These 3D gun plans are still illegal.
These 3D gun plans are still illegal. Getty

A federal judge in Seattle blocked the release of 3D gun design plans Tuesday, a day before the schematics were set to be legally released to the Internet. The injunction came after the state of Washington led a coalition of eight states to stop the release of the gun design plans.

The injunction comes a day before it was set to become legal for 3D printable gun designs to be distributed online. It was illegal to distribute the data behind the printable guns since 2013, but that policy was reversed this year when the Trump administration unexpectedly settled a lawsuit with Cody Wilson, a man who sued the federal government arguing the ban infringed on his right to free speech and to bear arms.

Washington's Attorney General, Bob Ferguson, said at a press conference before filing the lawsuit on Monday that the Trump administration's settlement was "unprecedented and not only disastrous for public safety but undermines our state laws meant to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals."

Ferguson said the federal government was winning the lawsuit when they unexpectedly settled with Wilson and gave him the right to post 3D gun schematics online.

"Two federal courts agreed with the federal government and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case, instead of continuing to defend the lawsuit that they were winning at every stage… the Trump administration abruptly reversed course," Ferguson said on Monday.

President Donald Trump, appearing to misunderstand that his administration had created the issue by unexpectedly settling a lawsuit, tweeted this garbage Tuesday morning:


The New York Times has more details about the case and what comes next, read it here.