Publication of designs stopped
US judge halts 3D printed gun blueprints hours before planned release.
WASHINGTON: A US judge blocked the planned release of 3D printed gun blueprints hours before they were set to hit the Internet, siding with states that sued to halt the publication of designs to make weapons that security screening may not detect.
US District Judge Robert Lasnik said on Tuesday in Seattle that the blueprints’ publication could cause irreparable harm to US citizens.
The decision blocked a settlement President Donald Trump’s administration had reached with a Texas-based company, which initially said it planned to put files online yesterday.
Gun control proponents are concerned that the weapons made from 3D printers are untraceable, undetectable “ghost” firearms that pose a threat to global security.
Some gun rights groups say the technology is expensive, the guns are unreliable and the threat is being overblown.
Josh Blackman, a lawyer for the company Defense Distributed, said during Tuesday’s hearing that blueprints had already been uploaded to the firm’s website last Friday.
The publication of those files is now illegal under federal law, Lasnik said.
“There are 3D printers in public colleges and public spaces, and there is the likelihood of potential irreparable harm,” he said at the end of a one-hour hearing on the lawsuit.
Defense Distributed and its founder Cody Wilson, a self-declared anarchist, argued that access to the online blueprints is guaranteed under First and Second Amendment rights, respectively to free speech and to bear arms.
Lasnik said First Amendment issues had to be looked at closely and set another hearing in the case for Aug 10.
In a comment apparently directed at Wilson, the judge said breaking the law was something “anarchists do all the time”.
Blackman said later that he was disappointed in the court’s ruling, adding that he was awaiting the judge’s written order before deciding on further legal action. — Reuters