Did Japan Ex PM Shooter Use 3D Printed Gun? Reports Say Shotgun Homemade

The assassin of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly used a handmade shotgun that he may have created with 3D printing technology. There is no official confirmation about this yet.

Local media identified Shinzo Abe's assassin as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, citing police sources, with several media outlets describing him as a former member of the Maritime Self-Defence Force, the country's navy.

The crude shotgun in visuals from the site of the attack appears to be two long metal barrels glued on to some kind of a hard board with black tapes. The exact working and the firing mechanism of the homemade shotgun are likely to be revealed later after investigators have analysed the gun.

For long security agencies across nations, especially the US, have been discussing possible threats linked to people using guns made with 3D printers.

Britain in June 2019 convicted a 26-year-old man, Tendai Muswere, of making a firearm with a 3D printer that was capable of firing a lethal shot. The police had said they believed it was the first British conviction linked to a gun made using a 3D printer.

3D-printed guns are a huge problem for law enforcement agencies as they could be made anywhere and escape regulation. Their crude nature also makes them easy to hide.

If indeed the Japanese assassin used a 3D-printed gun, questions are going to come up about how he managed to sneak in the shotgun near the former Japanese Prime Minister despite a security ring.

The murder of the 67-year-old, who had been Japan's longest-serving leader, stunned the nation and prompted an international outpouring of grief and condemnation.

It was all the more shocking given Japan's strict gun laws and low rates of violent crime, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida describing it as a "barbaric act" that was "absolutely unforgivable."

With inputs from AFP