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3D-printed gun advocate Cody Wilson resigns from Defense Distributed
Cody Wilson, the man behind the 3D-printed gun company Defense Distributed, has stepped down as CEO of the company. Paloma Heindorff, who has taken over as the chief executive, said in a press conference today that it was Wilson's decision to resign and he would no longer have any role at the company.
3D gun distributor Cody Wilson deported to the US
Authorities aren't wasting any time bringing Cody Wilson, the owner of 3D-printed gun maker Defense Distributed, back to the US. Taiwan officials deported Wilson to the US on September 22nd following his arrest a day earlier over his annulled legal status in the area. It wasn't clear where in the US Wilson was headed, although a Texas city is a possibility given the US arrest warrant issued for him in state over allegations he paid for sex with an underage girl.
3D gun publisher Cody Wilson was arrested in Taiwan
Cody Wilson, owner of Defense Distributed, a company currently involved in a legal battle over whether it can legally sell plans for 3D-printed guns, has been arrested in Taiwan, BuzzFeed News reports. Wilson was charged with sexual assault earlier this week for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old girl in Austin, Texas. He was reportedly arrested today in Taipei after checking into a hotel.
Owner of 3D-printed gun company wanted on sexual assault charge
Cody Wilson, owner of Defense Distributed and at the center of lawsuits over the ability to sell plans for 3D-printed guns online, is now wanted by the US Marshals. Wilson has been charged with sexually assaulting a child in Texas, and Austin Police have said that his last known location is in Taipei, Taiwan. Wilson is accused of committing the sexual assault on a 16 year old in an Austin hotel on August 15th and paying her $500, after the two started talking on SugarDaddyMeet.com where he used the name "Sanjuro." Police said that he identified himself to the girl, and that surveillance footage from the hotel shows them together. During a press conference, the Austin Police said that Wilson had missed a planned flight back from Taiwan, and that they are putting together plans to arrest him if he does not come back and surrender. Last month Wilson said he would sell plans for the guns via his website and deliver them via email, USB stick or other file transfer methods, despite the efforts of state attorneys to stop him.
Seattle judge blocks release of designs for 3D-printed guns
Today U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik granted a temporary restraining order sought by eight state attorneys general and the District of Columbia to block the sale of designs for 3D-printed guns. Based on a settlement between Defense Distributed and the US Department of State, they could have gone on sale starting tomorrow, but now that is on hold. In both the House and Senate, bills were introduced today to block the sales, and this morning the President tweeted the plan "doesn't seem to make much sense!" The New York Times reports that in his ruling, Judge Lasnik said there are First Amendment concerns, but said the states had established a "likelihood of irreparable harm." State AGs argue that the Trump Administration's settlement "gives criminals and terrorists access to downloadable, untraceable and undetectable 3D-printed weapons." White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley said to the AP that the administration would "will continue to look at all options available to us to do what is necessary to protect Americans while also supporting the First and Second amendments."
You can legally download 3D-printed gun designs next month
3D gun printing advocate Defense Distributed has emerged triumphant in a legal battle to freely publish online blueprints that could allow users to manufacture firearms.
London museum turns 3D-printed Liberator guns into works of art
Home to some of the world's rarest pieces of art, London's Victoria & Albert (V&A) museum has just added a modern, yet controversial piece to its collection: the world's first 3D-printed weapon. The museum has managed to get its hands on the two prototype Liberator pistols which were successfully fired by their creator Cody Wilson back in May, offering London's culture lovers the chance to view the original $25 do-it-yourself plastic firearm in all its glory. The gun has come under fire for supposedly aiding terrorist threats, leading the State Department to demand Defense Distributed take down online copies of the Liberator's schematics. The V&A could have simply printed their own models, downloading the blueprints like 100,000 other people, but Wilson claims the originals add a sense of authenticity. One of the models is so authentic, it'll go on show with half of its right side blown off, because, y'know, guns.
3D-printed firearm plans downloaded 100,000 times, State Department steps in
That didn't take long -- just days after its first test fire, the Liberator, a 3D-printed pistol designed by Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson, has caught the attention of the federal government. It's hardly a surprise: the arm's blueprints were downloaded more than 100,000 times since going live on DefCAD this week. It's not the amount of downloads that's causing trouble, though, it's who is downloading them. In a letter from the US State Department, Wilson was told that it's a violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to "export any defense article or technical data for which a license or written approval is required without first obtaining the required authorization from the DDTC (Directorate of Defense Trade Controls)." The letter goes on to explain that these downloads legally count as exports under the law, telling Wilson to remove the plans from public access immediately. "That might be an impossible standard," Wilson told Forbes. "But we'll do our part to remove it from our servers." As it turns out, most of the gun's downloads were served via Mega, making full removal near impossible. Still, Wilson seems optimistic about the situation, explaining to Forbes that conversation will help mold the discussion on 3D printed weaponry. "Is this a workable regulatory regime? Can there be defense trade control in the era of the internet and 3D printing?" We're looking forward to discovering the answer ourselves.
The Liberator, the first completely 3D-printed gun, gets test-fired (video)
The (almost) all-plastic 3D-printed Liberator pistol was announced by Defense Distributed late last week, but with the gun's blueprints and construction details now live on the company's own DefCAD design site, it's also released a video taken during its testing. In front of a Forbes onlooker, the clip apparently shows a .380 caliber bullet being fired by the Liberator. The only non-plastic part of the design is a common nail, which acts as the firing pin. Defense Distributed's founder Cody Wilson has worked over a year on the project, apparently citing the one-shot pistols that were designed to be air-dropped over France during World War II as inspiration -- also called the Liberator. This modern version is, however, formed of 15 components made inside a Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer. The video of the test shot and more details are right after the break.
