KUALA LUMPUR: The pen-like gun which was recently found in Bintulu may have confounded many people, but checks by NSTOnline revealed that the device could have easily been constructed by anyone with available items from a hardware store.
Tutorials for building such a gun are easily available online, and receive hundreds of thousands of views by internet users.
One video on Youtube for example, entitled "Learn how to make a homemade .22 caliber zip gun for under $20" teaches the viewer how to make such a weapon from items at Home Depot - a popular hardware store chain in America.
Such weapons are common in the Philippines, where they are known as "Sumpak".
These improvised weapons are often made by teenagers with items that are easily available. They may use small calibre .22 bullets or shotgun shells.
There have been a spate of recorded incidents involving school children there.
Last year, it was reported that a 13-year-old female student was rushed to a hospital after she was accidentally shot inside at school.
Her 14-year-old cousin was showing her the firearm inside the classroom when it went off. Closer to home, last year, it was reported by a daily that Miri police chief ACP Mun Kock Keong had expressed concern over the availability of home made guns in Sarawak.
Mun said that despite issuing numerous warnings, arrests by police and a number of cases of fatalities in Sarawak, such guns continued to be made and sold.