Two men arrested at Albion Park after police seize homemade 'slam guns'
Guns seized include a triple-barrel gun capable of firing a 12-gauge shotgun shell. (Supplied: NSW Police)
In short:
Police have seized a series of 'slam guns' in the Illawarra as part of an investigation into the homemade firearms.
Taylen Limbrick and Glen Gray have been arrested and charged over the manufacturing of the guns.
What's next?
Criminal law expert Associate Professor Andrew Hemming says its the 'tip of the iceberg' as he calls for uniform gun laws.
Two men have been charged with making and selling homemade firearms on the NSW south coast, including a triple-barrel shotgun.
Albion Park Rail man Glen Gray, 52, and 31-year-old Taylen Limbrick, from Albion Park, were arrested and charged on Wednesday following a large-scale investigation into homemade guns being bought and sold in the Illawarra.
The guns are made from adapted materials and referred to as "slam guns".
Police set up Strike Force Alvie in April to investigate the manufacture and supply of the homemade guns.
A slam gun is a homemade weapon made from adapted materials. (Supplied: NSW Police)
After discovering guns were being circulated in the Illawarra region, they allegedly uncovered the slam guns and seized them.
One of the seized guns was a triple-barrel weapon capable of firing 12-gauge shotgun shells.
The two men were arrested on Wednesday.
Mr Limbrick is facing 12 charges, including illegally selling guns, manufacturing illegal guns and intentionally lighting a fire.
Mr Gray is facing one charge of making the guns, and one of lighting the fire.
This slam gun was seized in the Illawarra as part of Strike Force Alvie. (Supplied: NSW Police)
Mr Limbrick did not apply for bail in the Divisional Bail Court today, while Mr Gray was released under strict conditions that he report to Oak Flats Police Station each day.
The men will return to court in October.
Gun cases in the Illawarra
The arrests came on the heels of several high-profile homemade or printed gun cases in the region in recent months.
In August, a University of Wollongong student was charged with making two firearms using a 3D printer and storing them in his dormitory room.
This green imitation handgun was seized from a university dorm room. (Supplied: NSW Police)
In April, a 45-year-old man and a teenager were charged after police allegedly found four loaded pistols, ballistic vests, a 3D printer and firearm parts, including slides, barrels, triggers and magazines at the man’s Gerroa property.
Police said the 45-year-old also had two home-made machine guns, ammunition, and balaclavas in his possession when he was arrested.
'Tip of the iceburg'
University of Southern Queensland associate professor and criminal law expert Andrew Hemming said increasing numbers of 3D and homemade guns were cause for alarm.
"It's the tip of the iceberg," he said.
"Every time we have a drug bust or search of criminal premises, increasingly they were finding 3D guns and homemade guns."
Dr Hemming said most "slam guns" were cheap and easy to make.
"You don't have to deal with the criminal elements in terms of importing an illegal firearm, you can make it yourself quite easily,"he said.
Dr Hemming said gun laws in Australia differed significantly from state to state.
In NSW and Tasmania, it is illegal to download a 3D gun blueprint, but not in other states.
Meanwhile, Western Australia is the only state that limits the number of legal firearms one person can own.
Following the most recent arrests, Dr Hemming said there was an urgent need for laws to be made uniform across the country.
"It's a relatively cheap way to produce such a weapon," he said.
"It doesn't take a great deal of imagination to recognise that [crime] syndicates with a remote rural location can almost produce a gun factory which is quite frightening," he said.