Teenager spared jail for 3D-printing semi-automatic gun at home

21 January 2025, 10:50 | Updated: 21 January 2025, 12:22

A man has been sentenced after trying to build a 3D-printed gun on a printer he was given as a Christmas present.

James Maris, 19, will wear an electronic tag and serve a three-year community payback order after attempting to construct a FGC-9 weapon - described as the "world's most popular 3D-printed gun."

The 19-year-old admitted four charges under the Firearms Act (1968) after Police Scotland received intelligence he had ordered parts for a semi-automatic rifle online. They raided his parents’ home in Perthshire in May 2023, arresting Maris.

The charges include the manufacture and possession of a prohibited weapon or prohibited ammunition.

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Detectives found a handwritten note alongside the printed parts of the gun, saying it wasn’t intended to cause harm, nor to spread ‘any message or belief’. Maris wrote that he held no radical views but was simply interested in firearms and engineering.

Sentencing, Judge Lady Hood said “A community disposal rather than a custodial disposal is appropriate in your case”.

She took account of the “exceptional circumstances” raised in Maris’ criminal justice social work report, alongside the accused pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Over the next three years, James Maris has been ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work, he must report to a social worker regularly, is restricted from leaving his home between 8pm and 6pm daily and he must wear an electronic tagging device.

Maris has also been banned from owning more than one mobile phone and computer, from using encryption software and from wiping his browsing history.

Lady Hood has ordered the 19-year-old to hand over all of his passwords to social workers and police, allowing them access to randomly inspect his devices at any time.

Failing to comply with any of these requirements could land Maris with a fine, resentencing and possibly imprisonment.

James Maris spoke at the High Court in Edinburgh to confirm he understood the community payback order imposed upon him and that he would comply with its conditions.