NO-GO FOR U.S. 3D GUN BLUEPRINT

District judge temporarily blocks publication by website to stop govt settlement with firm

AUNITED States judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the online publication of blueprints for 3D-printed firearms, in a last-ditch effort to stop a settlement President Donald Trump’s administration had reached with the company releasing the digital documents.

Eight states and the District of Columbia, which houses the capital Washington, had filed a suit against the federal government, calling its settlement with Texasbased Defence Distributed “arbitrary and capricious”.

The Trump administration had settled a five-year legal fight by permitting the company to publish its website, Defcad, which founder Cody Wilson envisioned as a WikiLeaks for home-made firearms called “ghost guns”.

Those weapons could be manufactured using 3D printers or personal steel mills, and lack traceable serial numbers. At least one of the guns can also be made from plastic — virtually invisible to metal detectors.

US district judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle, Washington, granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order blocking the release of the digital plans, and scheduled a hearing for Aug 10.

In a written statement, New York Attorney-General Barbara Underwood, one of the plaintiffs, called the ruling “a major victory for common sense and public safety”.

“As we argued in the suit we filed yesterday, it is simply crazy to give criminals the tools to build untraceable, undetectable 3D-printed guns at the touch of a button.

“Yet, that’s exactly what the Trump administration decided to allow.”

Wilson remained defiant and vowed to fight in court.

He told Wired magazine that he was facing legal action from “at least 21 state attorneys-general”, who have cited a risk to public safety.

“I intend to litigate,” he told the magazine. “Americans have the unquestionable right to share this information.”