SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
For those in the US with a combined interest in 3D-Printers, intersections of the 1st and 2nd Amendments, and legal precedents; Cody Wilson has been fighting the US Government for half a decade.
Short version: after Wilson uploaded his 3D pistol plans to his site, over 100,000 people downloaded it - this drew the attention of the US authorities, who tried to use the International Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to force a take-down.
The authorities argued that by posting the 3D printer plans for a firearm, Mr. Wilson was effectively exporting firearms, and subject to federal regulation. Eventually the Department of Justice dropped the case, paving the way for DIY'ers to publish such things freely.
The article cites 'promises' made by DoJ to move the regulations to another department.
Wired's article: A Landmark Legal Shift Opens Pandora's Box for DIY Guns (archive)
Related: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
Japanese Gun Printer Goes to Jail
Suspected 3D-Printed Gun Parts and Plastic Knuckles Seized in Australia
FedEx Refuses to Ship Defense Distributed's Ghost Gunner CNC Mill
Man Who Used CNC Mill to Manufacture AR-15 "Lowers" Sentenced to 41 Months
Ghost Gunner Software Update Allows the Milling of an M1911 Handgun
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 13 2018, @07:29PM
If only the victory was that clear. The case wasn't won in a court of law, there's no precedent set that distributing gun plans is clearly protected by the 1st amendment. The government offered to settle out of court rather than lose in it, and the plaintiffs accepted instead of spending millions more to attempt to set precedent and have something they could actually bank on in the future.
I'm not sure today's agreement prohibits the feds from trying again in a different political climate, and the wording seems explicitly clear that if they push the bounds into >=50 caliber weapons or such they will definitely be in court again...
So not as clear a victory as could be hoped for.