Perspectives: Cody Wilson is proving that ideas are bulletproof

In this Aug. 1, 2018, file photo, Cody Wilson, with Defense Distributed, holds a 3D-printed gun called the Liberator at his shop in Austin, Texas. A federal judge in Seattle has granted an injunction that prohibits the Trump administration from allowing a Texas company to post 3D gun-making plans online. | Associated Press photo by Eric Gay, St. George News

OPINION — It’s hard to recognize when history is being made because seemingly small turning points only become major shifts over time.

A good example of this can be seen in the actions of Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed.

Wilson has been in the media spotlight for several years now since producing the world’s first 3D printed handgun. Wilson posted the designs online and 100,000 copies were downloaded and distributed worldwide before authorities sought an injunction to close the barn door long after the livestock had departed.

After a protracted court battle, Wilson emerged victorious when the Justice Department ruled that distributing the coded files for his liberator pistol, as well as other firearm blueprints, was a form of free speech and, therefore, could not be infringed.

The prospect of do-it-yourself gun-making has sent gun control proponents within government and the media into an even deeper state of hysteria. Last week, a federal judge in Seattle issued a restraining order intended to stop the further spread of the information files.

He might as well have ordered the tide not to rise.

Not only is the information already safely disbursed throughout cyberspace, but Wilson also nullified the judge’s order not to give away the files by allowing downloaders to name their own price and buy them. And it’s completely legit.

It’s fascinating to see how frightened those in power have become now that they are beginning to realize that they are powerless to stop information that can render their pronouncements irrelevant. Technology has decentralized their influence and is disrupting their consolidation of control.

Forget the panicky “what if” scenarios about how criminals might do something bad because of distributed knowledge. Genuine criminals haven’t exactly been waiting for this technology so they can do bad things.

Should the government run background checks on everyone wishing to learn about machining, material science, basic chemistry, coding, CAD ?

Must we first gain the permission of the ruling class whenever we want to know something?

Wilson’s answer is not only “no” but “Hell no!”

Those who are tempted to dismiss Wilson’s stance as the actions of a mad man are in for a very rude awakening. Wilson is articulate, informed and committed to defending his natural rights.

He shuts down the fear-mongering establishment media lackeys with calm and rational answers to their baseless doomsday scenarios. They forget that an actual victim, evidence of harm done, is required before a person may justly be held responsible for having caused it.

He has informed the politicians who are threatening to rein him in that he’ll force them to shut down the internet so the world can see the depths of their insane lust for control. He’s their worst nightmare — a courageous and principled man who cannot be intimidated by official bluster.

Wilson has decisively outwitted the politicians who have sought to stop him and he explains why he’s also setting a hopelessly biased media straight at the same time:

To read headline after headline about how you can no longer 3D-print a gun, you can no longer have these files, this is not true. This has never been true. I now have to demonstrate this to you, forcefully, to deliver the point.

Those who have gradually awakened to the growing disconnect between our government and the citizenry come to realize that our fantasy about living in a free society doesn’t quite square with reality. Sure, there are less free places in the world but what’s so great about being the healthiest patient on life support?

The change has come incrementally, as it has in every society that has succumbed to the authoritarian siren song of security at the price of liberty. When we fail to learn from history, we naively believe that whatever ruined them will not ruin us.

It’s astonishing how many people will blindly grasp for any reason to believe what the ruling class along with its media sycophants are telling them. Especially when our ruling structures are populated with corrupted opportunists who are supported and celebrated by media shills.

From an early age, we’re propagandized that without the blessings of the ruling class, we’d be little more than cavemen scavenging for scraps to survive. In reality, the red and blue parties cast blame at each other while both are actively fleecing us and trying to control us.

It’s odd that, as distrusted as most politicians are in public opinion polls, the American public still treats them with a deference once reserved for celebrity. We’re too easily distracted to recognize how thoroughly we’ve been played.

As John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute notes:

The malls may be open for business, the baseball stadiums may be packed, and the news anchors may be twittering nonsense about the latest celebrity foofa, but those are just distractions from what is really taking place.

What is desperately needed is the kind of commitment to moral truth and virtue, combined with personal courage, that animated our founding generation and many who followed in their footsteps.

Cody Wilson appears to have been cut from the same cloth as the founders. On moral principle, they defied the King’s demands that they submit to his regulations without question and they won.

Pay attention, history is being made here.

Bryan Hyde is an opinion columnist specializing in current events and liberty viewed through what he calls the lens of common sense. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @youcancallmebry

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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10 Comments

  • bikeandfish September 3, 2018 at 10:38 pm

    Does Hyde even understand his own ironic hypocrisy in his writing? He gets close to setting up a thoughtful hypothesis and then succumbs to the exact fear mongering he mocked just sentences before. And that is thing, Hyde’s entire MO requires a Boogeyman but he doesn’t see how similar he is to the people he critiques.

    • Happy Commenter September 4, 2018 at 12:13 pm

      You never do get it, do you?

      • bikeandfish September 4, 2018 at 3:39 pm

        I fully understand Hyde’s point but recognize it lacks common sense, intellectual consistency/honesty and contains at best a very loose interpretation of the facts. I recognize Hyde is a diehard ideologue whose entire point with these columns is trying to convince an audience of the merits of his ideas; and he rarely succeeds at doing so when you research his ideas instead of just trusting his rhetoric. And one of the greatest ironies is his own disguised interest in power.

        • Happy Commenter September 4, 2018 at 6:07 pm

          You really just don’t get it! You are one dense cookie! LOL

          • bikeandfish September 4, 2018 at 8:25 pm

            Good to know, appreciate the constructive feedback.

          • Striker4 September 5, 2018 at 8:45 am

            You dont get it either ! You are one dense cookie crumb lol !

  • tazzman September 4, 2018 at 1:09 pm

    I will be honest in that I don’t like the idea of 3D printed guns being made by individuals and in secrecy. I think it poses some potentially big problems for law enforcement in the coming years.

    However, 3D printed objects and the technology has vast potential for engineering and construction efficiencies. What would the government do? Would they ban the entire technology to stop the 3D gun market?

    There are no easy answers.

    • bikeandfish September 4, 2018 at 3:41 pm

      I think we have similar ideas. I think there is a valid concern about the use of these products. That said, I doubt its possible to effectively ban them and I wonder about its constitutional merit. And the fact is we can fabricate guns at home already without 3D printers. I mean who didn’t run into a potato gun at somepoint in their youth? Guns are simple items that can be manufactured with ease if you have a basic grasp of the principles.

  • Redbud September 4, 2018 at 11:43 pm

    Last I heard, the 3D instructions had been downloaded 100,000 times already, so it’s already out there on the internet. I am sure if a criminal had the computer smarts to obtain a copy of it, they could do so. I will admit that it’s worrisome a bullet can be fired with no way to trace it, but then again it was probably just a matter of time. Even if his specific version of his gun gets permanently banned, I am sure someone else will post more guns on the internet for 3D printing. Even if the US does ban it, someone from another country could easily post more 3D instructions online.

  • Striker4 September 5, 2018 at 8:48 am

    it’s all over cyberspace and it’s there to stay. They’re not going to stop anything

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