Attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia in the US have filed a lawsuit in US District Court in Seattle challenging a federal ruling that allows 3D printed gun-making blueprints to be posted online.
The 3D printed weapon is also known as a "ghost weapon" because it does not have registration numbers that could be used to trace it. New York Attorney General Letitia James says the release of the blueprints will allow any user, including criminals not eligible to purchase firearms, to use files downloaded from the Internet to create unregistered and untraceable assault weapons that will also difficult to detect.
The controversy over the legality of 3D printed weapons began in 2013, when Texas-based Defense Distributed published drawings of the gun for 3D printing. More than 100 copies of blueprints were downloaded by users before the US State Department intervened, ruling that Defense Distributed violated the International Arms Trade Rules.
Defense Distributed countered that it had the right to publish the blueprints online, citing the First Amendment to the US Constitution. After that, for several years, the case tossed between the Texas District Court, the US Court of Appeals (both denied Defense Distributed's motion for an injunction) and the Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case. It could have ended there, but in 2018, the US State Department and Defense Distributed reached an agreement that allowed the company to continue sharing blueprints for 3D printing weapons.
Last November, U.S. federal judge Robert Lasnik settlement agreement between Defense Distributed and the US Department of State, because there was no justification necessary for its conclusion, which is a violation of the US Administrative Procedure Act.
Unwilling to give up, the Trump administration this week released new rules that shift regulation of 3D-printed weapons from the US State Department to the US Department of Commerce.
A press release by Letitia James stated in a press release on the matter that loopholes in trade regulation meant that the agency would not be able to control the release of weapons through 3D printing in any meaningful way, opening up the possibility of their unrestricted distribution.
Source: 3dnews.ru