“President Trump says he objects to making 3D-printed guns widely available to anyone, regardless of whether they’re a felon or a terrorist,” Ferguson said. “Then why is his administration still moving forward to pursue that very policy? Somebody should ask the president who’s really in charge.”
On July 31, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the private company Defense Distributed from sharing the gun blueprints on the internet. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit failed by Washington and several other US states to prevent the deregulation of "ghost guns."
Ferguson noted that after the states won a temporary restraining order, Trump posted a statement on Twitter that said, “I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA [National Rifle Association], doesn’t seem to make much sense!”
In 2015, Defense Distributed — an organization dedicated to creating downloadable materials for printing 3-D guns — filed a lawsuit against the US federal government after the State Department, citing international arms control regulations, forced the removal of its instruction manuals from the Internet. The organization later reached a settlement with the government that allowed them to move forward with plans for distributing gun designs online.