Nine Democrat Attorneys General have sued the Trump administration, challenging an out-of-court settlement made last month by the Justice Department with Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation over release of 3-D gun technology, but the move is being heavily criticized by many readers of Washington State’s largest newspaper.
Led by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who has made a habit of suing the Trump almost since the 2017 inauguration, the group also includes attorneys general from neighboring Oregon, plus New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. In a Seattle press conference announcing the legal action, Ferguson declared, “These downloadable guns are unregistered and very difficult to detect, even with metal detectors, and will be available to anyone regardless of age, mental health or criminal history.”
But SAF’s Alan Gottlieb said Monday that this is the same sort of alarmist rhetoric that was heard years ago with the introduction of Glock pistols, which have polymer grip frames. Anti-gunners at the time insisted that those firearms could get through airport security devices undetected, which was demonstrably false.
Now, several Seattle Times readers are criticizing Ferguson with such remarks as the one left by “Axion44.” That reader noted, “It’s cheaper and far easier to just go buy one. And if you are a criminal, you just go buy a stolen one from the black market. Bob knows this, but he’s trying to make a name for himself using Trump as his punching bag.”
And Gottlieb told a reporter with Seattle’s KCPQ, the local Fox affiliate, “This is part of the Trump Derangement Syndrome. They (Democratic attorneys general) figure if they blame Trump for everything, they can get a win. This has nothing to do with President Trump.”
The anti-gun rhetoric is heading over the top. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan told reporters, “This is not a question of gun rights. This is really, if there was a terrorist or criminal rights organization, they would be cheering today because this is all about how people who shouldn’t get guns can get guns easily.”
“This year, to date,” added Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, “we have already taken 700 guns off the streets. If people have the ability to download these guns arbitrarily, the danger to the public is going to be immense.”
Criminals and terrorists have been getting their hands on guns for decades, Gottlieb countered. He noted that when Defense Distributed owner Cody Wilson originally posted the technology online, around 100,000 people apparently downloaded it, but not a single crime has been committed with one of those guns.
This controversy stems from the lawsuit Wilson filed against the government more than three years ago, with SAF support. Wilson was quickly contacted by the government and ordered to take down the plans on the grounds that it violated the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
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