Judge Blocks Release Of 3D-Printed Gun Plans

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY ROBERT MACPHERSON A Liberator pistol appears on July 11, 2013 next to the 3D printer on which its components were made. The single-shot handgun is the first firearm that can be made entirely w... TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY ROBERT MACPHERSON A Liberator pistol appears on July 11, 2013 next to the 3D printer on which its components were made. The single-shot handgun is the first firearm that can be made entirely with plastic components forged with a 3D printer and computer-aided design (CAD) files downloaded from the Internet. AFP PHOTO / Robert MacPherson (Photo credit should read Robert MacPherson/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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A federal judge in Seattle has issued a temporary restraining order to stop the release of blueprints to make untraceable and undetectable 3D-printed plastic guns.

Eight Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block the federal government’s settlement with the company that makes the plans available online. They also sought a restraining order, arguing the 3D guns would be a safety risk.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik issued the order Tuesday afternoon.

The company behind the plans, Austin, Texas-based Defense Distributed, had reached a settlement with the federal government in June that allows it to make the plans for the guns available for download on Wednesday.

The restraining order puts that plan on hold for now.

In the meantime, Congressional Democrats have urged President Trump to reverse the decision to let Defense Distributed publish the plans. Trump said Tuesday that he’s “looking into” the idea, saying making 3D plastic guns available to the public “doesn’t seem to make much sense!”

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  1. … because gun companies don’t make money off of them.

    'Tis important to include the Trump/NRA reasoning, AP.

  2. However, Dotard granted Russia full distribution rights, so all is good.

  3. Okay. This makes no sense.

    Trump and Republicans are rattling sabres at China over “the theft of intellectual property.” And here we are publishing blueprints to manufacture semi-automatic weapons to any damn terrorist who wants them?

    Conservatives, what’s the matter with you?

  4. What should be done with people like Cody Wilson, the person behind this effort to spread death and destruction? Involuntary commitment would be one choice. Actually, the company and its principals are providing material support for terrorists. Why aren’t they being prosecuted?

  5. WIKI: Cody Rutledge Wilson is an American crypto-anarchist, free-market anarchist, and gun-rights activist…

    Known by the company one keeps:
    Guardian: Forget far-right populism – crypto-anarchists are the new masters

    Crypto-anarchists are mostly computer-hacking, anti-state libertarians who have been kicking around the political fringes for two decades, trying to warn a mostly uninterested public about the dangers of a world where everything is connected and online. They also believe that digital technology, provided citizens are able to use encryption themselves, is the route to a stateless paradise, since it undermines government’s ability to monitor, control and tax its people. Crypto-anarchists build software – think of it as political computer code – that can protect us online. Julian Assange is a crypto-anarchist (before WikiLeaks he was an active member of the movement’s most important mailing list), and so perhaps is Edward Snowden. Once the obsessive and nerdy kids in school, they are now the ones who fix your ransomware blunder or start up unicorn tech firms. They are the sort of people who run the technology that runs the world.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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