Update: A federal judge in Seattle has issued a temporary restraining order[1] stopping the designs for 3D-printable guns from being posted online.
Our original post continues:
_____________
Austin-based firm Defense Distributed published designs over the weekend for 3D-printable guns that can be fabricated at home and would be virtually untraceable. So far, thousands have downloaded the files, but a handful of attorneys general are seeking to block the firm’s ability to post the designs online.
On Monday, eight states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department, arguing the publication of the files represents a threat to U.S. national security and public safety:
3-D printed guns are functional weapons that are often unrecognizable by standard metal detectors because they are made out of materials other than metal (e.g., plastic) and untraceable because they contain no serial numbers. Anyone with access to the [Computer Aided Design] files and a commercially available 3-D printer could readily manufacture, possess, or sell such a weapon—even those persons statutorily ineligible to possess firearms, including violent felons, the mentally ill and persons subject to protection and no-contact orders.
Cody Wilson, the founder of Defense Distributed, tweeted that he has filed lawsuits to dismiss the challenges in New Jersey, Los Angeles[2] and Washington state[3].
The publication of the files comes after a three-year legal battle between Defense Distributed and the State Department. In 2013, Wilson published designs for a single-shot pistol that could be 3D printed out of plastic and fabricated with easily accessible metal parts.
The State Department said the files were in violation of federal arms export rules and ordered Defense Distributed to take them down. Wilson sued the government on
