A multistate coalition is suing the Trump administration for allowing access online to downloadable blueprints for 3-D printed guns, just days before the plans are expected to become available to the public.
The eight states and the District of Columbia are asking a federal court in Seattle to issue a nationwide temporary restraining order that blocks the Texas-based Defense Distributed from publishing the plans for the downloadable firearms online.
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The dispute over publication of the blueprints dates back to 2015, when Defense Distributed sued the government after the State Department forced it to cease publishing designs for 3-D printed guns, arguing its First and Second Amendment rights had been violated. The government, however, said the plans violated firearm export laws.
But in June, the Trump administration settled with Defense Distributed and, as part of the agreement, said it would allow for the blueprints for the 3-D printed guns to be legally published online.
[Opinion: 3D-printed guns were always going to be legal]
Defense Distributed intends to upload the plans and release them to the public on Aug. 1, according to the company’s website.
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who is leading the coalition of states in suing the Trump administration, questioned in a statement why the Trump administration would allow “dangerous criminals easy access to weapons.”
“These downloadable guns are unregistered and very difficult to detect, even with metal detectors, and will be available to everyone regardless of age, mental health or criminal history,” Ferguson said. “If the Trump administration won’t keep us safe, we will.”
The lawsuit argues the federal government did not conduct an analysis in consultation with other agencies into the impacts of its decision. The states also argued the settlement infringes on their rights to regulate firearms in violation of the Tenth Amendment.
Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia joined the lawsuit against the Trump administration.
