Texan begins selling 3D-printed handguns

Chicago : A Texas man on Tuesday began selling digital gun-making blueprints, including for a 3D-printed plastic handgun, despite a judge’s order barring the distribution of the material. Cody Wilson had initially published the downloadable files on his website four weeks ago, after a deal struck with the Donald Trump administration that ended the federal government’s efforts to block him. 

Wilson’s actions caused a political firestorm, and even prompted Trump to tweet that making gun blueprints easily available online “doesn’t seem to make much sense!” Multiple states filed a joint lawsuit claiming Wilson endangered public safety. One of the homemade weapons could evade metal detectors and all lacked traceable serial numbers. 

A federal judge issued a temporary order on July 31 barring the distribution of the digital blueprints, and on Monday extended that order until the states’ lawsuit is adjudicated. Wilson told a news conference Tuesday that he interpreted the judge’s ruling as only barring the free online distribution of the blueprints. He instead began to offer the files for sale, and promised to send physical copies on flash drives or by email. Visitors to his online marketplace, which was once again active Tuesday, could name their own price for the information. 

“Everyone in America who wants these files will get them,” Wilson said. “I’m happy now to become the iTunes of downloadable guns, if I can’t be the Napster.” Wilson insisted that the digital files had already been available elsewhere online for years, and that barring him from distributing the content was akin to free speech censorship.