The ban on the publication of 3D printed firearms blueprints has been extended in a ruling by a federal judge in Seattle. Cody Wilson’s Defense Distributed won the right to publish the plans and files to print weapons back in July, when a federal judge and a number of states moved to block the publication. On Monday 27th August the Court placed a Preliminary Injunction on publication of the files essentially extending the ban on publication as the case against Wilson progresses.

Back in July, we reported that Cody Wilson and  the Second Amendment Foundation had won their multi-year suit against the State Department, essentially enabling them to publish 3D printable firearms designs online. However, on the 1st August a federal Judge from the Western District of Washington, based in Seattle, put a temporary block on DEFCAD.com’s plans for the publication of a series of 3D printed firearms.

The attorney generals of 20 states and Washington D.C., argue that the 3D printed gun plans are difficult to trace and constituted a threat to national safety. Judge Robert S. Lasnik has ruled that Cody Wilson’s rights as an individual citizen are overruled in the interest of the greater public good.

The Federal Court’s ruling posted on the 27th August, said:

Regulation under the AECA [Arms Export Control Act] means that the files cannot be uploaded to the internet, but they can be emailed, mailed,securely transmitted, or otherwise published within the United States. The Court finds that the irreparable burdens on the private defendants’ First Amendment rights are dwarfed by the irreparable harms the States are likely to suffer if the existing restrictions are withdrawn and that, overall, the public interest strongly supports maintaining the status quo through the pendency of this litigation.

Last week on the 20th August, Wilson launched Defense (Contributed), what he describes as a defense contractor for the public, in a slick, somewhat eerie call to arms video. A crowdfunded campaign to fund his legal fight, offering in return “still more defense tech”. While Cody hasn’t discussed his next move, given his ongoing crowdfunding efforts an appeal of the temporary extension of the ban on publishing the 3D firearms files is likely as the case continues.

UPDATE:

On the morning of 28th August, Cody held a press conference in Austin, Texas announcing his intention to continue to comply with the federal court order banning his international publication of 3D CAD firearms files. Wilson, however, said he would begin to sell copies of his 3D-printable gun files on a pay-what-you-want basis with a suggested price of $10 per data set.

In keeping with the judges ruling Defense Distributed will be send the files to customers on Defense Distributed-branded flash drives in the US only. Cody told the press conference that:

We’re not desperate for cash, we’re just covering costs. I remember when Radiohead did this [in 2007 with their In Rainbows album], they said they didn’t make real money for this… I don’t expect to either. There’s plenty of people who don’t want this, don’t care, until they see the Attorney General of Pennsylvania doesn’t want you to have it.

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