As the feller said, so many minutes ago.
Now there's a feral court ruling that the .gov has a vital interest in suppressing distribution of information on weapons technology, specifically including Defense Distributed's plans for 3D-printable guns.
Indeed, the State Department’s stated interest in preventing foreign nationals—including all manner of enemies of this country—from obtaining technical data on how to produce weapons and weapon parts is not merely tangentially related to national defense and national security; it lies squarely within that interest.
What. Is. This. I. Can't. Even.
The official position of the U.S. Government is now that furriners are too st00pid to figure out how to make zip-guns without detailed plans. Never mind that the plans in question are for a totally lame "gun" that barely works, once, and requires expensive equipment to fabricate; it's information related to weapons!
Under this logic, Royal Nonesuch is a serious menace to national security. His creations can be made from hardware-store parts using common tools. And most of them even last for more than one shot!
This information must be kept out of the hands of foreign nationals!
Additional:
ITAR was meant to keep foreign powers from gaining knowledge of advanced military technology: nuclear weapons, missile guidance systems, and that sort of stuff.
Now, under the vastly expanded scope, it can be used to censor public discussion of technical aspects of common firearms - potentially including technical explanations of why politicians are talking nonsense. Try to explain, for example, what a barrel shroud actually is, and you could be ordered to shush, least a nasty foreigner overhear you and gain forbidden knowledge.
So, yeah. Goodbye First and Second Amendments, all in one administrative decision. Any and all factual information about weapons of any sort may now be declared State Secrets, and public discussion silenced.
And you thought the Official Secrets Act was bad!
Yes, I did mean "feral" up there.
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