US: 3D-printed guns now? Thankfully, the judge blocks the release
A day back, it seemed that the floodgates of gun control were about to burst open in the US, with schematics for 3D-printed guns and supporting software slated to go public from August 1. Now, however, a US federal judge has blocked the release, at least temporarily, after eight states and the District of Columbia sued the government over the release. Here's more.
How the entire episode with 3D-printed guns started
How did it come to this point? Well, it all started in 2013 when gun access advocacy group Defense Distributed's founder Cody Wilson designed and tested the world's first 3D-printed gun, and uploaded the blueprints on the Defense Distributed website. Predictably, the US State Department cracked down on Wilson but, by then blueprints of 'The Liberator' had been downloaded hundreds of thousands of time.
The four-year-long court battle ended in Wilson's favor
The US State Department's crackdown marked the beginning of a four-year-long legal battle which concluded in June 2018. The court tussle saw Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation sue the State Department citing violations to First and Second Amendment rights. Last month, the US Department of Justice, in a surprise move, ruled that Americans may "access, discuss, use and reproduce" 3D-printed gun data.
The release was blocked just hours before the deadline
Following his court victory, Wilson had planned to release schematics of a semiautomatic AR-15 style rifle on August 1. However, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Maryland, and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration for allowing the release of the schematics. Just hours before the deadline, US District Judge Robert Lasnik issued a temporary restraining order on the release.
Release will result in ghost guns, compromised public safety
The suing parties called the release of 3D-printed gun blueprints a "bell that cannot be unrung", saying that 3D printers available in colleges and public spaces would create an unprecedented hazard. Additionally, they argued that the release would result in a massive rise in 'ghost guns' i.e. untraceable guns without serial numbers, thereby complicating the already dismal situation of gun control in the US.
The next hearing on the matter is on August 10
Although Wilson's blueprints were set to be distributed on Wednesday, reportedly over 1,000 people have already downloaded the gun blueprints since Friday. Meanwhile, the next hearing in the court battle over blocking the release has been set for August 10. Considering sharp increases in gun-related violence and mass shootings in the US, one can only hope that a sensible decision will be taken.
