Japan: Hobbyist Arrested for Printing Crude 3D Guns.

Gun Watch ^ | 9 May, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

A 3D printing hobbyist, Yoshitomo Imura, was arrested in Japan for suspicion of possessing crude guns that had been printed from plans available on the Internet.  He had posted videos on the Internet showing him demonstrating the items.  They appear to be firing crude blanks, or perhaps homemade ammunition of some kind.  The recoil in the video is suspiciously straight back, with virtually no rotation, indicating that it may be simulated. .   From thebangladeshtoday.com:

Mr Imura reportedly said he had not realised printing the guns was illegal.

No ammunition was found for the crude, plastic guns.   

At the Defense Distributed WikiWep DevBlog, this comment was published without attribution, though I suspect it was written by Cody Wilson:

I have often been asked who the first person to be arrested for 3D gun printing would be. My answer was the creative and curious.

Yoshitomo Imura is a person of strong character and virtue under unfavorable circumstances. He expressed with his work only virtue, but this virtue is ostracized by his society. He performed his work in the open, without suspicion, fear or dishonor. That he must harvest persecution and calamity for his creative and intrepid instincts is an indictment of his tame and mediocre society.   Yoshitomo Imura is trying to say something profound.- is trying to be profound.

I hope Mr. Imura’s attitude to his instincts is not reversed by the tomb-like atmosphere which will now cloud his life.

 ©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.  Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

I do not have access to Japanese gun laws, so it is hard to say if he broke the law or not.

Japanese society practices serious social controls. He is likely to face problems just from the arrest and publicity.

I notice that the police did not handcuff him, as has become standard practice here in the United States.

[Telepathic Intruder]

Knowing which laws exist or if they’re being enforced or not has become somewhat of a guessing game in this country as well. It depends on who’s agenda they’re towing.

[Dr. Sivana]

Next time, wear a funny nose and glasses, and upload the video from the Tokyo Public library.