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For years, Cody Wilson, a champion of gun-rights and anarchism from Texas, has waged a battle to post on the internet the blueprints for making plastic guns on 3-D printers, claiming the First Amendment gives him the right to do it. Plastic guns are difficult to detect, and concerned about making it easier to produce them, the Obama administration had used export laws banning the foreign distribution of firearms to prevent publication of the blueprints. But an abrupt reversal by the State Department last month appeared to finally clear the path for Mr. Wilson to usher in what his website calls “the age of the downloadable gun.” (Shear, Hsu and Johnson, 7/31)

The ruling came in response to legal action Monday by eight states seeking to block a pro-gun group, Defense Distributed, from posting the files. “The proliferation of these firearms will have many of the negative impacts on a state level that the federal government once feared on the international stage” if an injunction isn’t issued, U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik wrote in a seven-page ruling. The judge set a hearing for Aug. 10 to decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction. (Elinson and Nicholas, 7/31)

Washington state Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson called the ruling "a complete, total victory." "We were asking for a nationwide temporary restraining order putting a halt to this outrageous decision by the federal government to allow these 3-D downloadable guns to be available around our country and around the world. He granted that relief," Ferguson said at a news conference after the hearing. "That is significant." (7/31)

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was “looking into” the availability of plans for the 3D printing of guns, writing on Twitter that he had already been in touch with the NRA on the issue. “I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!” the president wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning. (Nelson, 7/31)