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Gun activist who put 3D blueprints online shrugs off potential murders

Cody Wilson says "We should expect and have a mature attitude that bad things can happen."

Cody Wilson on Fox News Sunday
Cody Wilson on Fox News Sunday. CREDIT: Fox screenshot.

Cody Wilson, the 25-year-old radical libertarian whose Defense Distributed has posted online blueprints for 3D-printed guns and has fought in court for the legal right to do so, knows that his actions may lead to gun violence and murders. But, he explained on Fox News Sunday, this is why we have a Second Amendment.

Asked by host Chris Wallace on Sunday morning about the foreseeable impact of his efforts, Wilson showed no concern for the deaths he could enable.

“I literally believe in the Second Amendment, to the point that it’s alright and it should be expected that there will be social costs for protecting a right like this,” he answered. “Why is the people’s right to keep and bear arms on the Bill of Rights? Why is it even protected? Because we know that there are downsides and that there are consequences to allowing free people to own the means of self defense. Of course we should expect and have a mature attitude that bad things can happen.”

Wallace pointed out Congress has enacted laws to prevent certain people from having guns, including convicted felons, and to require serial numbers to make it possible to trace weapons. By making it easy for anyone with access to a 3D printer to make a plastic gun, criminals who are not able to legally purchase or own guns could have yet another way to circumvent criminal background checks.

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Wilson dismissed this argument, claiming that the government has “never regulated the production of firearms that you’re allowed to own.” Ignoring the fact that convicted felons are prohibited from possessing firearms, even if they produce them themselves, he mocked elected officials who have expressed concern about his efforts.

“I’m sorry that a bunch of politicians woke up to the reality of this just last week, but this is the way it’s always been,” he concluded.