A Democratic lawmaker sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeoon Friday urging the Trump administration to halt the planned relaxation of export controls surrounding software for 3D printing machines containing designs for handguns.
Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) told Pompeo that the decision would lead to the “unrestricted manufacture of firearms” around the world without the Trump administration taking action to block the move.
“There are several disturbing aspects of the Department’s action. Foremost is the likelihood that weapons will become available to anyone with a laptop and a 3D printer,” Engel wrote.
“With these stealthy weapons in the hands of terrorists, lone wolf killers, or mentally unstable individuals, it will become virtually impossible to protect anyone from gun violence,” he added. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Blueprints for 3D-printed guns can be downloaded starting next month, following a landmark Department of Justice settlement with Second Amendment advocates.
Defense Distributed, a non-profit defense firm, will offer the blueprints for download starting Aug. 1 following a multiyear legal battle with the federal government.
“It’s personally satisfying,” Defense Distributed director Cody Wilson told Fox News, adding America’s gun culture has been “guaranteed safe passage” into the modern era.
Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation were co-plaintiffs in a 2015 lawsuit against the government, which had forced Wilson’s firm to take blueprints for the “Liberator” 3D-printed gun off its website. More than 100,000 copies of the controversial blueprint were downloaded before the government’s clampdown.
The settlement paves the way for Defense Distributed to again offer the Liberator files, and others for 3D-printed guns, on its website. “Under terms of the settlement, the government has agreed to waive its prior restraint against the plaintiffs, allowing them to freely publish the 3-D files and other information at issue,” explained the Second Amendment Foundation in a statement released July 10. – READ MORE
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