News broke yesterday that the DOJ had settled their case with Second Amendment Foundation on behalf of Defense Distributed over the owner’s, Cody Wilson, claim that the sharing of blueprint codes to 3D print guns was a First Amendment Right. The government argued that the sharing of this information constituted arms manufacturing and dealing, but they eventually caved choosing to settle and stay out of court!
“The Department of Justice and Second Amendment Foundation have reached a settlement in SAF’s lawsuit on behalf of Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed over free speech issues related to 3-D files and other information that may be used to manufacture lawful firearms.
SAF and Defense Distributed had filed suit against the State Department under the Obama administration, challenging a May 2013 attempt to control public speech as an export under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), a Cold War-era law intended to control exports of military articles.
Under terms of the settlement, the government has agreed to waive its prior restraint against the plaintiffs, allowing them to freely publish the 3-D files and other information at issue.”
– PRN
This means guns are here to stay, there’s no stopping anyone now from owning.. printing their own weapon! This is a win for the Second Amendment and gun rights activists, BUT something even bigger came out of this landmark settlement!
In their presser the Second Amendment Foundation makes it clear that..
“the government expressly acknowledges that non-automatic firearms up to .50-caliber—including modern semi-auto sporting rifles such as the popular AR-15 and similar firearms—are not inherently military.
“Not only is this a First Amendment victory for free speech, it also is a devastating blow to the gun prohibition lobby,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “For years, anti-gunners have contended that modern semi-automatic sport-utility rifles are so-called ‘weapons of war,’ and with this settlement, the government has acknowledged they are nothing of the sort.
“Under this settlement,” he continued, “the government will draft and pursue regulatory amendments that eliminate ITAR control over the technical information at the center of this case. They will transfer export jurisdiction to the Commerce Department, which does not impose prior restraint on public speech. That will allow Defense Distributed and SAF to publish information about 3-D technology.””
The DOJ has set precedent now by acknowledging AR-15’s are NOT military weapons. That said, can one conclude all anti-gun laws written where similar language is explicitly expressed, “military style weapon”, “weapon(s) of war” et al, are now open to be challenged and overturned in court!?
As Glenn Beck pointed out on his radio show “this is HUGE!” So huge the media is not running any stories about it because the Left will surely lose their minds when reality hits!!