Department of Justice rules that plans for 3D printed gun parts are protected under free speech

By Mike Ciandella

The Department of Justice has reached a settlement with the Second Amendment Foundation over the distribution of plans to make 3D printed firearms. Under the terms of the agreement, plans for 3D gun parts can be distributed freely online.

The settlement also stated that the Department of Justice did not consider an AR-15 rifle to be an inherently military weapon.

What’s the story on Cody Wilson?

Cody Wilson designed and printed his own gun on a 3D printer. Then he decided to share the plans on the internet. While it is still illegal to distribute plans for an entire 3D printed gun on the internet, plans for all the parts can be distributed freely. These parts can then be printed and assembled into a working firearm.

In addition to plans for working guns, including one he designed himself and dubbed “The Liberator” after a classic World War II firearm, Wilson also designed and distributed plans for other gun parts, including high-capacity magazines. He created an organization called Defense Distributed to help distribute these blueprints.

In an interview with TheBlaze in January 2013, Wilson admitted that the ability to make these undetectable weapons made existing gun regulations essentially ineffective.

In May 2013, the State Department’s …Read the Rest

Source:: The Blaze