A man who has fronted court over charges relating to the 3D printing of three guns was the first to be accused of such offences on the Sunshine Coast, police say.
Detective Senior Sergeant Daren Edwards said the man was known to police and it was "definitely" the first charges involving the manufacturing of a firearm using a 3D printer to be laid on the Sunshine Coast.
"The trigger was in them and if a couple of other parts were in them they would have been able to fire a projectile," he said.
Police allege that three 3D-printed handguns, along with weapon parts, a knuckle duster, false licences and drugs, were found at a house at Mudjimba on Wednesday.
Sean Patrick Murphy, 27, faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Thursday over weapons and drug charges and was remanded in custody to reappear on August 31.
It may be a first for the Sunshine Coast but it was the not a first for Queensland.
Last year a Gold Coast man was handed a suspended jail term after making parts for a 3D-printed gun that police later put together and fired.
The successful prosecution followed a 2015 raid and was believed to have been one of the first in the state for manufacturing a weapon without a licence by 3D printing.
In November, 2016, police raids on workshops in an industrial area at Nerang uncovered 3D-made machine guns.
Det Snr Sgt Edwards said the guns in the latest case were of high quality and it was a concern that such weapons, capable of being fired, could be created by a printer.
"They are pretty well made ... we use police Glocks and to hold them and feel them, they're pretty good.
"They are all polymer and all they needed was a pin and a spring-type assembly pushed into it to make it work. For all intents and purposes they would look like a gun."
Australian Associated Press
