Bristol Armourer Sentenced for 3D-Printed Sub-Machine Gun

Luke Fortune, a 23-year-old unemployed armourer from Longwell Green, Bristol, was sentenced to prison on Friday, November 6, for manufacturing and selling illegal firearms.

Fortune, of Mapstone Rise, admitted to multiple firearms offences. He purchased tools and equipment to convert blank-firing guns into lethal weapons, working from the garage of his family home before selling the finished products for profit.

The case began with an investigation by the National Crime Agency. Officers arrested Fortune in July regarding the purchase of 35 top-venting blank firearms, three antique firearms, and over 1,000 bullets. The probe also uncovered the manufacture of a 3D-printed sub-machine gun.

While out on bail, Fortune was arrested again in January 2026. Avon and Somerset Police officers found two handguns, a Glock-type pistol and a revolver, hidden in a bush in Longwell Green.

Financial and digital records linked Fortune to Gerard Dagnall, a 33-year-old firearms offender from Norris Green, Liverpool. Dagnall had attempted to smuggle eight handguns from Belgium into the UK and was sentenced to eight years and three months in November 2024.

Messages between the two men indicated that Fortune was brokering deals for Dagnall to sell guns to other criminals. Fortune was to receive some of the guns Dagnall collected abroad. Their online conversations also revealed plans to travel to Thailand to smuggle firearms back to the UK.

Fortune mailed a 3D-printed FGC9 sub-machine gun to Dagnall. He also sent a video of himself test-firing the weapon in a wood. Dagnall replied with a photograph of the package next to his passport, writing: “I can’t believe you sent me a machine gun through the post.”

When NCA officers raided Fortune’s home, they found numerous blank bullets, cartridges, cases, and primers in various stages of conversion. Bank statements showed Fortune spent several thousand pounds on blank firearms between 2022 and 2024.

Fortune pleaded guilty to two counts of firearms possession, two counts of possessing ammunition, one count of converting firearms, one charge of manufacturing a firearm, one count of selling or transferring firearms, and one count of conspiracy to import firearms.

Andy Lawton, a senior investigating officer for the NCA, described Fortune as a dangerous offender who did not care about the potential devastation if converted guns fell into the wrong hands. He noted that firearms crime in the UK is among the lowest in the world and that protecting the public is a principal priority. Nigel James, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Fortune set up his criminal enterprise from his family home, showing a blatant disregard for public safety by placing deadly weapons in the hands of known criminals.