3-D Printed Gun Blueprints Ordered Removed By Government; Instructions Downloaded More Than 100,000 Times

3-D printed guns were successfully used to fire bullets, and blueprint instructions to make the gun from scratch were downloaded more than 100,000 times in a week. The State Department has demanded that new blueprints for the 3-D-printed handgun be taken offline, a mere week after they were posted.

The Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance is forcing designer Cody Wilson to remove the downloadable 3-D printer files from Defcad.org. The gun would have allowed anyone with access to a 3D printer to make a gun from plastic.

Cody Wilson, founder of Defense Distributed, posted the plans online. Now International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) laws are being used as the rationale behind the U.S. Department of Defense Trade Controls request.

 "[Defense Distributed's] files are being removed from public access at the request of the U.S. Department of Defense Trade Controls," the website reads. "Until further notice, the United States government claims control of the information."

Wilson told press that he decided to take the gun information down while "they determine if they have the authority to control the info," he told press. "It's clearly a direct response to everything we did this week. 3D printing is clearly not the best way to make an effective weapon."  But using Wilson's file, anyone with access to a 3D printer could print the gun, which would require no serial number or background check.

"If this is an attempt to control the info from getting out there, it's clearly a weak one," Wilson said.

Indeed, other links to download the gun specs can be found in several other places on the Internet, including highly popular sites like the Pirate Bay.

"I recognize that this tool might be used to harm people," Wilson told Forbes Magazine. "That's what it is -- it's a gun. But I don't think that's a reason to not put it out there. I think that liberty in the end is a better interest."

The gun, called the Liberator, is made from hard plastic. Fifteen of the sixteen parts are made with a 3-D printer; the last is a metal component that is non-functional but can be picked up by metal detectors, thus making the rest of the gun legal. The firing pin is also not made of plastic, but is easily crafted from a metal nail.

The 3-D gun is designed to fire standard handgun rounds. It can handle different caliber rounds via an interchangeable barrel.

Wilson argues that his activities are legal, because the ITAR regulations don't apply to information being sold in a bookstore, and his is sold in an Austin, Texas bookstore he declined to disclose specific information about.

Lawmakers have called for further legislation against the gun, but supporters say that freedom of information and the Second Amendment mean it should stay legal.