Luigi Mangione’s ‘Ghost Gun’ Shows How Far 3D-Printed Weapons Have Come

More than a decade after a 3D-printed gun emerged as a symbol of freedom and a gun control nightmare, police say one of those homemade plastic weapons has now been found in the hands of the world’s most prolific serial killer. In a community of DIY gunsmiths who’ve spent years honing those kinds of printable guns, in fact, the gun police say Luigi Mangione used to shoot and kill United Healthcare executive Brian Thomson stands out as the alleged mastermind shooter—and he’s showing how. real and deadly those weapons have become.

In the 24 hours since police released a photo of what they say is Mangione’s gun following the 26-year-old’s arrest on Monday, the online 3D-printed gun community has been quick to identify the alleged murder weapon as a specific printed model. “Ghost gun”—a homemade weapon without a serial number, created by assembling a combination of commercial and DIY parts. The gun appears to be the Chairmanwon V1, a tweak of a partially 3D-printed glock design known as the FMDA 19.2—an acronym that stands for the liberal slogan, “Free Men Don’t Ask.”

The FMDA 19.2, released in 2021, is an old model by 3D printed gun standards, said one gunsmith who goes by the first name John and the internet handle Mr. Snow Makes. But it’s one of the most well-known and well-tested ghost gun designs, he says. The Chairmanwon V1 remix that police say Mangione was in possession of when he was arrested at the Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald’s differs from the original FMDA 19.2 design only in that another novice gunsmith, who goes by the pseudonym Chairmanwon, added a different texture to the gun. hold on.

“For someone who has been building guns like this for five years, it’s a strange thing. We have been building better models,” said Mr. Snow Makes, host of the annual rifle shooting competition. But he added that “this is one of the first styles of 3D printing that was widely tested and succeeded in creating a gun that works reliably.”

New York authorities charged Mangione on Monday with Thompson’s Dec. 4 murder, along with weapons charges and other charges in Pennsylvania. Handwritten “festos” police said they found on Mangione’s person when he was arrested complained about the practices of United Healthcare and the US health insurance industry more broadly. Bullets found at the scene of a shooting outside New York’s Hilton Midtown hotel in Manhattan reportedly contained the words “deny,” “protect,” “destroy”—potential criticism of health care industry practices.

The fact that even an old model of a 3D-printed gun allegedly allowed Mangione to shoot Thomson repeatedly on a Manhattan street—certainly the most high-profile shots ever made with a ghost gun or 3D-printed weapon—shows just how far DIY weapons have come. The technology has arrived, said Cody Wilson, founder of the gun rights group Defense Distributed. Unlike the first 3D printed firearms, the FDMA 19.2 can be fired hundreds or thousands of times without breaking its plastic parts.