AUSTIN, Texas — Instructions for making guns on a 3-D printer are no longer available on an Austin company’s website, but the plans have been copied and republished on other parts of the internet, raising questions about the effectiveness of a federal judge’s order that blocked access to the files.
Defense Distributed, founded by Cody Wilson of Austin, shut down access to the gun blueprints shortly after U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik of Seattle issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday afternoon, company lawyer Josh Blackman said Thursday.
However, the files had been available since July 27 and were downloaded thousands of times and reposted, Blackman said.
“I argued to the judge on Tuesday that there’s no irreparable harm because the files are out there and you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. The judge wasn’t persuaded by that argument,” Blackman told the Austin American-Statesman.
Lasnik issued the restraining order at the request of Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Democrats from seven other states and the District of Columbia who argued that releasing the 3-D printer gun plans would aid terrorists and criminals.
An Aug. 10 hearing in Seattle will determine whether the restraining order should be converted into a longer-term preliminary injunction.
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