Texan selling 3D-printed gun plans
AUSTIN, Texas — The owner of a Texas company that makes untraceable 3D-printed guns said Tuesday that he is selling the blueprints through his website, despite a federal court order barring him from posting the plans online.
Cody Wilson said at a news conference that he has already received nearly 400 orders. “Anyone who wants to get these files is going to get them,” Wilson said, noting he can sell only to U.S. customers.
Wilson said that blueprints purchased through his company’s website could be downloaded on a thumb drive and shipped to buyers by standard mail, or sent by email or by other secure download transfer.
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia had sought to stop a settlement the State Department reached with Wilson’s Austin-based company, Defense Distributed, after the agency removed the 3D gun-making plans from a list of weapons or technical data that may not be exported. The states argued that online access to the undetectable plastic guns would pose a security risk and could be acquired by felons or terrorists.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle blocked Defense Distributed from posting the blueprints online, saying, “It is the untraceable and undetectable nature of these small firearms that poses a unique danger.”
Wilson said he believes the ruling allows him to sell the blueprints even if he can’t post them online for free.