GUEST BLOG / JANE ONYANGA-OMARA, USA TODAY--For decades, America's detectives have made breakthroughs in crime using gun traces. But their sleuthing tactics are fast becoming old-school science as a new era of weapons increasingly hits the nation's streets: untraceable 3D printed guns and silencers like the ones found this month on Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
And as the price of 3D printers continues to drop, their availability will attract more and more attention from possible criminals, experts told USA TODAY.
• The “ghost gun” and silencer found in the suspected killer of Thompson’s backpack at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s were made using a 3D printer plus readily available metal parts, according to Altoona Police.
• Arrests related to 3D-printed guns have tripled in recent years; federal officials recovered more than 25,000 homemade guns in 2022 alone.
• And as the quality of 3D printers rises as prices fall, the trend shows no signs of stopping, threatening to make America a veritable Wild West of untraceable weapons, according to experts, ex-police officers, and the White House.
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