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The First Amendment Implications of 3D-Printed Guns

The Liberator 3D-printed gun designed by Defense Distributed
Wikimedia Commons
The Liberator 3D-printed gun designed by Defense Distributed

We’re exploring an interesting technology story that’s been in the national, and international news: 3D printed guns. A Texas company called Defense Distributed wants to publish plans it created that allow people with certain kinds of 3D printers to make their own guns at home. A federal judge temporarily blocked the release last week after a number of states filed suit, arguing that the technology would allow criminals to build untraceable firearms. But, it might already be too late, the plans were downloaded more than 100-thousand times before being they were pulled and are already available elsewhere on the internet. Legal experts say this situation is pretty much uncharted territory with First Amendment implications. We’re joined by one of them, Dr. Pamela Seay, who is a professor of justice studies at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Copyright 2018 WGCU

Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Mike Kiniry is producer of Gulf Coast Live, and co-creator and host of the WGCU podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music. He first joined the WGCU team in the summer of 2003 as an intern while studying Communication at Florida Gulf Coast University.