A gun rights group that has posted plans for 3D guns blocked downloads from its website on Tuesday after a federal judge sided with states that argued the postings could help criminals and terrorists manufacture such weapons.
Judge Robert Lasnik’s ruling didn’t order the plans to be taken down, but temporarily blocked a settlement that Defense Distributed, a Texas-based gun rights organization, and the federal government reached in June that made it legal to post 3D printable gun plans online.
“This is a nationwide ban. … It takes us back to a period of time before the federal government flipped on their policy regarding these 3D ghost guns,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said on “Anderson Cooper 360˚”
“What it means is if anyone posts this information online, they are in violation of federal law and can suffer very serious consequences. So, it makes it unlawful to post that information and make it available to the public,” Ferguson said.
Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson said the site has disabled downloads until he reviews the order.
Later he tweeted: “By order of a federal judge in the Western District of Washington, http://DEFCAD.com is going dark.”
The website had touted that plans for several plastic weapons would be available Wednesday to people who had signed up for a login. Some plans had already been available for download.
The settlement with the federal government had ended a multiyear legal battle that started when Wilson posted designs for a 3D printed handgun he called “The Liberator” in 2013. The single-shot pistol was made almost entirely out of ABS plastic — the same material Lego bricks are made from — and could be made on a 3D printer.
Wilson sued the federal government in 2015.
But Lasnik found the government didn’t follow procedure when agreeing to the settlement.
“Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their Administrative Procedure Act claim,” the judge wrote.
CNN reached out to Josh Blackman, a lawyer for Defense Distributed, for comment.
The litigants will return to court on August 10 to discuss whether a preliminary injunction is needed.
Ferguson announced Monday he was leading the lawsuit, which originally involved eight states and the District of Columbia. The petition for the temporary restraining order was filed in federal court in Seattle. Iowa and Virginia joined the case on Tuesday.
Alan Gottlieb, a founder and vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, told CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time” that it was a matter of applying the First Amendment to protect citizens’ Second Amendment rights. He said some communities are losing access to firearms sellers because of local laws.
“If you’re allowed to own a firearm in your own home, you should be able to make the firearm in your own home if you can’t buy one locally because of crazy restrictions,” he said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a series of actions Tuesday to prevent the distribution of the 3D gun designs. Cuomo issued a cease-and-desist letter to Defense Distributed to block the distribution of designs for 3D guns in New York. The governor called the impending release “reckless.”
Cuomo also directed state police to issue a notice reminding New Yorkers that manufacturing firearms defined as assault weapons is illegal in New York.
As the nation rises up and calls for action against gun violence, it is absurd and frightening that the federal government wants to make accessing an automatic weapon as easy as hitting print,” he said. “New York is proud to have the strongest gun safety laws in the nation, and we won’t let this federal government take us backwards.”
Cuomo said he will pursue legislation to bolster the state’s gun safety laws and outlaw private production of all 3D and ghost guns that are untraceable and invisible to metal detectors.
Cuomo’s actions came after Pennsylvania went to court Sunday to block early distribution of the plans, which weren’t supposed to be available for download until Wednesday. But more than 1,000 designs were downloaded recently, in advance of the agreed upon August 1 date.
At the hearing, Defense Distributed agreed to block Pennsylvania IP addresses for a few days until a more formal hearing could be held.
Blackman told CNN on Monday the Pennsylvania case was about free speech rights, not the manufacture of guns.
“One state cannot censor the speech of a citizen in another state,” he said.
Other states also are trying to bar access to 3D printed guns. Iowa and Virginia on Tuesday announced they are joining a federal lawsuit that asks a judge to block the court action that lets people download plans
The National Rifle Association said Tuesday that undetectable guns are illegal.
“Many antigun politicians and members of the media have wrongly claimed that 3D printing technology will allow for the production and widespread proliferation of undetectable plastic firearms,” said Chris Cox, the NRA’s executive director for legislative action.
“Regardless of what a person may be able to publish on the internet, undetectable plastic guns have been illegal for 30 years. Federal law passed in 1988, crafted with the NRA’s support, makes it unlawful to manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive an undetectable firearm.”
Cox was referring to the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988.
The statement came hours after President Donald Trump expressed skepticism over the ability to legally download plans for 3D printed guns, saying in a tweet that he’s spoken with the NRA about them because the technology “doesn’t seem to make much sense!”
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence applauded the decision to temporarily block the 3D-printed guns.
It is immediately obvious to anyone who looks at this issue that 3D-printed guns are nothing short of a menace to society, and we are thrilled that the court ruled in this manner,” Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign, said in a statement.
“The efforts of these attorneys general throughout the nation have helped strike a powerful blow against the scourge of 3D-printed guns, but we know this fight is not yet over. We will continue to do everything in our power to make sure that this temporary halt in publication becomes a permanent one.”
Do-it-yourself firearms like The Liberator have been nicknamed “ghost guns” because they don’t have serial numbers and are untraceable.
On the website run by Defense Distributed, people could download plans for building the Liberator, as well as files for an AR-15-style lower receiver, a complete Beretta M9-style handgun and other firearms. Users also were to be able to share their own designs for guns, magazines and other accessories.
The high-end 3D printers needed to make such weapons cost thousands of dollars and may be too expensive for most people. But that doesn’t ease the concerns of those who think 3D printed guns are a bad idea.(Steve Almasy, CNN)
Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/31/us/3d-guns-downloaded-plans-states/index.html
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