable of firing bursts and possession of a homemade shell launcher.
Police officers of the Sûreté du Québec discovered at the former federal employee a workshop equipped, in particular, with two 3D printers. These increasingly common devices allow parts of all kinds to be machined in no time at all, from blueprints easily accessible on the Internet.
One of the weapons seized from the suspect is an FGC-9, a compact semi-automatic rifle expressly designed to be manufactured using a 3D printer.
The letters FGC of the weapon name mean Fuck Gun Control. Its inventor, a European libertarian activist who is said to have died today, is only known by the pseudonym JStark1809. He designed the weapon to be made with extremely common parts, many of which are sold in hardware stores. He said, in an interview with the German daily Der Spiegel, that its creation aimed to allow citizens to fight against the state on an equal footing, “even if it takes a bloodbath to protect the right to bear arms”. “It’s better for everyone, including criminals and gangsters, to own a gun than not to have one,” he said.
In Canada, it is strictly illegal for an individual to manufacture a firearm, either from scratch or from an incomplete carcass with holes to be drilled (also known as lower 80). “The manufacture of a firearm requires a license, since the weapons are subject to registration. The simple fact of making one is a criminal offense, ”summarizes lawyer Guy Lavergne, who specializes in gun control.
“Troubling” ideology
Many of the parts of the FGC-9 and other weapons designed for 3D printers, such as grips, sights, trigger, however, do not require a specific license. “This is a magazine from Glock, which is extremely popular, with a handful of AR-15s, the purchase of which does not require a license. Even if the government wanted to ban its manufacture, it would not succeed. He would have to control a global industry that has tens of thousands of suppliers, ”says Gabriel Pasquier, a gun collector.
“The ideology championed by the people who make these weapons is troubling. I saw on YouTube the video of a person who made one so that it is identical to a NERF rifle for children ”, observes for his part the researcher Francis Langlois, specialist in the policies of control of firearms to the Raoul-Dandurand Chair.
For the moment, we do not know what prompted Tobie Laurin-Lépine to manufacture such weapons. Investigators found nine high-capacity prohibited magazines in his home, six of which were 3D printed, three silencers (also prohibited), three 9mm pistols, a .22 caliber pistol, and several spare parts of a weapon carcass.
They also seized $ 1,100 in cash.
A firearms trafficking charge was filed against the suspect shortly after his arrest on Wednesday, but it has yet to be substantiated in court.
“It will be interesting to know for whom the weapons manufactured by the suspect were intended,” said lawyer Guy Lavergne. It doesn’t sound like activism, but rather a criminal enterprise that seeks to fuel the black market. ”
The investigation into Mr. Laurin-Lépine’s release was postponed to Monday. He remains in jail until then.