Using data from a large national survey of online Australian adults (n=9,951) conducted in late 2024, we measured exposure to digital firearms products being sold online, including blueprints and printing files to manufacture 3D-printed firearms.
A small proportion of respondents reported having seen digital firearms products for sale on the public internet (2.4%) or the darknet (0.9%). Just over one percent (1.1%) of respondents said they or someone they knew had bought or traded digital firearms products online on the public internet (0.7%) and/or on the darknet (0.8%).
Respondents who said they or someone they knew had bought or traded digital firearms products online were more likely than other respondents to have had contact with the criminal justice system (including for violent offences), to own a firearm without a licence, to have intentionally viewed fringe or radical content, and to have seen content depicting or calling for violent action.
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