Texan Says He’s Selling 3D-Printed Gun Blueprints Despite Court Ruling

FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2018, file photo, Cody Wilson, with Defense Distributed, holds a 3D-printed gun called the Liberator at his shop in Austin, Texas. A federal judge in Seattle has granted an injunction that proh... FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2018, file photo, Cody Wilson, with Defense Distributed, holds a 3D-printed gun called the Liberator at his shop in Austin, Texas. A federal judge in Seattle has granted an injunction that prohibits the Trump administration from allowing a Texas company to post 3D gun-making plans online. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, file) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The owner of a Texas company that makes untraceable 3D-printed guns said Tuesday that he has begun selling the blueprints through his website to anyone who wants to make one, despite a federal court order barring him from posting the plans online.

Cody Wilson said at a news conference that he’ll make the plans available to anyone who wants them at any price. He said sales started Tuesday morning and that he’d already gotten nearly 400 orders.

That follows a federal judge in Seattle blocking Wilson’s company from posting the blueprints online.

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia had sought an injunction to stop a settlement that the federal government reached with Wilson’s Austin-based Defense Distributed. The states argued that online access to the undetectable plastic guns would pose a security risk and could be acquired by felons or terrorists.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik agreed Monday, saying the government’s actions “not only impact national security but have domestic repercussions as well.”

The State Department reached the deal with the company after the agency removed the 3D gun-making plans from a list of weapons or technical data that are not allowed to be exported.

Wilson said he anticipates that states may try to sue to stop him from selling the plans, but that he is raising money for his legal defense.

“Anyone who wants to get these files is going to get them,” he said. “They can name their own price.”

Wilson also said he will continue to challenge the federal court order.

Notable Replies

  1. Sounds like a great opportunity … for a possible Trump pardon.

    What is better than thumbing your nose at the judiciary and law enforcement system, especially when putting untraceable, almost-undetectable weapons in the hands of those who need them (for hunting and personal protection, of course).

  2. Cody Wilson, meet Lompoc Bubba your Lord and Protector.

  3. Another salt of the earth law abidin gun owner gonna keep us safe

  4. Avatar for caltg caltg says:

    So arrest the SOB for contempt and impound all his equipment.

  5. The right to bear plastic armaments. Totally envisioned by the Founders. Give me styrene or give me death!

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

3 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for paulw Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for greylady Avatar for thomasmatthew Avatar for caltg Avatar for rickjones Avatar for creepdoggielog Avatar for badabingo

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: