Gun Rights

Biden's ATF Can't Stop Cody Wilson's Ghost Guns

Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion of Cody Wilson's ongoing lawsuit against the federal government.

and |

When the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) issued a new rule to expand the definition of "firearm" to encompass "weapon parts kit[s]…designed to or may readily be assembled, completed, converted, or restored," Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson, creator of the 3D printed "Liberator" gun, did what he always does: He fought back.

Defense Distributed previously fought the State Department, which in 2013 had ordered them to remove the digital gun files from their company website. The parties reached a 2018 settlement allowing the files to stay up, and the 9th Circuit Court in 2021 ruled against the 22 states that tried to stop the implementation of that State Department settlement. New Jersey's attorney general has continued to fight Defense Distributed over the right to distribute its gun files and recently lost its appeal to move the case out of the Western District of Texas.

And in this latest case against the ATF, Wilson and Defense Distributed have once again prevailed—for now. In early March, Defense Distributed won an injunction from the U.S. District of Court of the Northern District of Texas that will allow the company to avoid "irreparable harm" by continuing to sell their unfinished firearms components as the case proceeds.

Join Reason's Nick Gillespie and Zach Weissmueller for a live discussion with Wilson this Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern. Topics will include Wilson's ongoing fight with the ATF, the future of "ghost guns" in increasingly hostile states like California, his methods of "practical anarchy," and the underlying philosophical beliefs that compel him to fight these prolonged legal and political battles.

Watch and leave questions and comments on the YouTube video above or on Reason's Facebook page.

Everytown v. Defcad – https://ddlegio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Everytown-v-DEFCAD-Complaint.pdf

Injunction against ATF—https://ddlegio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DD_Injunction.pdf

LAPD seizes ghost guns—https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-31/ghost-gun-manufacturer-polymer80-settles-lawsuit-with-los-angeles-for-5-million

Reason TV: Cody Wilson Thwarts Another Attempt to Stop Ghost Guns—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZRugDpYBuc

Come and Take It by Cody Wilson—https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1476778272/reasonmagazinea-20/