Attorneys General Ask State Department to Remove 3-D Gun Files From Websites
The attorneys general, including New York's Barbara Underwood, said in the letter that the availability of those files is “a manufactured crisis” created by the U.S. State Department when it chose to allow a company to post them online.
August 10, 2018 at 01:26 PM
3 minute read
A coalition of state attorneys general want the Trump administration to immediately act to remove files from the internet that can be used to make guns with a 3-D printer.
The attorneys general, including New York's Barbara Underwood, said in the letter that the availability of those files is “a manufactured crisis” created by the U.S. State Department when it chose to allow a company to post them online.
The federal agency entered into a settlement with Defense Distributed, a private defense firm, that allowed it to make several plans for 3-D printable guns available online. Some of those plans were widely shared before a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to block them from being posted.
The restraining order was the first step in a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general to reverse the settlement between the State Department and Defense Distributed. Before the settlement, it was illegal to share downloadable plans for 3-D guns online. The settlement only allowed Defense Distributed to share the files.
Those files are now being illegally uploaded by different websites, the attorneys general said.
“We are not aware of any efforts by the federal government to remove these and other downloadable 3-D gun files from the Internet or to enforce federal law against those who have illegally posted these files,” the letter said.
Underwood said in a statement included with the letter that the Trump administration should remedy the situation it created with the settlement this year.
“It's common sense: We shouldn't be handing criminals the tools to build untraceable, undetectable 3-D printed guns. But that's what the Trump administration chose to allow—so we took them to court, and we won,” Underwood said. “The federal government has a fundamental responsibility to enforce the law and protect public safety. The State Department must do its job and act now to stop the spread of these materials.”
The judge handling the case, U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik of the Western District of Washington, set a hearing on the matter for Aug. 21. The temporary restraining order expires Aug. 28.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
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