By Andrew Weber and Alain Stevens
Cody Wilson, (click here) the self-described anarchist and figurehead of the 3D-printed gun movement, led investigators on an international manhunt last year before being arrested and charged with having sex with a minor. In August, he struck a deal with Travis County prosecutors, pleading guilty to a lesser charge of injury to a child, which is a felony.
He received seven years of probation and is now a registered sex offender, banned from being within 500 feet of playgrounds, schools and any other “child safety zone.” He can no longer carry a handgun in public and, under federal law, he is barred from buying and selling weapons at gun stores.
Despite that, Wilson says he is getting back to the business of 3D-printed guns. And according to interviews with state and federal authorities, there’s nothing standing in his way.
Wilson’s return coincides with the upcoming release of the Ghost Gunner 3, the latest iteration of a controversial gun-manufacturing machine produced by Defense Distributed, the company Wilson founded in 2012. The product is advertised to be bigger and faster, and its promoters boast that it can produce parts for AK-47 rifles. The machine is the latest product to capitalize on the growing trend of homemade weapons, which can be acquired without a background check....
