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Cody Wilson Thwarts Another Attempt To Stop Ghost Guns

A new rule is being proposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This will threaten DIY guns industry.

Cody Wilson is the founder and leader of Defense Distributed in Austin. He has also been a key figure in DIY gun movements.

They’ll instead be able to start over with an aluminum block.

The newest version of the Ghost Gunner, a milling machine that’s roughly the size of home printers, will now be able to “take raw materials…in their primordial state…and turn them into guns,” Wilson tells There are reasons. The new regulations will not apply to blocks of aluminum.

Wilson’s business has been targeted by the federal government before. The State Department had previously ordered Wilson to remove plans from his website that were posted for the Liberator, his first 3D printed gun. Wilson brought suit under the First Amendment. The 2018 settlement reached with the Federal Government, caused a media frenzy and an injunction by the 9th Circuit Court against any states seeking to block sharing of files until 2021.

ATF published a new administrative rule of 100 pages in the Federal Register on May 20, 21 for public review. It will alter the definitions of firearms to include “weapon parts kits”.[s]…designed to or [which]You can easily assemble, complete, convert, or restore.

The federal government would require online sales of gun parts to include the same serial number as fully produced firearms. If this is adopted, companies could be forced to close their doors because they don’t want customers to go through the hassle of registration.

Wilson claims that Defense Distributed, the only DIY gun manufacturer pivoting to the new rule is Defense Distributed. This will make it more difficult for his rivals on the market. Wilson states that Biden has “given us, America’s most respected ghost gun manufacturer, a monopoly over the market.”

ATF claims that there has been an increase in crime scene gun recoveries of homemade guns. The agency also stated it regards unregistered firearms to be a threat to national security. Following the Capitol Riot, the Department of Homeland Security focused its attention on “homegrown domestic terror,” which according to the White House is “the greatest terrorist threat America faces.”

Wilson says the new regulation will have the opposite effect because it will mean that more DIY gunsmiths are buying blocks of aluminum instead of gun kits—the sale of which can be more easily surveilled by law enforcement.

“People will make guns. They’re gonna choose gun privacy. He says they will choose to obtain weapons without government supervision.”

Wilson has been accused by some of arming far-right activists. Some claim that Defense Distributed is part of a bigger project to channel weapons to militia groups. He reminisces visually on January 6th in his latest video marking product launch.

Wilson claims that Ghost Gunners can be used by many types of political organizations.

“Our global perspective has always been our view,” he said. “And, of course there is no control I have that will ensure that this equipment goes to the right-wing.”

When we saw news reports about the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ—the short-lived project started by far-left activists in Seattle—he says he noticed participants carrying homemade guns and wearing the “Come and Take It” patches made by Defense Distributed.

Wilson personally identifies with the “the post-political right” because they’re “the only people actually attempting to… resist this accumulation of centralized power control,” he tells There are reasons.

He spoke out about the idea of “postpolitical” at the April 2021 “Bear Arms “n” Bitcoin conference. In his speech, he encouraged attendees to put less emphasis on electoral politics, debate, persuasion, or engaging in any other form of political engagement and focus more on maintaining intellectual autonomy, political sovereignty, creating constraining power in the real-world.

It’s more than that [U.S. politics are]It’s performative but it’s still cringeworthy, and is connected to a pseudoreality that’s farther and further from the truth,” he said.

Wilson observes that ATF’s recent action shows just how disconnected America’s regulatory system has become from its reality.

“These people will give themselves high fives, saying, “Well, we solved gun crime and kit guns in America right?”

Wilsons states that a complete ban on DIY guns in the federal government is not feasible. However, Wilsons claims it’s possible at both the state- and local levels. Defense Distributed sued New Jersey’s Attorney General in Texas for trying to prohibit the distribution gun files. Multiple cities in California have also banned ghost guns from being sold or distributed. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom proposes a law that mirrors Texas’s recent abortion law. It would empower private citizens and allow them to bring lawsuits against those who have distributed ghost gun kits.

Wilson believes that it is not possible to end the domestic production of firearms.

There are many things out there that don’t fit into the gun part category. Wilson says that we will provide the technology necessary to convert these items into guns or gun parts.

Wilson was forced to temporarily resign from Defense Distributed four years ago due to personal legal problems. Wilson was accused of paying for sex to a 16-year old girl through an adult dating site. His legal team thought he did not know that the girl was minor, and had misled her about her age when he signed up. He pleaded guilty to the third-degree felony charge and was sentenced to seven year probation.

Wilson says that you can’t pick your messenger. There are reasons. “I do not pretend to speak for the entire movement. I am responsible. You should also remember that, at the same time [Defense Distributed has]If you have a technological innovation I will show you the way. It’s not my job to wait for your invention or commercialization.

A lesson that Wilson says he came away with from his prior fights with the federal government is that politicians and regulators care most about how they are perceived and that they will back down quietly—as long as those challenging their authority are careful not to publicly embarrass them too much.

The State Department agency previously responsible for regulating ghost gun files gave up its legal fights, which enabled Wilson to make the online library of gun files—DEFCAD—available once again. The Department of Commerce now has a Division responsible for regulation, which permits DEFCAD, to store, generate, and sell the files.

Wilson states, “They simply wrote in their regulations how we do DEFCAD.” So, we have this accommodation. Power does not admit that it lost, but it must tactically retreat.

These places are where power is almost inexistent.

Zach Weissmueller, camera by John Osterhoudt. Additional footage by Mark McDaniel. Intro graphics by Regan Taylor. Additional graphics by Nodehaus.

Photos: Karen Ducey/ZUMA Press/Newscom