In the End, Everything Will Be Claimed': Creator of First 3D-Printed Gun Highlights Creeping Gov't Control of Technology

Cody Wilson tests the 3-D Printed Gun (Photo: Defense Distributed)

In a few short months, the founder of Defense Distributed Cody Wilson has gone from a man with an idea to a man who has helped change history.

Having completed and tested their first functional handgun made completely with a 3D printer, built almost entirely out of plastic, Wilson and his team now find themselves in the crosshairs of a number of government figures seeking to ban such technology.

Though Wilson received permission from the government to manufacture firearms, and publicly stated on national television that he planned to put the blueprints on the Internet for the world to see, he recently received a letter from the State Department saying his organization might be in violation of arms exports statutes.

Apparently releasing the blueprints on the Internet qualifies as exportation.

Wilson appeared once more on the Glenn Beck program Monday to discuss the new developments, engaging in a highly ideological conversation with Beck about God-given rights and the government's role.

After Beck observed that the government seems to be arguing that Americans have a right to access whatever information and ideas they want, but that right is limited to our borders, Wilson said government's actions are more than likely a political response to Defense Distributed scoring "too many points."

But more than that, Wilson said we're not so much dealing with firearms regulation as "what can be put into the public domain and how."

"It's a demonstration of claiming everything in the national security interest," he said.  "They say, 'well, your useless plastic gun can't be shared with other people. It's important to national security.'  In the end, everything will be claimed..."

It seems to be "consistent [with] the total bureaucratization of social space itself," Wilson continued.

Beck concluded the segment by recognizing Wilson's role in history and noting that, while they may not agree on everything, they do agree that "ideas are not dangerous; it's the people who use them."

Watch the entire two-part interview, below:

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