The firearm was initially intended for adoption by the South African apartheid government,[2] though it was rejected and shipped to various other nations.

As a result, the weapon was taken by lead designer George Kellgren to the United States domestic market as an open-bolt semi-automatic pistol, redesigned to eliminate its collapsible stock and vertical foregrip features per the National Firearms Act of 1934 and marketed under the subsidiary Interdynamic USA brand.

[7][8][9] During the 1990s the TEC-9 also developed a reputation for its use by American street gangs and organized crime syndicates, who were attracted to the large capacity 32-round magazines and low cost of the firearm.

In 1999, the TEC-DC9 Mini was notoriously used by Dylan Klebold, one of the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre, ending with him using it to take his own life.

[14] The TEC-9 was also used in the 1990 drive-by shooting at Nashville, Tennessee West End Synagogue by Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan Leonard William Armstrong.

[16] Although still found on the used firearms market and legal on the federal level since 2004, the TEC-9 and similar variants are banned, often by name, in several US states including California, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland.