Can’t Stop the Signal, Part II

Various groups are attempting to shut down sites that share CAD drawings. Also, a look at the court’s lawless TRO.

Yesterday, Alyssa Milano’s NoRA (wow, that’s just so clever) group managed to get codeisfreespeech.com shut down briefly, but they relocated and have come back online.

I have to admit, it checks all the boxes for being the work of Ladd Everitt, formerly of CSGV. Maybe it’s one of his protégés, because last I checked Ladd was still wasting his time with George Takei. But #DownloadableDeath is the kind of over the top hysterics that Ladd could be rightly proud of.

If you’re looking for an alternate source for all your 3D CAD needs, you need to look no further than here. Also:

Tam’s reaction to that is pretty much spot on. I’m really hoping the civil rights lawsuits here are going to be epic.

If you want to view the actual TRO issued against Defense Distributed, you can find it here. I would actually argue that Pennsylvania has no standing to join this suit, since making a firearm at home is not illegal under Pennsylvania law. There is no Pennsylvania law our Governor and Attorney General can articulate that Defense Distributed publishing CAD drawings would undermine. Pennsylvania’s entry into this suit is grandstanding, and that’s about it.

If you don’t want to read the whole TRO, I can sum it up for you.

“Because I, judge, sez, you have a strong likelihood of succeeding on the merits, and this downloadable plastic gun mumbo jumbo sounds scary, a Temporary Restraining Order you can haz!”

But seriously, I will try to explain the issue as best I can, and as best as I understand it. The Plaintiffs here, the various state AGs, contend that the Trump Administration has to go through the rule making process prescribed by the Administrative Procedures Act if they want to change the USML (United State Munitions List). The Administration has agreed to pursue that rule change. But in the mean time, Defense Distributed was granted a license to share their CAD drawings. It’s hard for me to see how the various state AGs have a strong likelihood of succeeding on the merits. The AECA allows the President to grant waivers. Defense Distributed has argued that the decision to grant a license is not even judicable, and cites ample precedent that shows in similar context, the courts, even the 9th Circuit, have agreed it is not.

This is not even considering the First Amendment claims here.

Related posts (automatically generated):

  1. National Park Carry
  2. More Lawsuits Against National Park Rule
  3. DOJ Settles Defense Distributed Case

12 thoughts on “Can’t Stop the Signal, Part II”

  1. This is battlespace prep for banning home manufacture and, eventually, home gunsmithing. IMO, of course.

  2. Watch for the courts to rule against the states strictly on export law grounds and say nothing about the amendments just to make the civil rights lawsuits harder to bring.

  3. I think Ian Argent nailed it.

    However, a thought occurred to me and I’m sure it’s been occurring to other like minded individuals:

    Federal District judges have been handing out nationwide affecting TRO’s since Trump was elected like leftover Halloween candy. It’s been a race to the outrageous to see which judge could tick all the right boxes and become the “high profile” social justice superhero to replace “Notorious RBG” on SCOTUS.

    Of course… If an enterprising citizen in say, the conservative heart of the, let’s say 5th US circuit for example, were to petition to have a TRO implemented against NY’s felony handgun possession by non-residents as well as their ban on carrying firearms among other intolerable acts, it would be very easy for our hypothetical district judge to find our intrepid citizen “likely to succeed on the constitutional merits” as a 2a violation by NY.

    makes perfect sense to me.

    1. The federal judiciary is hostile enough to the 2A that such a TRO would be extraordinarily unlikely.

      OTOH, if these are the new rules, they aren’t going to like them by and by once their enemies figure them out.

      1. Just like them, we only need ONE judge…

        The other side has chosen to change their fight tactics, but we haven’t yet.
        We need to.

  4. I’ll also point out that Defense Distributed isn’t actually enjoined by the order.

  5. I encourage people to visit the NoRA website. It is an amazing embodiment of the worst aspects of the Anti-Gun Cult, all on display.

    And it makes perfect sense for NoRA to take a headline role in attempting to shut down Defense Distributed. Because the core anti-NRA aspect of “NoRA” is directly aimed at suppressing 1st Amendment Political Free Speech Rights. NoRA isn’t just anti-gun, they are anti Free Speech too.

  6. Pingback: SayUncle » 3D printed gun stuff

  7. The Charles C.W. Cooke quote is even better when read in the requisite English accent.

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