Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we got used to how easy it was to access our essentials online. With a few clicks, a bulk order of groceries would simply arrive at the front door.

But the recent assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with what has been reported as a homemade weapon has reignited concerns about the ease with which criminals can access and make firearms using modern technology.

Experts say blueprints for 3D guns and guides for DIY firearms can be easily obtained, allowing criminals to enter cyber libraries of guides and handy hints.

That's the issue that concerns Professor Roderick Broadhurst as he sits in the cybercrime faculty at the Australian National University. That criminals or 'tinkers' as he puts it could be downloading these files and making guns. Without incidentally notifying police with a risky break-in.

"It's a here-and-now problem and it's going to continue to evolve and we are going to have lone actors and other groups that turn to this, because getting a weapon here is hard," Professor Broadhurst said.

Yet, ACT Policing said that 3D weapons were not something that was at the forefront of their minds.

'While ACT Policing is aware some people have experimented with 3D printing of firearms in other jurisdictions, there have been no instances reported in the ACT," a spokesperson said.

Gun laws in Australia were made before a file download from the internet posed a risk. Now, in a world where the internet permeates all aspects of our lives, those laws can be circumnavigated.

A Western Australian man was arrested in June and charged with numerous firearm offences. He was found to have a fully functional 3D printed firearm, along with a 3D printer and ammunition according to WA police.

And the technology is no longer so hard to come by, with 3D printers available for as little as $300.

Professor Broadhurst brings up a site where people in the US can download a digital blueprint. The range of gun parts and accessories available are extensive. The selling point is that these weapons don't have to be registered. Unlike traditional guns, they can't be traced with a serial number.

Some Australian states have tapped into the rising trend and specifically outlawed owning a digital blueprint of a gun. NSW introduced the law in 2015, with WA following earlier this year.

Those caught with the downloads will face 14 years' jail time -that's what the 18-year-old in WA will be facing, - but there's no such law in the ACT.

"The bottom line is that is something [the ACT government] probably should weigh up, from an investigative point of view it's a useful thing in the toolkit," Professor Broadhurst says.

But those with specialist skills in 3D printing point out the risks may still be overstated, given the technology currently available to average consumers.

On the Australian National University campus, hidden away in the shadow of the physics building, is the Makerspace where technical officer Jordan Haddik hovers over his 3D printers and laser cutters. He talks through what's required to 3D print part of a gun.

He quickly dispels the rumours that a completely 3D printed gun is possible.

"In an ideal world you could buy a special polymer that could print a complete 3D gun, but in reality if you're anywhere near the high pressure area of the gun, it'll split," he said.

He's also not so sure a law specifically targeting 3D printing would make any changes.

"I can see why they would approach it that way, it probably makes prosecution easier, but in reality is that likely to stop someone? I think that's unlikely," he said.

He's also quick to point out all the positive things that 3D printing can do, referencing anthropologists printing skulls and surgeons printing bones to practice with before major surgery.

Given the technical difficulties, the risks of criminals downloading and printing weapons appear low.

For now, an ACT Police spokesperson says they are more concerned with gel blasters - replica firearms that look like guns and are often used to intimidate victims.

But the Australian Institute of Criminology has said that, according to its research, 3D printed kits and blueprints are an emerging online product on the dark web.