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In the 24 hours since police released a photo of what they say is Mangione's gun following the 26-year-old's arrest Monday, the online community devoted to 3D-printed firearms has been quick to identify the suspected murder weapon as a particular model of printable ghost gun—a homemade weapon with no serial number, created by assembling a mix of commercial and DIY parts. The gun appears to be a Chairmanwon V1, a tweak of a popular partially 3D-printed glock design known as the FMDA 19.2—an acronym that stands for the libertarian slogan, 'Free Men Don't Ask'.
The FMDA 19.2, released in 2021, is a relatively old model by 3D-printed gun standards. But it's one of the most well-known and well-tested printable ghost gun designs. The Chairmanwon V1 remix that police say Mangione had in his possession when he was arrested varies from that original FMDA 19.2 design only in that another amateur gunsmith, who goes by the pseudonym Chairmanwon, added a different texture to the gun's grip.
The fact that even a relatively old model of 3D-printed firearm allegedly allowed Mangione to shoot Thompson repeatedly on a Manhattan street—certainly the most high-profile shooting ever committed with a ghost gun or a 3D-printed weapon—shows how far DIY weapons tech has come. Despite its simple description by law enforcement and others as a 3D-printed pistol, the FMDA 19.2 is only partially 3D printed. That makes it fundamentally different from fully 3D-printed guns like the Liberator, the original one-shot, 3D-printed pistol debuted in 2013.
It just speaks to the ease with which you can do this, says Cody Wilson, the founder of the gun rights group Defense Distributed. He doesn’t have to be an expert at 3D-printed guns or shooting, and it all works.
