A US anarchist has successfully test fired a gun made from a 3D printer, triggering concern amongst gun control activists.

3D printers - available for less than $1,000 - work by printing layer upon layer of plastic, building objects from virtual blueprints.

University of Texas law student Cody Wilson, 25, fired the weapon in Austin, Texas on Saturday.

The company he founded, Defense Distributed, spent a year developing the weapon.

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"I recognise that the tool might be used to harm other people - that's what it is - it's a gun," Mr Wilson said.

"But... I don't think that's a reason not to do it or put it out there."

The 25-year-old has distributed the computer aided design (CAD) file online, making it available for download by anyone, anywhere.

"There's states all over the world outside the United States that say we're a gun control state," Mr Wilson said.

"That's not true anymore."

He calls his movement "the dawn of the wiki weapon", saying printable guns are just the beginning.

"We thought how interesting would it be not just to 3D print a gun, but to open source it and then allow anyone in the world to 3D print a gun, regardless of whatever their laws had to say," he said.

"Perhaps that would be a socially significant project, a politically significant project.

"And so it began - the questions really began, how do we take this from theory into reality?"

Gun control advocates in Australia are urging state and federal governments to consider regulating 3D printers.

Gun Control Australia spokeswoman Sam Lee said the difficulty was making sure they could not be used to make weapons.

"These machines are probably not just used for assembling firearms, they may be used for harmless purposes," she said.

"So the challenge will be how do you regulate those machines?"

The New South Wales Police told the ABC's PM it is aware of the technology but says the weapon's ability to fire a bullet means it is classified as a firearm, and therefore illegal to possess without a licence.

It says the fact that the gun is made from plastic is irrelevant.

The technology is already having a huge impact in other sectors.

It has led to huge advances in medicine, with 3D printers being used in prosthetics and even body parts.

The University of Wollongong is opening a research unit in Melbourne where 3D printing will be used to reproduce tissue material.

Scientists have already begun animal trials to reproduce skin, cartilage, arteries and heart valves.