Four years ago, a 25-year-old University of Texas law student named Cody Wilson published blueprints for a 3D printed pistol – a gun that anyone with a 3D printer could make for themselves. The U.S. State Department immediately sent Wilson a letter, demanding that he remove the plans from his web site, because publishing them, they claimed, violated U.S. Export controls. Wilson sued the government, claiming that shutting him down violated his rights under both the first and second amendments of the Constitution. Recently, he won that case.
Digital savant Omar Gallaga of the Austin American-Statesman’s 512 Tech explains the technology Wilson’s using–and how it might be changing.
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– How a 3D printer could be used to make a gun
– What Wilson argued in court, and what he’s up to now
– How dangerous 3D printed guns might be
