3D printed guns 'catastrophic'

Australia's New South Wales Police Force has released a video warning of the ''catastrophic'' dangers of 3D printed guns, reports Britain's The Daily Telegraph.

In the YouTube video, Andrew Schipione, the commissioner for New South Wales Police, urges the public not to download the Computer Aided Design files for the gun, known as the ''Liberator''.

According to the Telegraph report, Schipione relates how his ballistics team had acquired a 3D printer, downloaded the blueprint for the weapons and assembled two pistols at a cost of just A$35 (R329).

''When fired, a bullet from one of the guns penetrated almost seven inches (17.8cm) into a solid resin block resembling human flesh, deep enough to kill any human. The other weapon fell apart when it was fired,'' he said.

"The catastrophic failure comes about because there are no standards around the manufacture of these weapons.

"They are truly undetectable. They are untraceable as they have no serial numbers."

Before files for the Liberator were removed from the internet at the request of the US Department of Homeland Security, print plans for the pistol had already been downloaded 100000 times, the Telegraph report said.