State Department Orders Removal of 3-D Gun Blueprints

When Defense Distributed decided to release blueprints for "The Liberator," a pistol that can be made using a 3-D printer using almost entirely plastic, they knew they were taunting the government into responding.

That response came when the State Department ordered the company to remove all of their blueprints from their website and to cease allowing downloads.

The government is looking into whether or not the plans are in compliance with a series of arms export control laws known as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, according to Forbes.

"Until the Department provides Defense Distributed with final (commodity jurisdiction) determinations, Defense Distributed should treat the above technical data as ITAR-controlled," the letter read in reference to the plans for "The Liberator" as well as nine other firearm related plans available for download. "This means that all data should be removed from public access immediately. Defense Distributed should review the remainder of the data made public on its website to determine whether any other data may be similarly controlled and proceed according to ITAR requirements."

The founder of Defense Distributed, Cody Wilson, said the company plans on complying with the State Department's request.

"We have to comply," Wilson said. "All such data should be removed from public access, the letter says. That might be an impossible standard. But we'll do our part to remove it from our servers."

Wilson is hinting at how impossible it will likely be to remove every copy of the blueprints now that it is on the Internet. Websites such as Pirate's Bay have been hosting the plans and users on Reddit have been instructing curious users where they can find the plans, according to Forbes.

Within the first two days of release over 100,000 copies of the blueprints were downloaded, according to the New York Daily News.

When word of Defense Distributed's undetectable plastic gun reached lawmakers they were quick to respond. Rep. Steve Israel, D-NY, was quick to draw up a bill that would outlaw weapons like "The Liberator."

"We still need to pass my legislation, the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act, to give local law enforcement officials the tools they need to prosecute people who would make plastic firearms," Israel said in a statement. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, plans on backing the bill if it finds its way to the Senate.

Wilson and Defense Distributed not only seem to not be phased by the potential legal action, instead it seems as if they welcome the challenge.

"This is the conversation I want," Wilson said. "Is this a workable regulatory regime? Can there be defense trade control in the era of the Internet and 3-D printing?"

It remains to be seen if Defense Distributed or Wilson can be brought up on any criminal charges. For now they have taken the plans down and are fully co-operating with the government.

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