The number of 3D-printed guns recovered at crime scenes has increased dramatically in recent years, according to a report released Wednesday by the gun control advocacy group Everytown For Gun Safety.
The report analyzed data, obtained from local police departments, on the characteristics of nearly 350,000 guns used in crimes in more than 50 U.S. cities from 2020 to 2024, including where the weapons came from and how those origins have changed over time.
"The public deserves to know this, policymakers deserve to know this, activists deserve to know this, and people in communities that are harmed by gun violence deserve to know this information," said David Pucino, legal director at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, who was not involved in the study.
Here are three major takeaways from the Everytown report, which provides an updated snapshot of guns used in crimes since the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released similar data in 2023.
3D-printed guns a fast-growing problem
In the report, Everytown identified 20 cities with five years of data on the recovery of 3D-printed guns, which can be made at home and are generally untraceable because they lack a serial number. In 2020, those cities recovered 32 of the printed firearms at crime scenes. In 2024, the number recovered climbed to 325, a 1,000% increase. While 3D-printed guns only represent a small number of the guns recovered at crime scenes overall, the growth of their use in crimes is worrisome.
"It's been a less significant phenomena so far in jurisdictions where guns are easier to source," Pucino said. "The places where we have the strongest gun laws, we're seeing it growing most rapidly."
New York, for instance, has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. In 2023, authorities in New York City recovered 33 3D-printed guns at crime scenes. In 2024, that number rose to 123, according to the Everytown report. Last spring, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg urged companies that sell 3D printers to take action in stemming the flow of these guns into the city.
Gun control advocates say there are strategies to regulate the printing of these firearms. Companies that make 3D printers could develop algorithms to block the printing of firearms, for instance, or states could make it illegal to publish blueprints for 3D printing a gun.
"I think what makes sense is to explore all of (the strategies) right now, to have every approach and push it forward," Pucino said, "because this is such a new area and it's such a concerning threat."
Most crime guns originate from big manufacturers
The Everytown report also looked at which manufacturers' guns were found at crime scenes. Although the U.S. has more than 20,000 firearm manufacturers, just four companies — Glock, Taurus, Smith & Wesson and Ruger — accounted for more than half of the firearms recovered at crime scenes across the country last year, the report found.
The findings aren't surprising, given that the four companies are among the nation's biggest gun manufacturers. Glock, for instance, makes about a quarter of the pistols produced in a given year, according to Everytown, and Glock guns account for nearly a quarter of the recovered crime guns in the group's dataset.
Nick Suplina, senior vice president of law and policy at Everytown, said manufacturers bear responsibility.
"That there is a correlation between this size of market share and the number of recoveries only just goes to the point that these companies are gaining market share by selling guns that are ending up in crimes and then washing their hands of those crimes," Suplina said. "The breadcrumbs go right back to the manufacturers."
Glock, Taurus, Smith & Wesson and Ruger did not reply to NPR's request for comment.
The federal government passed a law in 2005 that gives firearm manufacturers broad immunity from civil liability when their guns are used in a crime. The law has exceptions, however, such as if the manufacturer knowingly violated laws related to the marketing or sale of the gun.
Some states also have passed laws allowing people to sue gun makers if they don't implement safeguards to ensure their products don't fall into the wrong hands.
From legal purchase to crime scene
Everytown also analyzed a larger ATF data set from 2019 to 2023. It found half of the nearly 2 million guns traced by the agency were legally purchased but ended up at a crime scene within three years. A so-called "time to crime" period of less than three years is generally considered an indicator the gun was purchased in order to be trafficked and used for criminal activity.
Pam Hicks, former chief counsel at the ATF, said the data highlights the need for robust federal inspections of gun dealers to help ensure proper sales protocols are followed. The agency, however, is facing sweeping budget cuts next year that are expected to impact its inspection capacity.
"There's a lot at stake because one of ATF's prime law enforcement roles is figuring out and prosecuting where crimes have been committed in that movement from lawful commerce into illegal use," said Hicks, who left the agency in February.
Another way legally purchased guns end up being used in crimes is through theft, said Bill Brooks, a retired police chief from Norwood, Mass., and chair of the firearms committee at the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Gun owners have a role to play in combating the problem, he said.
"We all know that there's more firearms than there are people in the United States, so what if everybody who owned a firearm kept it locked up?" Brooks said.
"What would happen to the numbers of suicides by family members, accidental discharges among children, people getting a parent's firearm and then going somewhere and doing a mass shooting or a homicide?"
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