The state of California filed suit late last week against companies behind two websites that allegedly offer computer code and instructions for 3D printing of firearms, as well as firearm parts and accessories.
CA Attorney General used a press release to announce the lawsuit against Gatalog Foundation Inc. and CTRLPew LLC, saying:
These defendants’ conduct enables unlicensed people who are too young or too dangerous to pass firearm background checks to illegally print deadly weapons without a background check and without a trace. This lawsuit underscores just how dangerous the ghost gun industry is and how much harm its skip-the-background-check business model has done to California’s communities. Thankfully, there is hope. We have made progress in addressing this threat in our state and we will continue this good work. California is building a model for policymakers in other states and in Congress to comprehensively address the ghost gun crisis nationwide. I’m committed to continuing to prioritize efforts to protect Californians from an industry that skirts the law to arm people who never passed a background check with weapons designed to end life.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu added:
Ghost guns bypass background checks and leave law enforcement no trail in violent crimes. Gatalog is illegally disseminating computer code that makes it quick, cheap, and easy for anyone, including teenagers, to 3D-print ghost guns and convert firearms into machine guns. They are making it easier to put guns in the hands of dangerous individuals, including those barred from owning a firearm. We’re asking the Court to stop Gatalog’s illegal distribution of ghost gun blueprints, which makes us all less safe.
CalMatters reported that three individuals are also named in the lawsuit. Those three are “Alexander Holladay, who the lawsuit identifies as the Gatalog Foundation’s principal; John Elik, who is identified as its director; and gun rights attorney Matthew Larosiere.”
The lawsuit against website publication begs the question of whether computer code/instruction is a form of speech and whether such speech is protected by the First Amendment.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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