In the News

Massachusetts state and congressional lawmakers praised a Seattle federal judge Wednesday for blocking a Trump administration settlement, which would have allowed 3D printable firearm blueprints to be posted online, but stressed more must be done to ensure the agreement never takes effect. 

Hours before Defense Distributed was set to publish instructions on how to make guns using 3D printers, U.S. District Court Judge Robert S. Lasnik granted a temporary restraining to prevent such information from being made public. 

Massachusetts Democrats, who had raised concerns that the Trump administration's agreement with Defense Distributed could have allowed anyone to manufacture untraceable, undetectable guns, lauded the court's ruling. 

With the court setting an Aug. 10 hearing set to determine whether the order should be made permanent, however, lawmakers called for additional legislative and legal action to prevent 3D printable firearms plans from being posted online. 

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who vocally opposed the Trump administration's settlement, told CNN that while the president has expressed concern about 3D printed guns, he doesn't expect the White House to push for any action on the issue. 

"Ultimately the (National Rifle Association) has this Republican-controlled Congress in a vice-like grip: After Parkland, we could pass no legislation. After this revelation about 3D guns being downloaded, we have crickets that we're hearing from the Republican side in terms of passing legislation to protect against their proliferation," he said. 

The senator added that while the temporary block is "great news," the issues surrounding 3D firearms are far from being resolved.

"The (temporary restraining order) is by its nature temporary. Because (President Donald) Trump is unwilling or unable to fix this problem of his own making, I will keep fighting to permanently ban online digital files for 3D printable guns," he tweeted.

Markey pledged to block confirmation of Trump's Assistant Secretary of State nominee -- whom he argued would play a key role in the downloadable gun policy -- until the president reverses the administration's stance on the issue and bans online publication of 3D printable gun blueprints. 

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey also pledged to keep "fighting to stop this administration from allowing criminals and terrorists to build untraceable and undetectable guns at home with the click of a mouse."

She called the federal court's order "just the first step."

Healey announced earlier this week that Massachusetts would join Washington, California, Connecticut and other states in seeking to block the settlement Second Amendment Foundation reached with the U.S. Justice and State Departments.

She also led 21 state attorneys general this week in urging Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to withdraw the agreement, which came as part of a lawsuit Second Amendment Foundation filed on behalf of Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed over free speech issues related to 3D files and other information used to manufacture firearms. 

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, praised state officials for "leading the fight to keep these untraceable weapons off our streets."

"We know 3D-printed guns are dangerous," she tweeted. "We don't need to wait for the NRA to give Republicans its blessing."

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, agreed that "these guns must be stopped."

"This is a small step in the right direction," he tweeted. "These 3D guns are untraceable, have no serial numbers and can easily get into the hands of virtually anyone. There is no debate: this is about American safety."

Under the settlement, the government agreed to waive its prior restraint against the plaintiffs, allowing them to publish the contested 3D files and other information, according to Second Amendment Foundation.

The Trump administration further agreed to pay part of the plaintiffs' attorney's fees and to return $10,000 in State Department registration dues that Defense Distributed paid following the prior restraint, officials said.