{"id":8842,"date":"2018-07-18T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=8842"},"modified":"2018-07-15T11:39:38","modified_gmt":"2018-07-15T11:39:38","slug":"3d-printed-guns-legalised180720184","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printed-guns-legalised180720184\/","title":{"rendered":"3D printed guns: Legalised in the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">3D printed guns have officially become legal in the United States of America.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">In 2013, the first 3D printed gun were released in the United States. Since then, a legal battle has been going on in connection with commercialisation and distribution. Last week, in the wake of a long legal battle, Cody Wilson and his organisation Defense Distributed got <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">their 3D weapons models back online with the possibility of being downloaded<\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">Cody Wilson, was the creator of the first weapon made with 3D technologies in 2013; the &#8220;Liberator&#8221; which he published online. In less than 24 hours the files, shared by the young man, were downloaded by more than 100,000 people. An act, which\u00a0was stopped by the US State Department, Wilson was forced to remove it, and the topic has been debated ever since. The issue of 3D printed weapons has given much to talk about in the world, due to the ease of access and manufacturing offered by having the online files ready to download.<\/span><\/span><\/p><div class=\"dnati-inside-article-leaderboard\" style=\"text-align: center;\" id=\"dnati-60220021\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/app.swapcard.com\/login\/event\/additiv-defense-2026\/ticket\/VGlja2V0VHlwZV83MDM4MQ==\/page\/UmVnaXN0cmF0aW9uRm9ybV81NjE4Ng==\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"LB (4)\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/LB-4.gif\" alt=\"\"  width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_35088\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35088\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35088\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/es\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/article_guns.jpg\" alt=\"weapons printed in 3D\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-35088\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cody Wilson<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">After almost five years of legal litigation with the Department of Justice, it seems that <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">Cody Wilson and his company Defense Distributed have triumphed<\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">. The court agreement states that the government&#8217;s ban on these CAD files violated the First Amendment, citing that the government has been inflicting censorship on Defense Distributed&#8217;s right of expression. The agreement also found that &#8220;non-automatic 50-caliber firearms are not inherently military&#8221; which was the main argument against sharing the files.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">This is approved just when the North American country is going through a crisis over the possession of weapons after the different shootings and attacks that have occurred throughout the year. In addition to that, since its alleged blockade, the file has still been available and circulated illegally on the Internet&#8217;s dark web and torrent website, where\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printable-gun-darkweb-250720174\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">3D models of weapons<\/span><\/a><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">\u00a0can have a price as low as than $ 12.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_35089\" style=\"width: 654px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35089\" class=\"wp-image-35089 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/es\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/article_guns1.jpg\" alt=\"weapons printed in 3D\" width=\"644\" height=\"362\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-35089\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">the &#8220;Liberator&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">\u201c\u00a0<em>Not only is this a First Amendment victory for free speech, it also is a devastating blow to the gun prohibition lobby.\u00a0For years, anti-gunners have contended that modern semi-automatic sport-utility rifles are so-called \u2018weapons of war,\u2019 and with this settlement, the government has acknowledged they are nothing of the sort.<\/em> &#8221; was the statement made by Alan Gottlieb, SAF founder and Executive Vice President, in a press release after the verdict.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">3D Printed Guns: Back Online?<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">After this approval, it is expected that <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">as of August the 1st this year, the Defense Distributed organisation will once again put its 3D weapons models online. <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">The agreement has given Wilson the right to publish his models on the Internet, but has opened up for a new debate; that of home-made weapons and their difficult detection in the United States and around the world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">Wilson&#8217;s organisation hopes to be a repository of 3D printed weapons models, with different semiautomatic weapons. This, in addition to being <\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">a network in which users can share their models on all types of firearms<\/span><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">. Although they are only allowed to share files of semi-automatic weapons. 3D printed guns is something that has alarmed a large part of the citizens, since with this the regulation of the possession of weapons will be almost impossible. Something that does not only alarm the Anglo-Saxon countries but the whole world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Main issue: &#8220;Ghost Gun&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One of the main problem for many is when it comes to regulation and &#8220;Ghost guns&#8221;. The current system of regulation relies on a gun contain a serial number to identify the weapon and who it belongs to. But 3D printing components makes it possible for people, even though a serial number should be included by law, to reach the ultimate goal of owning a weapon without set number on it. Simply put a &#8220;Ghost gun&#8221; that can&#8217;t be tracked as such.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\">Do not miss the video about the development of homemade weapons and 3D printed guns here:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-_ayHfaHCXQ\" width=\"700\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">What is your opinion on 3D printed guns and the online distribution of them?\u00a0Let us know in a comment below or on our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3Dnatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/3Dnatives_en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0pages! And remember to sign up for our free weekly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printing-newsletter\/\">Newsletter<\/a>, to get all the latest news in 3D printing send straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n<div class=\"dnati-after-content\" id=\"dnati-3811144281\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/amcoe.org\/event\/design-for-additive-manufacturing-design-at-elevation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"DfAM course-850&#215;150\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg 850w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-600x106.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-768x136.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-160x28.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>3D printed guns have officially become legal in the United States of America. In 2013, the first 3D printed gun were released in the United States. Since then, a legal battle has been going on in connection with commercialisation and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6060,"featured_media":8852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8842"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8886,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8842\/revisions\/8886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}