An Australian man who printed replicas of guns that could not fire or accept ammunition, has been given 12 months of probation with a 50-month suspended sentence.

From abc.net.au:

The first person in New South Wales to be charged over making and possessing 3D-printed guns has avoided jail.

Steven Sicen Sun was charged early last year and pleaded guilty to multiple offences after police found replica guns and blueprints to make them on a 3D printer in his Waverley apartment.

The 28-year-old also tried to sell one of the 3D-printed guns online for $1 million.

The case occurred in the Australian state of New South Wales which includes Sidney. New South Wales is the only Australian state that has made it illegal to possess the computer files used to print 3D guns.

New South Wales law also treats replica guns the same as real guns. It has one of the toughest laws on replica guns in the west. Replica guns that are legal in Japan and England are forbidden in New South Wales. Possession of non-firing replica guns in New South Wales without the same license required for real guns is a felony offense.

From australianpolice.com:

 Replica or imitation firearms:

an imitation of any firearm which requires a licence or permit under the Firearms Act, unless approved by the Commissioner of Police.

Australian gun laws were rushed through to take advantage of the media push for extreme restrictions after the Port Arthur mass murder in Tasmania, Australia. The legislation was prepared in advance by radical disarmament proponents. It includes multiple bizarre sections that are slowly being reformed.

In Australia, slingshots and crossbows are prohibited weapons. Air rifles are treated the same as 12 gauge shotguns. Failing to lock up one .22 rimfire cartridge requires confiscation of all firearms and loss of the ability to posses firearms for life. Pocket knives may not be carried without a reason acceptable to the police.

In the United States, the State Department recently reached a settlement with Defense Distributed to allow distribution of files used to print firearms of .50 caliber or less that aren’t fully automatic or otherwise restricted by law. Such files have been already widely available on the Internet for at least five years.

A federal judge in Washington state has issued an injunction to prevent the settlement from taking effect, but Defense Distributed is challenging that.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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42 COMMENTS

  1. Can you be jailed there for wearing an S&W tee shirt? That should dips in this country why the 2nd amendment is IMPORTANT.

    • They don’t have codified freedom of speech, so probably. The closest they have is an *implied* freedom of political speech, as in that which could directly influence voters decisions at the polls. Everything else is up to law enforcement discretion.

    • It’s almost guaranteed someone will call the police and say how uncomfortable they feel and the police will probably make you cover the shirt or turn in inside-out.

      • Yeah nah. I have a range of potentially offensive shirts that I wear out in public (and in airports) regularly, never had cops do anything but laugh when they see them.

        • Well, how nice for you. Maybe if you’re ever attacked you can strangle your attacker with your offensive shirt.

    • And the Democratic National Committee wants to bring all this to United States. And there are tens of millions of stooges who can’t wait to vote for it.

  2. Ah to be a subject….. I’m sure they think they’re free, and in the end isn’t that what really matters? I love it when “free” people from around the world post comments here and brag about how pretty their manacles are.

    • No, not subjects, prisoners. The English emptied their jails and shipped the prisoners to Australia. Sadly for the convicts, the guards came too and run the government. A prison by any other name…

      • Shame it’s true, but in both WWI and WWII the Australians provided the cannon fodder for their inept British Generals, especially at Gallipoli when fighting against Austria’s ally, the Turks. Shame that after WWII most of them lost their gonads! Yes I served with a FEW of them in Vietnam, but they were just a token force.

  3. US citizens have the most freedom in the world, yet everyday that goes by I feel less and less free. This country has changed so much in such a short time. I’m sad to say that voting, although one of the most important duties we have as citizens, isn’t enough anymore.

    • Gota get more new voters in, figure out ways to make more conservatives. 2016 was the first year I voted in and it was for Trump.

    • The Indonesians can barely keep their own country going because of corruption, nepotism, and cronyism. And they are frightened they will land in Darwin on a Saturday night after the pubs have closed. Several thousand drunks on the docks each waving a “Darwin stubbie” (a very large bottle of beer) is enough deterrent.

      China might keep applying pressure but overt military action is off the table as a lot of the regional neighbors are getting concerned about China’s more aggressive foreign policy. And there’s that ANZUS treaty thing too.

      • I hope you are right, I really do. You seem to have the right attitude. I hope ANZUS and the other powers in the area deter them. Our military has nukes to keep other governments from getting stupid ideas about pushing America around. Our citizens have around 400 million guns and trillions of rounds of ammo to keep our government from getting stupid ideas about pushing us around.

        • The US has to be extremely careful about using nukes. We would be expected to pick up every iota of fallout/radiation/contamination or be sued in international court for cleanup costs. If we Chernobolized Japan as a result of nuking North Korea, we’d have to come up with 20 trillion dollars for the damages. The self-flagellant pukes within our population would demand that we pay up.

        • For Ollie worried about the costs of our using nukes:

          a/ I am reasonably certain the cost of NOT using them (letting some other sock chuckers get off the first shot at us or our allies) would be MORE.

          b/ two words: NEUTRON BOMBS.

      • US treaties are worthless. Slick Willie guaranteed Crimea for the Ukraine if the Ukes would give up their nukes and that pissant obama allowed Putin to take the Crimea with impunity. Probably part of his secret “After my election” promise.

        China will claim the Abos are of ancient Chinese ancestry and instigate a war of liberation for their kinfolk.
        No later than mid century.

  6. ‘The 28-year-old also tried to sell one of the 3D-printed guns online for $1 million.’

    I think I found where he screwed up. When doing something illegal – no matter how stupid the law is – it’s best to keep you mouth shut about it.

    • “$1 million” – that was the first thing that jumped out at me too.
      Sure, that was just wishful thinking I’m sure… but even if that plan worked just once, he could’ve packed up and move to the U.S of A where he can make and sell real guns.
      Then again, he’d have a lot of competition to work against…

    • “He tried to sell one for a million dollars” – Am I the only one who is 100% certain that was his idea of a joke?

  8. Dean,
    I don’t like our current gun laws as I mentioned many time before here. NSW bans replicas, crossbows etc. They were anti gun before 1996. Our copy of New York. Replicas not banned and no license needed in Queensland.

    NSW especially Sydney might think it’s the whole country but it’s not.

  9. Whenever I contemplate the sad and sorry state of the rest of the world, I sit down, clean my firearms and sharpen my cutlery…make me feel much better. 30

  10. Good work Australia, you imprisoned someone for making what is essentially art…

    Every time I think about the anti bent in certain areas of the US, and get worried….I remind myself that I can have an honest to God flamethrower delivered to my house. That and just stupid quantities of ammunition. I *don’t* have a flamethrower, but I could. Maybe things aren’t so bad here!

  11. “Failing to lock up one .22 rimfire cartridge requires confiscation of all firearms and loss of the ability to posses firearms for life.”

    No wonder Hillary wants Oz-style gun control.

    Guess what Clinton is talking about running for office? :

    “A ‘definite maybe’: Chelsea Clinton doesn’t rule out running for elected office”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-definite-maybe-chelsea-clinton-doesnt-run-out-running-for-elected-office/2018/08/21/6c683914-a544-11e8-8fac-12e98c13528d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e3493327fe4d

  12. And to think I dreamed of visiting Australia when I was younger. Not now…Illinois ain’t so bad(sarc)😦

    • “And to think I dreamed of visiting Australia when I was younger.”

      Eh, you just had the hots for Olivia Newton-John.

      And Helen Reddy, and … 😉

  13. “Police-State Australia…” Another EU Bastion of Non-Freedom…Where “thought-crimes” can reach Felony class punishments….Made it’s time for our Australian Brothers and Sisters to start studying The American Declaration of Independence /American Revolutionary War more closely….Maybe stage a little campaign for Freedom and Liberty 🗽 in THEIR country…Refresh THEIR “GOVERNMENT Representatives” with those less Authoritarian…

    • Australia not Austria buddy. Maybe if you studied an atlas/map more often this sort of smart arsed response could be avoided.

    • It’s where progressives went full-retard on political correctness.

      Even more so than the UK and EU.

  15. I wonder if the seller found a willing buyer possessed of one million dollars, seemingly the asking process for a paper weight, assuming it was heavy enough to so serve that laudable purpose.

    As to a “reason” satisfactory to the police for carrying a ” pocket knife”, I wonder as to what might serve, or is their a published list? In any event, it does appear as though the cart and the horse have somehow changed positions, how come remaining an interesting question.

Comments are closed.