New York's attorney general has had to rethink its gun buyback scheme after a seller used a 3D printer to mass produce firearm parts which he then exchanged for a total of $21,000 (£18,922).
Buyback programs are used across the US and were set up in an attempt to remove firearms from the streets.
They work by authorities offering cash or vouchers to people handing in illegal weapons with no questions asked.
The seller, who identified himself only as Kem, took advantage of a loophole setup to try and prevent the rise in crime caused by homemade guns, known as 'ghost guns', reports WKTV.
3D printers can be used to make modifications to guns or even make entirely new guns from scratch.
According to Kem, after driving six hours to the New York State city of Utica. he handed in a number of gun parts for a range of different guns and pocket $21,000 in vouchers.
He hoped to show that buybacks are pointless when weapons can be printed at home by anyone with the right equipment.
Kem told WKTV: "I'm sure handing over $21,000 in gift cards to some punk kid after getting a bunch of plastic junk was a rousing success".
He continued: "Gun buybacks are a fantastic way of showing, number one, that your policies don't work, and, number 2, you're creating perverse demand. You're causing people to show up to these events, and, they don't actually reduce crime whatsoever."
A spokesperson at the Attorney General's Office said:“It’s shameful that this individual exploited a program that has successfully taken thousands of guns off the streets to protect our communities from gun violence.
"We have partnered with local police throughout the state to recover more than 3,500 guns, and one individual’s greedy behavior won’t tarnish our work to promote public safety. We have adjusted our policies to ensure that no one can exploit this program again for personal gain.”
In response to the loophole, the attorney general has given buyback personnel more discretion to value the weapons being handed in.
