US: 8 states suing administration over 3D-printed guns

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Eight states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration Monday over its decision to allow a Texas-based organization to post downloadable gun schematics for 3D printers on the Internet.

Defense Distributed was forced to remove the instruction manuals from its website after the State Department ordered them to be taken down due to export law violations. But an agreement the company struck with the Trump administration in June allowed the blueprints to be re-posted.

The blueprints were initially posted online in 2013 and were downloaded roughly 100,000 times before they were taken down.

The states, led by Washington, are arguing that they "give anyone with a 3D printer access to these weapons".

“These downloadable guns are unregistered and very difficult to detect, even with metal detectors, and will be available to anyone regardless of age, mental health or criminal history," Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement announcing the decision. "If the Trump Administration won’t keep us safe, we will.”

The lawsuit alleges that the open-sourced gun schematics make it easier for criminals and terrorists to get their hands on weapons that would normally be subject to regulations.

Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Maryland, New York and the District of Columbia have signed on to the lawsuit, which is being filed in federal court in Seattle.