Judge Expands 3D Printed Gun Ban As States Sue To Keep Blueprints Offline

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik extended a nationwide injunction that prevents Defense Distributed from posting the blueprints for 3D printed guns on their website. Defense Distributed had reached an agreement with the Trump administration that allowed them to post the files, which could be downloaded by anybody, but a coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia sued to stop the company from posting the blueprints online. Lasnik issued a temporary injunction halting the company from uploading the files before they could be posted. 

Lasnik renewed the ban and said it will remain in effect until the court battle between the states and the federal government is completed. In his ruling, Lasnik pushed back against the argument that the blueprints are protected under the First Amendment.

The Court finds that the irreparable burdens on the private defendants’ First Amendment rights are dwarfed by the irreparable harms the States are likely to suffer if the existing restrictions are withdrawn and that, overall, the public interest strongly supports maintaining the status quo through the pendency of this litigation.

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