Blueprints for 3D-printed guns banned online

A federal judge in Seattle, Washington has ruled illegal the Trump administration's decision last year to allow a Texas company to post blueprints online for 3D-printed guns. Judge Robert Lasnik of the U.S. District Court in Seattle said in his ruling that the administration violated federal law with its July 2018 decision for failing to notify Congress in advance, and failing to provide a "reasoned explanation" of the change in previous policy.

In July 2018 the State Department reversed an earlier decision, made under the Obama administration, to ban posting of the gun blueprints. The Obama State Department had deemed the blueprints to be in violation of federal export laws, as they were downloaded by people outside the U.S. Soon after the Trump State Department changed tack on that, 19 states and Washington D.C. sued the Trump administration to block the reversal and keep the free gun blueprints off the internet.