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A federal appeals court has overturned a district court order preventing plans for 3D-printed guns from being shared online.
In a ruling [PDF] on Tuesday, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction obtained in March 2020 by 22 states and the District of Columbia that blocked a State Department rule change removing 3D-printed guns and associated digital files from the US Munitions List, which enumerates controlled weaponry.
The decision means that 3D-printed guns and the digital blueprints to make them can be lawfully distributed, at least until the Biden administration weighs in, as is expected shortly.
Here s more from Courthouse News Service on the divided panel of judges.
In a 25-page opinion, U.S. Circuit Judges Jay Bybee, a George W. Bush appointee, and Ryan Nelson, a Donald Trump appointee, concluded that courts lack authority to review the challenged rule changes.
They found a 1976 law, the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act, and its subsequent amendments forbid judicial review of State Department decisions on what is considered a defense article subject to regulation. Because Congress expressly precluded review of the relevant agency actions here, we vacate the injunction and remand with instructions to dismiss, Nelson wrote for the majority.
SAN FRANCISCO
Plans for 3D-printed, self-assembled “ghost guns” can be posted online without U.S. State Department approval, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
A divided panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated a Trump administration order that permitted removal of the guns from the State Department’s Munitions List.
Listed weapons need State Department approval for export.
In 2015, federal courts applied the requirement to weapons posted online and intended for production on 3D printers, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
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However, three years later the State Department under then-President Trump settled a lawsuit by a 3D gun company and ordered their removal.
SAN FRANCISCO Plans for 3D-printed, self-assembled “ghost guns” can be posted online without U.S. State Department approval, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
A divided panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated a Trump administration order that permitted removal of the guns from the State Department’s Munitions List.
Listed weapons need State Department approval for export.
In 2015, federal courts applied the requirement to weapons posted online and intended for production on 3D printers, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
However, three years later the State Department under then-President Donald Trump settled a lawsuit by a 3D gun company and ordered their removal.
U.S. Court Says Ghost Gun Blueprints Can Stay Online
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Photo: Scott Olson / Staff, Getty Images
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled this week that posting plans for so-called “ghost guns” homemade firearms and firearm parts designed to route around gun regulations is technically legal. The ruling, which affirmed the Trump-era removal of these gun and gun parts from the State Department’s Munitions List, means that the blueprints for these weapons can be sold for export without approval from the U.S. federal government.
Ghost guns came under fire in 2018 when the Trump administration settled a lawsuit with 3D-printed gun maker Defence Distributed. The ruling stated these firearms weren’t to be placed on the Munitions List, essentially allowing their worldwide sale and export. The latest ruling reaffirmed this decision. From the 2018 ruling: