3D printed guns site saw 1.5 million downloads this month

By Chris Eger

The plans distributed are primarily for guns long in the public domain, such as the M1911 pistol, but optimized for CAD technology and 3D printing. (Photo: NARA)
As a federal court considers an order to continue blocking files for 3D printed guns by a political activist, those same files have been downloaded more than 1.5 million times from another website backed by pro-gun groups.
The website, CodeIsFreeSpeech.com, has generated 1.491 million hits and 4.51 TB of data since launching July 31, said Craig DeLuz, of the Firearms Policy Coalition. He added the site averages more than 10,000 new visitors per week.
The site hosts free downloadable code and instructions to make seven different firearms. The Firearms Policy Coalition along with other California-based gun rights groups launched the website as a way to counter efforts to close access to the DIY files. They argue public access to the files is a free speech issue rather than a gun rights issue.
However, a federal court is scheduled to issue a ruling Monday to maintain an order blocking Defense Distributed from posting gun plans. The company’s founder Cody Wilson initially released plans for 3D printed guns for free on the Internet until the State Department abruptly halted

Source: Guns.com