The White House said Wednesday that the Justice Department did not consult President Donald Trump when officials dropped litigation that would have prevented the posting of instructions on how to make 3D-printed plastic guns, which are illegal to own or assemble.<\/b>
\nWASHINGTON \u2014 The White House said Wednesday that the Justice Department did not consult President Donald Trump when officials dropped litigation that would have prevented the posting of instructions on how to make 3D-printed plastic guns, which are illegal to own or assemble.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Justice Department \u00ab\u00a0made a deal without the president’s approval,\u00a0\u00bb referring to a settlement reached by the State Department in June. State acted on the advice of Justice Department lawyers.
President Donald Trump has questioned whether his administration should have agreed to allow the plans to be posted online.
The internal rift came after a federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday to stop the release of blueprints to make the untraceable and undetectable 3D-printed plastic guns. The company behind the plans, Austin, Texas-based Defense Distributed, had reached a settlement with the federal government in late June allowing it to make the plans for the guns available for download on Wednesday.
Sanders said the president was \u00ab\u00a0glad this effort was delayed\u00a0\u00bb so he can review the material. Sanders added that the administration supports the long-standing law against owning plastic guns.
The State Department’s initial action triggered an onslaught of criticism about the possible proliferation of potentially lethal 3D-printed weapons.
Eight Democratic attorneys general had filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block the settlement. They also sought the restraining order, arguing the 3D guns would be a safety risk. Congressional Democrats have urged President Donald Trump to reverse the decision to publish the plans.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein on Wednesday joined the multi-state lawsuit to block the release of the blueprints, saying they would allow underage individuals and people with a criminal history or mental health issues access to weapons.
\u00ab\u00a0Putting firearm blueprints up on the web for anyone to download and use is a threat to public safety,\u00a0\u00bb Stein said in a statement. \u00ab\u00a0People with criminal intentions can use these undetectable, untraceable guns to harm others while also being able to sidestep North Carolina and federal firearm laws. I will fight to keep these plans from becoming publicly available online.\u00a0\u00bb
Josh Blackman, a lawyer representing the company behind the 3D-printed gun, said Wednesday that Defense Distributed may appeal the restraining order.
\u00ab\u00a0We are disappointed by the court’s ruling, which imposes a global prior restraint on free speech,\u00a0\u00bb Blackman said.
Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the State Department got involved in the issue because the online plans can be accessed worldwide.
\u00ab\u00a0The State Department wants to prevent the wrong people from acquiring weapons overseas,\u00a0\u00bb she said, adding that the Justice Department recommended that the government settle the case \u00ab\u00a0based on First Amendment grounds\u00a0\u00bb allowing publication of the detailed plans.
\u00ab\u00a0We took the advice of the Department of Justice, and here we are right now,\u00a0\u00bb Nauert said Tuesday.
Trump tweeted Tuesday that he was \u00ab\u00a0looking into\u00a0\u00bb the controversy and said making 3D plastic guns available to the public \u00ab\u00a0doesn’t seem to make much sense!\u00a0\u00bb
Trump tweeted that he had spoken with the National Rifle Association about the issue. The guns are made of a hard plastic and are simple to assemble, easy to conceal and difficult to trace.
People can use the blueprints to manufacture plastic guns using a 3D printer. But industry experts have expressed doubts that criminals would go to the trouble, since the printers needed to make the guns can cost thousands of dollars, the guns themselves tend to disintegrate quickly and traditional firearms are easy to come by.
Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was concerned that distribution of the blueprints could allow terrorists and international criminal organizations to manufacture guns that can’t be detected. He urged the Trump administration and Congress to act swiftly to prevent sensitive technical data from getting into the wrong hands.
\u00ab\u00a0It is critical that our laws keep pace with technology. We can’t give terrorists or violent criminals an easier path to obtaining deadly weapons,\u00a0\u00bb Royce said.
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Associated Press writer Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

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