3D-printed gun maker in Japan sentenced to two years in prison
YOKOHAMA (Jiji Press) — The Yokohama District Court sentenced a former Japanese college employee on Monday to two years in prison for producing guns with a three-dimensional printer.
Yoshitomo Imura, 28, a former employee of the Shonan Institute of Technology, was found guilty of violating laws that strictly restrict the possession of guns and large knives and the production of weapons. The prosecution had demanded a 42-month prison term.
Imura’s actions were “vicious” because he made it easy to imitate his production method, presiding Judge Koji Inaba said, noting that Imura had released 3-D design data for his guns on the Internet.
The accused had “flaunted his skills and knowledge and attempted to make gun controls toothless,” the judge said.
Imura produced two guns using a 3-D printer at his home in Kawasaki between September and December last year, the ruling said, adding that he still possessed the guns in April this year.
Older article from the Japan Times: May 8, 2014
Man held on suspicion of owning guns made with 3-D printer
YOKOHAMA – A 27-year-old man who allegedly made handguns with a 3-D printer was arrested Thursday on suspicion of illegal weapons possession, the first time Japan’s firearms control law has been applied to the possession of guns made by this method.
The suspect, Yoshitomo Imura, an employee of Shonan Institute of Technology in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, had the plastic guns at his home in Kawasaki in mid-April, the police said. No bullets have been found.
The police launched an investigation earlier this year after Imura posted video footage online of the guns, which he claimed to have produced himself, along with blueprints for them, according to investigative sources.
Continued on the Japan Times