"3D printing is getting better and we are definitely seeing a higher class of products. The researchers say hybrid metal and plastic 3D printed components and kits are also up for sale online. You can then make the main piece of the firearm using 3D printing but without the unique serial numbers required on legally manufactured firearm frames." "It is like selling a pattern for a dress. There is kit available for cutting frames for weapons," Professor Broadhurst said. "We were surprised how much self-help material there is available.
Digital products (5.3 per cent), CBRN (0.64 per cent) and miscellaneous weapons (3.3 per cent) were only listed on omnibus markets.Īlongside decommissioned military weapons, ammunition and fake weapon advertisements by various law enforcement agencies, 3D printed weapon kits and blueprints are also an emerging online product. The most common categories were handguns (70.5 per cent), followed by rifles (10.3 per cent), ammunition (3.7 per cent), submachine guns (1.9 per cent), explosives (1.7 per cent), shotguns (1.6 per cent) and accessories (1.1per cent). The study, produced for Australian Institute of Criminology tracked darknet markets between July and December 2019 and found 2,124 weapons for sale - 1,497 handguns, 219 rifles, 41 submachine guns and 34 shotguns. "It theoretically makes them untraceable." "The prices of these Glocks are roughly the same price as the offline equivalent but they are not registered or their serial numbers have been wiped off," Professor Broadhurst said. The researchers say dark web gun vendors take pride in their concealment methods and ability to "ghost" guns. "We think they are so popular on the dark web because they can be stripped down to their parts and sent through the post in pieces." "They are trendy, slick and popular with gangsters and law enforcement. They are the standard law enforcement side arm, you see them in action movies," lead author Professor Roderic Broadhurst, from the ANU Cybercrime Observatory, said. Glock semi-automatic pistols made up over half, 57 per cent, of all the handguns sold.
The report found conventional handguns were most popular on the dark web with illicit market vendors offering stealth packaging to Australia.
Australians have access to a wide variety of untraceable 'ghost guns' online along with a significant market of 3D printed weapon blueprints and kits, according to a new study from The Australian National University (ANU).
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