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Hours after a federal judge forced a group in Texas to remove online blueprints for 3D printed firearms on Tuesday, gun-rights groups in California said they were publishing the files on a separate website.
The Firearms Policy Coalition and other groups pulled the plans off the website of pro-gun group Defense Distributed before the court order and are now sharing those same files on a new site, said Craig DeLuz, a spokesman for the group. “This is a free-speech case,” said DeLuz. “There is no law prohibiting the online publication of this information.”
U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday to eight states seeking to block Defense Distributed from posting the files online, writing that the proliferation of 3D printed guns would have many negative effects. Defense Distributed complied with the order and pulled its files off its website.
The court case followed a settlement between Defense Distributed and the U.S. State Department that allowed the files to be posted. The State Department had included the design files on a list of munitions subject to export controls, barring their distribution. Defense Distributed fought back in court, arguing among other things that it was violation of free-speech rights. The State Department settled the case, reversing its position and allowing the files to be posted. Gun-control advocates said the files would enable individuals to avoid background checks by using 3-D printers to make guns at home.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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