US judge blocks release of 3D-printed gun plans after lawsuit

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01:19

A US judge blocked the release of 3D-printed gun blueprints on Tuesday and called for a hearing on the issue after President Donald Trump’s administration allowed their publication.

The Trump administration last month settled a five-year legal fight with Texas-based company Defense Distributed, permitting it to publish its website Defcad – which founder Cody Wilson envisioned as a WikiLeaks for homemade firearms called "ghost guns."

Those weapons can 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, which is virtually invisible to metal detectors.

After eight states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Monday against the federal government over the deal, US District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle, Washington granted a temporary restraining order blocking the release of the digital plans, and scheduled a hearing for August 10.

May 10, 2013: Cody Wilson shows the first completely 3D-printed handgun, The Liberator, at his home in Austin, Texas. /VCG Photo

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 3-D printed guns at the touch of a button. Yet that's exactly what the Trump administration decided to allow."

As uproar mounted Tuesday, the White House expressed skepticism over the legality of Wilson's efforts, even though the administration had green-lighted the project.

Early in the day, Trump weighed in on Twitter, revealing that he had spoken to America's main pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, about the topic.

"I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public," the president said. "Already spoke to NRA, doesn't seem to make much sense!"

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley expanded on the president's comments Tuesday night, telling reporters: "It is currently illegal to own or make a wholly plastic gun of any kind – including those made on a 3D printer.

US President Donald Trump speaks during the NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits in Dallas, Texas, May 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

Wilson has remained defiant.

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

He contends that the US Constitution's Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to bear arms, should extend to a person's right to make their own guns.

His legal team has argued that any move to prevent the distribution of the blueprints would run counter to the "foundational principles of free speech."

But federal courts have disagreed. Before the settlement with the Trump administration, Wilson had lost in both district and appellate court. The US Supreme Court had declined to take up his case.

Source(s): AFP