Franklin man going to prison for 3-D printing gun parts

A Franklin man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for using a 3-D printer to illegally create parts for guns.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Indiana, 28 year old Alexander Clark has been sentenced after pleading guilty to making firearms in violation of the National Firearms Act, possession of an unregistered firearm, and possession of a machinegun.

According to court documents, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found that Clark sold five pistols whose frames were made on a 3-D printer, as well as a printed lower receiver for a rifle and two conversion devices for machine guns. According to authorities, the conversion devices turn ordinary firearms into fully automatic machine guns. The devices are illegal to possess or sell in almost all cases.

A raid on Clark’s home in August of 2022 recovered seven machineguns, 27 machinegun conversion devices and seven silencers, none of which were legally registered.

Chief U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ordered that Clark be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his release from federal prison.