By John Crump
Austin Texas –-(Ammoland.com)- On the heels of the Department of Justice ruling that allows Defense Distributed to release their CAD and CNC files on the internet for the 3D printing of firearms, Defense Distributed received notice from Los Angeles and New Jersey threatening to sue their company if they released the 3D ghost gun files.
Defense Distributed and The Second Amendment Foundation is taking the fight right back to them by launching a lawsuit of their own against New Jersey District Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Los Angeles City Attorney Michael Feuer. Defense Distributed is claiming that threatening a lawsuit to try to prevent the releasing of the files violates their Constitutionally protected speech, the Dormant Commerce Clause, the Right to Bear Arms, and the Supremacy Clause.
The letter that Defense Distributed received from New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal threatened legal action if Defense Distributed released the files.
According to Grewal, publishing the data would violate New Jersey’s public nuisance laws. The cease and desist letter claimed that New Jersey would take legal action by August 1st if Defense Distributed refused their demands.
Grewal stated, “[p]osting this material online is no different than driving to New Jersey and handing out hard-copy files on any street corner.”
“Letter takes only vague and general positions regarding nuisance and negligence law,” responded Defense Distributed to the New Jersey letter. “All actions contemplated by Defense Distributed are fully protected by the First Amendment, and [Grewal’s] attempts to prevent such actions constitute an unconstitutional prior restraint and otherwise violate the United States Constitution and the New Jersey Constitution.”
“I was unwilling to tolerate New Jersey’s legal threats,” Cody Wilson, Founder of Defense Distributed told AmmoLand. “My company and all Americans have the unquestioned right to share this information.”
In the letter from the city of Los Angeles to Defense Distributed Feuer wrote the publication of the files “would pose a direct and immediate threat to public safety in the City of Los Angeles and cause numerous violations of California and City laws designed to protect the public from gun violence.”
Feuer further claimed that the “Defense Distributed’s blueprints” may violate California civil and criminal law. He stated that “his office is authorized to file lawsuits to ‘enjoin’ the manufacture, importation, or possession of an undetectable firearm.”
Feurer seems to have taken to Twitter to express his anti-gun sentiments.
City Atty Mike Feuer & @ManhattanDA Cyrus Vance, Jr. to @StateDept: NO #DIY #guns! #gunviolence #GunControl #gunsense ▶▶https://t.co/5dfgTpmMxG @ProsecutorsAGV pic.twitter.com/ePZJA6Gbu3
— LA City Attorney (@CityAttorneyLA) July 28, 2018
The link goes to “Prosecutors Against Gun Violence,” which is an anti-gun group that is chaired by Feuer. He also expressed a belief the Defense Distributed should not share the files under any circumstances. His crusade seems more ideologically motived than legally motived.
Defense Distributed and The Second Amendment Foundation is asking the court for a declaration, and injunctive relief to prevent both New Jersey and the city of Los Angeles from threatening a lawsuit against Defense Distributed.
Defense Distributed filed the lawsuit in The United States District Court for The Western District of Texas And Austin Division. Defense Distributed locates their servers in Texas so this district court would have jurisdiction over the case.
The LA’s Attorney’s Office and the New Jersey District Attorney’s Office did not return AmmoLand’s request for comments at the time of publication.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.
Turban man could just get on his camel and head east for at least 200 miles then turn down to the bottom of the ocean.
Since when do Americans need to take orders from non American posers. Get out and leave us alone.
There should be a law that makes it illegal to run for public office, or to be appointed to one, unless the proposed office holders family has had legal citizenship for over 100 years. Seems to me that newcomer Commie globalists are being weasled into our gov by the likes of Goldman Sucks et al. Our NJ governor was an employee of the International Bankster Gangsters Goldman Sucks, and he appointed the foreigner as the NJ Attorney General. The AG doesn’t even try to hide it by dressing as an assimilated American. Nostradamus made a prediction about “the man with… Read more »
Need to include Washington state attorney general Ferguson in this legal action.
These imbeciles know that plastic guns are already available, and that they are all detectable by any metal detector. They are doing what leftists always do- create fear and suspicion- to whip up support for their ultimate goal of complete disarmament of all private citizens. Fear-mongering and division are their favorite weapons.
The circumstances are unfortunate, but I’m glad we can finally start to see what I’ve believed about many (perhaps most) prosecutors for a long time. I call myself a pro-gun, pro-individual freedoms democrat, because there’s no accepted term that defines someone who opposes a selection of major, controversial, party line issues on both sides. I would prefer a world where narrowly defining ones political party was considered bad practice, but I hope regardless of party politics, those of us demanding protection of the 2nd amendment, and personal freedoms can finally recognize the abuses committed by prosecutors, and the local election… Read more »
I think the 3D gun is a single shoot firearm. Crooks need more than ONE gun to carry out a crime. remember , one gun, one shot.
One question to ask yourselves…..What’s more dangerous 1. a single shot plastic gun or 2. A sanctuary city that protects & harbors criminal illegals that also cross the state borders and do crime in other cities & states.
Yeah they are really worried about peoples safety….My A$$
I heard the “invisable gun” routine on one of the PROPAGANDA channels on the East Coast this morning. These ANTI-American CONTROL FREAKS need to SHUT their brains off. Or at least keep their mouths SHUT.
Law abiding Americans will not use a LEGALLY acquired weapon in an unlawful manner.
Perhaps these DemocRATic communist/muslem party members should go after the CRIMINALS who DO NOT obey the laws.
Perhaps these individuals can get the “bleeding heart judges” to stop putting CONFIRMED CRIMINALS back onto the street after getting a WARNING (which means nothing to a criminal).
All they need to do is to make murder illegal!! Oh…wait.. Maybe they can just pass a law that makes it illegal to break the law?.
You do know that Grewal is hiding his own 3d printer in the Jiffy Pop cover on his head… Der Feuer wants you disarmed, sound familiar, sounds like the 40’s again ? And the brain dead people of Jersey voted these two assclowns into office. Smart………………. NOT !
New Jersey gets worse all the time. It was bad when I left 30 yrs. ago. And it’s ‘disease’ is spreading.
TURBAN MAN!!!
So seriously these liberal idiots think criminals and persons prohibited are going to run out and buy 3D printers which cost thousands of dollars just so that they can make a 3D printed handgun. I am thinking these folks need to pull there heads out of there butts and actually do some research on this technology instead of panicking and making silly statements.
@DW, Yes, they do, but they won’t unless we write them and tell them why they are being stupid! They are already transmitting their stupidity to president Trump.
@WildBill- writing to these idiots is futile and a waste of time and money. They are dead set on disarming the entire population and have become insanely bent on doing so. This is the state that banned the sale of BB guns to persons under 16. And has banned bb and pellet guns capable of more than a certain “power” level. And banned bb and pellet guns equipped with “silencers”. They have lost all semblance of rational thought process and do not read nor respond to email or phone calls or letters which appear to be in opposition to their… Read more »
@Some are dead set to disarm us. Some think it sounds like a good idea and can not think of why not. Trump is one of those. We need to help them think. Whitehouse.gov/contact No Second Amendment. No second term!
Oh so new trashy Jersey owns the internet now? Trashy Jersey girls feel it’s ok to censor and violate our rights. Puc new Jersey! Sue the hell out of them! I’m on board!
Maybe they can shut down the internet in NJ and LA… to prevent the citizens of those locations from being exposed to info deemed by their governments to be unsuitable for the population to consume.
It’s already illegal for a citizen in NJ to manufacture their own forearm, I guess the AG doesn’t know that or most likely he doesn’t trust the good citizens to be honest.
But in NJ, it’s OK for the bad ‘residents’. Laws only apply to law abiding people. To others, it’s just free toilet paper.
@VT Patriot-correct in your assessment except for the fact that in NJ all “residents” are termed “subjects” by those in charge. Subtle difference? Maybe to some but not to me. The government is supposed to be “subject” to the citizens in this country, not vice versa.