BRUSSELS, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Members of the European Union need to be wary of law enforcement challenges presented by the potential 3D printing of firearms, a commissioner said.
Cecilia Malmstrom, home affairs commissioner for the European Union, said more than 1,000 people were killed each year in the EU by gun violence on average. Nearly 500,000 of the firearms reported stolen in the EU remain unaccounted for, she added.
European lawmakers enacted restrictions on consumer licenses for so-called high-risk chemicals after the Norwegian massacres in 2011. Convicted lone-wolf terrorist Anders Breivik used a fertilizer bomb in an attack on Oslo that left 209 people injured and eight people dead. Malmstrom said his subsequent shooting spree on a summer camp, which left more than 75 dead, added to the growing concern over gun violence.
"Firearms are not trivial goods, and when they end up in the wrong hands they have devastating consequences for communities," she said Monday.
She said lawmakers should consider further tracking of firearms to curb proliferation. She said new technologies like 3D printing of weapons or munitions created an additional security obstacle to law enforcement officials.
