For those of you who have been not paying attention for the past few years, Cody Wilson of DEFCAD and Ghost Gunner has been providing lawful gun owners the files and means to manufacture their own firearms. Specifically, 3D printed guns. Technology has advanced that it is easier to manufacture a working firearm at home and it is cost-effective. Recently DEFCAD wins in the Ninth Circuit Court.

Photo by GhostGunner

There is a bit of controversy regarding the proliferation of firearms. Cody Wilson is the genius behind the Ghost Gunner and Defense Distributed. The U.S. Government tried to regulate the digital designs and files of firearm components as falling under the State Department of Defense. Which makes them regulated under ITAR. Having said digital files free online to anyone means you are violating ITAR exportation regulations whenever a non-US Citizen downloads these files.

Digital files of firearms are merely information and therefore fall under the protection of both the first and second amendments. This is what Cody Wilson has been pushing for all this time. If you recall back in August of 2018, a court tried to block his publishing of digital firearm files online.

Cody Wilson won his lawsuit in 2018 but last year he was blocked by a federal judge in Seattle, Washington. This judge filed for an injunction claiming posting the designs without restrictions could put unregistered weapons into the hands of terrorists.

Well, the Ninth Circuit Court has made their determination that these files are not the purview of the State Department.  DEFCAD wins. Gun grabbers lose. They overruled the injunction due to a federal law from 1989. This law prohibits courts from overruling the State Department’s decision to add or remove a weapon from the Munitions List.

Here is the announcement from Cody Wilson:

To the American Rifleman,

After seven years, Defense Distributed has at last secured a legal victory in the Ninth Circuit. All CAD files, blueprints and manuals for small arms are free to be legally downloaded at DEFCAD. Firearms CAD data is available on an unlimited basis and can be downloaded worldwide. CAM files remain restricted to DEFCAD and LEGIO account holders pending further litigation.

This a tremendous milestone and victory in the history of open source firearms development.

The files you contribute and download to the site today are considered validly and irrevocably committed to the public domain, free of future attempts at regulation and control.

Thank you for almost a decade of support.

Cody R. Wilson

This is a definite win not just for the 2A community but also for the country. Regardless of where you stand on the proliferation of firearms, government control and regulation is getting worse. There is a fallacy regarding untraceable firearms. Having a registered firearm only tells you one thing. Who the last person was to legally transfer said firearm.  Anytime a firearm is stolen, it becomes a “ghost gun”. An arbitrary number on the side of some metal or polymer will not help you geolocate that firearm or the criminal in possession of it. It is like the VIN on your motor vehicle. How does the number affect cars that are stolen or misused? How does a number on your car stop someone from crashing into other people with it?  It does not. Congratulations to Cody Wilson and DEFCAD. I hope more people push back against the government and put them in their place.