N.S. man charged for making 3D printed guns and importing silencers

Sep 09, 2023

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A 27-year-old Meaghers Grant man is facing a slew of firearms charges for allegedly making so-called ghost guns with a 3D printer and trying to import Chinese silencers into Canada.

Halifax Regional Police charged Gordon Victor Julien Jr. on Feb. 1 with manufacturing firearms "knowing that he was not authorized to do so," as well as making "conversion switches" that can turn pistols into machine-guns.

He's facing a total of 18 new charges, including possessing firearms "for the purpose of transferring them," manufacturing a gun "that is capable of discharging projectiles in rapid succession during one pressure of the trigger," and possessing a restricted carbine and "readily accessible ammunition" without a firearms licence.

Police charged Julien with possessing gun silencers "designed to stop the sound or report of a firearm" without a licence, possessing overcapacity cartridge magazines and transporting or storing a firearm in a careless manner.

Julien is also facing a charge of smuggling silencers into Canada.

The silencers are what put him in police crosshairs in the first place.

The probe started when Canada Border Services Agency officers discovered two separate, but identical packages last spring containing five silencers each at the international mail processing centre in Toronto. Officers seized the packages destined for a small white and green bungalow on Lays Lake Road in Meaghers Grant, and addressed to the homeowner, Gordon Julien.

A July raid on Julien's home netted 26 bundles of cash, a black .40-calibre over-capacity magazine, a 9-mm hollow tip bullet with 10 spring kits, a revolver's drum cylinder and the muzzle of a silver handgun, parts of a laser firearm scope, another conventional scope, spent 9-mm casings, three boxes of Blazer 9-mm ammunition and a few shotgun shells, according to court documents filed after the search.

The search yielded several tools, including a variable speed mini lathe and a drill press, along with a mold part to make a firearm, lots of 3D-printed firearms parts, eight rolls of 3D printer filament, and a 3D printer.

Investigators seized Julien's computer gear, mobile phone, and an "FGC-9 MKII black 3-D printed firearm, 1 empty box containing three spent 9-mm casings, two 10-round Glock mags, tools in a black pouch" and a damaged silencer.

They also seized parts for a FGC-9 MKII in an Amazon box.

The FGC-9 is a semi-automatic pistol-calibre carbine that can be made with a 3D printer and some metal parts.

Julien is due back in Dartmouth provincial court March 7 for election and/or plea.

He was released from custody the same day he was charged on the promise to put up $10,000.

The conditions of his release include living at his Lays Lake Road home, handing Mounties his passport, and remaining in Nova Scotia.

A judge ordered Julien not to "possess any firearm, cross-bow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, ammunition or explosive substance."

Julien is also not allowed to possess or operate a 3D printer, a CNC machine, drill press, gunsmithing lathe, metal lathe, or milling machine.