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Vanity - Cody Wilson printed gun parts war with US Govt.
Email update from Defense Distributed ^ | 6-10-16 | Cody Wilson

Posted on 06/10/2015 6:55:02 PM PDT by Yollopoliuhqui

We have a lot of ground to cover, Ghost Gunners.

Since our last update we have shipped our initial run of 200 machines, and are now shipping about 10 a day to complete those 300 orders originally scheduled for fulfillment in Q1 of this year. We've broken the shipping delays down from six months to three, and by the end of the summer we'll have six week lead times for current wait list orders. All credit for this is due to the hard work of the boys here at the shop. We overcame significant supplier failures early in the year and are finally catching up because of your patience.

I'll continue with a word on shipping, but I want to update you on events since our last update, some of which are very serious. *** Payments and Order Lookup

A mere two days after our April shipping announcement, DD's longtime payments processor PayPal abruptly began refusing to process our orders and froze up many hundreds of thousands of dollars in our account while they invented a "terms of use review" for our product.

Many Ghost Gunner customers were personally emailed in the week thereafter and actually asked by PayPal for what purpose they intended to use their machine. I found both of these actions outrageous and condemned PayPal with the strongest language when I spoke with their risk department at the end of April, ending our relationship.

Now, PayPal is known to not be friendly to gun-related companies, this is true. And like our payments processor before them they acted like their hands were tied, but rather than cancel our accounts, they froze DD's funds and then demanded a ten million dollar reserve before they'd process any more payments. This happens to be the exact sum for which the company was recently fined for their deceptive trade practices. Coincidence? I'll let you decide. For my part, I told them to go to hell and refunded many of your orders.

Our break with PayPal also limited the usefulness of our order lookup system. Many of you have emailed asking about the status of your order as cancelled or refunded. Because that system is tied to payments status, it is no longer accurate since we have jumped ship and are now using an entirely different payments and ordering system. It's ugly, but I want you to know that you are still receiving your boxes and we are still shipping them, even though lookups and notices don't seem to be accurate.

Wired Magazine recently published a review of the Ghost Gunner, and we're pleased with the demonstration. Unfortunately our most recent payments provider was spooked by the press and we are yet again unable to process further wait list or final balance orders via credit card or bank transfer. Stay tuned here. *** ITAR and First/Second Amendments

The news you've recently heard about the Obama Administration regulating speech related to guns on the Internet is true and actually worse than the NRA-ILA message has indicated. The State Department is now formalizing the power to police all public exchange of data related to any category of munition online. I'm frustrated with the NRA's rhetoric, which is that ITAR has not yet been used to block websites or harm public speech. This is a lie springing from the organization's refusal to develop a position on homemade and 3D firearms.

The Sate Department has in fact harassed and censored this company for two years with the ITAR. Every compliance move we make in an attempt to publish CAD files or gun software is re-routed, stymied or ignored. This Federal power grab isn't a hypothetical, future scenario. It is already US policy and is being used to target politically-motivated speech related to the Second Amendment.

State has even directly threatened this company over opening our Ghost Gunner forum. The forum is literally closed to registration as of today because the US government doesn't want us to be able to support an open-source DIY product expanding your 2A franchise. We are unable to publicly develop our machine with you until this agency has been corrected.

Because of this malicious set of laws, Defense Distributed filed suit against the State Department in early May. We've brought a First Amendment lawsuit and we are joined by the Second Amendment foundation and other legal talents in Texas. I want to emphasize that none of the gun lobbies are funding this effort and neither are they willing. Defense Distributed alone has has funded this multi-year endeavor and only by the success of Ghost Gunner and your patience were we able to afford to reach this filing.

I'll update you all at the right time about this matter in more depth, but our current filings may be found here. Our first hearing is ordered for July 6.

I at least hope that with the NRA's spotlight and the public comment period offered for the new regulations, the reg will be pulled. Comments will be accepted on the regulations until August 3, 2015, and they may be submitted online at regulations.gov or via e-mail at DDTCPublicComments@state.gov with the subject line, ‘‘ITAR Amendment—Revisions to Definitions; Data Transmission and Storage.''

But don't be numb to just what this is. This isn't about firearm industry compliance. It's about divesting you of any free and public access to the means of your own defense; about pruning you from gunsmithing culture and its scientific exchange. Their claim is that gun technology is exclusively commercial and military. You're a pleb and it isn't for you.

Remember that your Revolution was fought for less. *** Shipping into August

By August I expect we will have shipped our original 500 orders. Please keep emailing if you want an order update, as tracking information and fulfillment updates are no longer automated. We've only accepted 100 new orders since April, but in the next week I will call up another 100 from the wait list as long as the supply chain and shipping stay smooth.

We've switched over to new shipping materials to cut down on some of the dings we've seen in getting boxes out to you. Right now damage estimates are as high as 3-4%, which is far too much. Anyone who hasn't emailed me or Ben (bwd@defdist.org) back about bent motor posts or mechanical issues should do so. We're repairing and replacing these machines for free with apologies.

I expect to continue monthly updates on shipping until our order leads are below sixty days. I want to thank you again and again for your patience, and for allowing Defense Distributed to take the lead in protecting your Second, and now First, Amendments.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism
KEYWORDS: 2ndammendment; banglist; codywilson; defensedistributed
Cody Wilson is the guy who invented the Liberator plastic 3-D printed gun. He's being jumped by the entirety of the US anti-gun combine and fending them off by himself. The guy is a 2nd Ammendment hero and needs our support. Check out his many pro 2nd Ammendment You Tube videos. This is for all the marbles, kids. Get off yer butts.
1 posted on 06/10/2015 6:55:02 PM PDT by Yollopoliuhqui
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To: Yollopoliuhqui

2nd Ammendment,,,bump


2 posted on 06/10/2015 7:38:02 PM PDT by piroque ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act")
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To: Yollopoliuhqui

M4L


3 posted on 06/10/2015 7:43:11 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob (an icon of resistance within the oppressed patriots, who represent resilience in the face of SSV)
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To: Yollopoliuhqui; AFPhys; AD from SpringBay; ADemocratNoMore; aimhigh; AnalogReigns; archy; ...
3-D Printer Ping!

Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.

4 posted on 06/10/2015 8:09:48 PM PDT by null and void (I wish we lived in less interesting times, but at least we have front-row seats.)
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To: Yollopoliuhqui
Check 'em out before the FCC starts regulating the internet...the day after tomorrow.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

5 posted on 06/10/2015 9:40:15 PM PDT by wku man ("Weenie in a Hybrid" by 10 Pound Test - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWdLDSB_6gY)
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To: Yollopoliuhqui

Here’s a 2-D printed gun.

__________________
.._...|..\__________________,_
....../ `-—___________—— _____|]
...../_==o;;;;;;;;__ __________.:/
.....), -—.(_(__) /
....// (..) ),
...//___//
..//___//
.//___//

Pretty cool, eh?


6 posted on 06/18/2015 4:02:47 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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