DEMS/GUNS/STATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “State officials, Democratic lawmakers and gun control groups waged a frantic legal fight on Tuesday [7-31-18] to block the online distribution of blueprints for 3-D printed ‘ghost guns,’ even as President Trump said he is ‘looking into’ his administration’s decision last month to allow the posting of instructions for making the untraceable, plastic firearms. Cody Wilson, a champion of gun-rights and anarchism from Texas who has waged a yearslong legal battle for the right to post the schematics for making homemade guns, has said he will begin making the plans available following a settlement with the State Department ending the government’s effort to stop him. But with just hours before an August 1 deadline when Mr. Wilson has said he will upload many more schematics — including instructions for making AR-15-style rifles — alarmed public officials accelerated their efforts to get courts to prevent Mr. Wlson from moving forward with his plans. Mr. Wilson’s website touts the arrival of ‘the age of the downloadable gun’ on Wednesday [8-1-18]. Critics say the homemade firearms, which can be printed without serial numbers or government registration, would allow terrorists to evade detection and could lead to the widespread distribution of these untraceable weapons.”
–Michael D. Shear and Tiffany Hsu, “Opponents Try to Block Posting of Blueprints for Homemade Guns,” The New York Times online, July 31, 2018