A federal judge has issued an injunction temporarily halting the distribution of blueprints to build plastic guns with 3D printers. The ruling came in a case argued by Connecticut and seven other states. Success in court followed the failure of a bill introduced by Democrats in the U.S. Senate to try to block the release of blueprints that demonstrate how to produce the untraceable weapons.
A Texas based organization Defense Distributed, won the right to release the documents in a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department; that settlement came after the government had essentially won the case to block the release.
The group has hinted that it would begin distributing the blueprints via its website on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump tweeted about the issue Tuesday, saying he’s spoken to the NRA, and it "doesn’t seem to make much sense."
I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said at a press conference Tuesday he wants to give the president the benefit of the doubt.
“He didn’t know about it," Blumenthal suggested. "Blame it on Jeff Sessions. It was Attorney General Sessions’ fault. If he knew that Attorney General Sessions was going to settle this case, he never would hired him. He can simply attribute it to a misjudgment on the part of the Department of Justice”
Blumenthal called the release, "a self-inflicted public safety crisis."
He was among a group of Senate Democrats, including caucus leader Charles Schumer who announced the legislative push.
