Study written by the ICSR Team

Within the world of 3D-printed guns, one pseudonymous figure has emerged as a symbol for the cause of universal access to firearms: “JStark1809”. He created the world’s most popular 3D-printed gun and established an influential network of 3D-printed gun designers. Since his death in July 2021, he has been memorialised as a martyr for the right to bear arms.

Based on open sources, this report identifies “JStark1809” as Jacob Duygu, a German national born to Kurdish parents who arrived as refugees from Southeast Turkey in the 1990s.

Using a combination of authorship attribution techniques, JStark can be identified as the author of over 700 seemingly “anonymous” comments on 4chan’s /pol/ board. He disclosed hitherto unknown details about his life, broader political views, and extremist attitudes.

Designing a 3D-Printed Gun

JStark’s choice to design a 3D-printed gun arose from frustration at not being able to own a gun on his terms in Germany. This morphed into a belief that owning firearms is a human right. JStark thus designed a 3D-printed gun with no regulated parts to ensure anyone worldwide could make it.

The gun he designed, the FGC-9 (“Fuck Gun Control 9mm”), has been seen on five continents, in: Australia, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the United States. It has been seen in the hands of gun enthusiasts, organised criminals, paramilitaries, insurgents, and terrorists.

He also created a network of 3D-printed gun designers and enthusiasts to create new designs, disseminate the digital blueprints online, and encourage their adoption. That network is known as Deterrence Dispensed and remains active even after JStark’s death.

Political Views

When speaking pseudonymously, JStark stated he was sharing 3D-printed gun designs to enable people to resist tyranny and defend against authoritarianism. He presented a universal message and spoke out against xenophobia and racism.

Writing anonymously, however, JStark made numerous xenophobic, racist, and antisemitic comments over multiple years. He regularly used dehumanising slurs and racist tropes.

On several occasions, JStark made anonymous threats of violence. These included threats to kill so-called “traitors” of Germany and threatened politicians, law enforcement, and left-wing individuals. He instigated online and lamented how a “right-wing” terrorist group had not emerged.

Life as an Incel

JStark’s “anonymous” comments reveal his life as an incel (involuntarily celibate). He felt his autism, height, looks, and ethnicity would shatter his chances of having a sexual or romantic relationship in Germany. In 2018, he travelled to the Philippines to escape his life as an incel.

He regularly made misogynist comments. He sometimes revelled in female suffering and despaired at his lack of relative power. He varied between condoning incel-motivated violence and seeing it as inevitable. Shortly before his arrest in June 2021, he threatened violence: “I will literally kill , (sic) or kill myself soon if i can’t sleep in a bed with a girl again …”.

In the final months of his life, JStark expressed profound suicidal ideation. Anonymously, he wrote of his loneliness and depression – which he attributed to his status as an incel – and shared detailed plans to commit suicide. His chosen method is relatively new; routine toxicological analysis may fail to detect it. It is possible that after his arrest in late June 2021, JStark decided to take his life.