US Government Shuts Down 3-D Printed Gun
Posted on Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 3:53PM
By Tiffany Madison
The revolutionary concept of 3-D printed firearms has been building momentum for months now. Online observers, innovators, investors and the generally curious celebrated as the first entirely 3-D printed handgun became a reality. Since the blueprint for “The Liberator” hit the web, the file was downloaded thousands of times in just a few days.
Today, the government shut it down.
Cody Wilson, the 3-D gunsmith, law student, and founder of the non-profit innovation outlet, Defense Distributed, broke the bad news in a tweet to his followers.
According to an earlier interview, Wilson received a letter from the US Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance, Enforcement Division (DTCC/END) which demanded the group remove all data from public domain.
The State Department complaint reads that the “DTCC/END” will review the data Defense Distributed has released to ensure compliance with “Category I of the USML” (United States Munitions List). Apparently, releasing the files possibly violated the ITAR, or International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
According to its regulatory description, “ITAR regulations dictate information and material pertaining to defense and military-related technologies. ITAR does not apply to information related to general scientific, mathematical or engineering principles that are commonly taught in schools and colleges or information that is (legitimately) in the public domain.”
Though Wilson is not legally restricted from privately manufacturing firearms, apparently exporting this type of technical data without a license or written approval from the government is unlawful. Commodity Jurisdiction determination requests were solicited for data files pertaining to 10 of Defense Distributed's file types, including “The Liberator."
The website files have been removed and a banner on the site states, “DefDist Liberator Pistol: This file has been removed from public access at the request of the US Department of Defense Trade Controls. Until further notice, the United States government claims control of the information.”
"The Liberator," is a 16-piece plastic firearm crafted by 3-D printers. A metal firing pin and embedded shank bring the firearm in compliance with the 30-year old Undetectable Firearms Act. Most downloaders do not have the software or equipment to produce a firearm with the files, but curious minds inquire. The download rate is likely to further explode, and is available all over the Internet.
But this move by federal authorities did not come as a surprise for firearm advocates. Wilson predicted the state would react, and he was proven correct.
Prior to Wilson's receiving this letter, persistent gun control advocates Rep. Steve Israel, (D-NY) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) supported the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act which would ban all plastic 3-D printed guns and high-capacity magazines.
“[These firearms] have no metal and could therefore slip through a metal detector,” Schumer stated.
“We're facing a situation where anyone a felon, a terrorist can open a gun factory in their garage, and the weapons they make will be undetectable.” There was no mention of the fact that the gun requires metal or that without ammunition a gun is nothing more than a paperweight.
In response to calls for bans, the Internet scoffed at legislative attempts to stifle inevitable technology. Cory Doctorow highlighted the futility of attempting to stifle online information or enforce bans on technology,
“[Will they implement] Firmware locks for 3D printers? A DMCA-like takedown regime for 3D shapefiles that can be used to generate plastic firearms (or parts of plastic firearms?). A mandate on 3D printer manufacturers to somehow magically make it impossible for their products to print out gun-parts?"
Every one of those measures is nonsense, and worse: an unworkable combination of authoritarianism, censorship, and wishful thinking. Importantly, none of these would prevent people from manufacturing plastic guns, and all of these measures would grossly interfere with the lawful operation of 3D printers.”
According to Forbes, Wilson intends to explore legal exemptions for non-profit public domain releases of technical files. He asserts that the Internet, as the last truly free expressions of speech and the most robust information-sharing network in human history, counts as a library under ITAR’s statutes.
Wilson feels that government harassment is a sign he is doing something good for society by challenging technology and outdated laws. “The blueprints have already moved beyond the DefCad.com database, seeded several times on the file-sharing site Pirate Bay. It's in the fabric of the Internet."
According to Wilson, the organization’s ideal goal is to test constitutional rights. “This is the conversation I want,” he says. “Is this a workable regulatory regime? Can there be defense trade control in the era of the Internet and 3D printing? I think this isn't a project about firearms, it’s a project about political equality.”
Wilson predicted that they would come after his creation, but that they could not stop its proliferation. Now, only time will tell if he is correct.
http://libertyminded.org/libertyminded/2013/5/9/us-government-shuts-down-3-d-printed-gun.html --
--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
