Coda: Print Your Own--Handgun? OH YEAH!

Blueprints for 3D-plastic gun downloaded 100,000 times in 2 days before the U.S. State Department ordered the site to take down the weapon designs.

The U.K.'s Daily Mail reports: " Blueprints for the first-ever plastic gun produced on a 3-D printer, that can pass through metal detectors, have been downloaded over 100,000 times since it was posted to the web on Monday.

"Designs for the 'Liberator' pistol were posted online by Defense Distributed but on Thursday the U.S. State Department ordered the website to take down the blueprints, on the basis that the plans could violate export regulations."

"The blueprints, that could be produced on 3-D printers costing as little as $1,000, were seen as a breakthrough because no one has previously designed such a weapon that could withstand the pressure of firing modern ammunition.

"The State Department Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance ordered Cody Wilson, the 25-year-old founder of the site, to remove the online blueprints for the 3D-printable 'Liberator' handgun, Forbes magazine reported.  The State Department office is reviewing whether the files violate export control laws for weapons, known as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), since the plans were downloaded overseas.

"Wilson, currently a law student at the University of Texas in Austin, says his group will comply with the State Department directive. "

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