DUE DILIGENCE NEEDED
Another 3D printing company, Zelta3D, said it conducts due diligence in deciding whether to accept a design or not.
“We search (each) file name to see if it tallies with any weapon product name or like any weapon that can be sourced online,” said Zelta3D’s operation manager David Wong, adding that the firm has seen a drop in requests for prints related to gun parts due to recent tougher legislation.
“Some of (the design requests) would look like a gun barrel or a handle with a trigger that could potentially be a firearm, for example,” he noted.
Dobariya said his firm has also received a request for 3D-printed gun parts from Australia, where someone wanted to manufacture a gun to shoot animals in their backyard.
Other firms said they have been getting more requests for vape parts, like accessories or pod concealers. This comes as the authorities in Singapore have stepped up enforcement on vaping, including Kpods – vapes that are laced with chemicals or drugs.
One company, 3D Aura, has seen a 50 per cent increase in these requests this year compared with last year.
Another company, 3D Generation, said it got three enquiries from the European Union region over the last few years for what it suspected were vape or vape-like parts.
When the firm asked what the parts were for, the requesters declined to elaborate beyond providing the 3D model files.
