‘Ghost guns’ threaten everyone if White House isn’t stopped, say US states in lawsuit
- The legal action, launched by 20 US states – primarily Democrat and led by Washington – aims to stop the guns’ blueprints from being released online
- According to the states, new rules published by the Trump administration allow 3D-printed firearm blueprints to be distributed ‘with ease’
Twenty US states are suing the Trump administration to block what they call its latest effort to allow blueprints for making guns from 3D printers to be released on the internet, threatening a proliferation of “ghost guns” that spread violence.
Led by Washington state and controlled primarily by Democrats, the states, along with the District of Columbia, said they sued in federal court in Seattle on Thursday, after the government published final agency rules earlier in the day allowing the necessary files to be posted.
According to the states, the new rules transfer oversight of 3D printed guns to the Commerce Department from the State Department, effectively ending Congressional oversight of the blueprints and leaving behind a loophole-filled regulatory scheme allowing their distribution “with ease.”
The blueprints can be used to create ghost guns, which can be difficult to detect even with metal detectors, and difficult to trace because they lack serial numbers.
“Ghost guns endanger every single one of us,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “We’re filing this lawsuit to stop the Trump Administration from further facilitating the spread of gun violence at our schools, our offices, and our places of worship.”
The State Department, the Commerce Department and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.