CTRL+PEW Sues California in Federal Court Over 3D-Printed Gun Files

February 11, 2026
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California's relentless war on 3D-printed firearms just hit a major roadblock, as CTRL+PEW—a fierce defender of digital gun rights—has slapped the Golden State with a federal lawsuit challenging its draconian bans on downloadable gun files. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, demands declaratory judgments that these laws stomp all over the First Amendment (by censoring code as speech), the Second Amendment (by blocking self-made arms), and the Fourteenth Amendment (via extraterritorial overreach that tries to police files hosted outside CA borders). This isn't some fringe stunt; CTRL+PEW argues that California's Penal Code sections 29180 and 30630 unconstitutionally extraterritorially apply to servers and users nationwide, effectively turning a state law into a national gag order on innovation. Digging deeper, this suit revives the ghost of Defense Distributed's epic 2018 settlement with the DOJ, where ghost gun files like the Liberator pistol were briefly unleashed before ATF meddling and state copycats slammed the door. California's twist? It doesn't just ban printing or possession—it criminalizes sharing the files anywhere, even if you're in Texas downloading for personal use. That's not regulation; that's a blatant First Amendment assault on information freedom, masquerading as public safety. Courts have already swatted similar schemes—think Printz v. United States on commandeering or Reno v. ACLU on internet speech—making CTRL+PEW's multi-prong attack a legal sledgehammer. Pro-2A warriors should cheer: a win here shreds not just CA's net but the blueprint for every blue-state busybody eyeing the same playbook. The ripple effects for the 2A community are massive. Victory could flood the digital commons with untraceable, unserializable designs, turbocharging home fabrication and gutting ghost gun hysteria. It flips the script on Big Tech's complicity, too—platforms like GitHub might finally host blueprints without fear. But lose, and expect a domino fall: more states aping CA, federal copycats via ATF rulemaking 2.0, and a chilling effect on DIY innovation. Eyes on the docket—this is CTRL+PEW drawing a line in the silicon sand for the right to code, craft, and carry. Stay locked and loaded, patriots; the Second Amendment's next battlefield is binary.

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California’s relentless war on 3D-printed firearms just hit a major roadblock, as CTRL+PEW—a fierce defender of digital gun rights—has slapped the Golden State with a federal lawsuit challenging its draconian bans on downloadable gun files. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, demands declaratory judgments that these laws stomp all over the First Amendment (by censoring code as speech), the Second Amendment (by blocking self-made arms), and the Fourteenth Amendment (via extraterritorial overreach that tries to police files hosted outside CA borders). This isn’t some fringe stunt; CTRL+PEW argues that California’s Penal Code sections 29180 and 30630 unconstitutionally extraterritorially apply to servers and users nationwide, effectively turning a state law into a national gag order on innovation.

Digging deeper, this suit revives the ghost of Defense Distributed’s epic 2018 settlement with the DOJ, where ghost gun files like the Liberator pistol were briefly unleashed before ATF meddling and state copycats slammed the door. California’s twist? It doesn’t just ban printing or possession—it criminalizes sharing the files anywhere, even if you’re in Texas downloading for personal use. That’s not regulation; that’s a blatant First Amendment assault on information freedom, masquerading as public safety. Courts have already swatted similar schemes—think Printz v. United States on commandeering or Reno v. ACLU on internet speech—making CTRL+PEW’s multi-prong attack a legal sledgehammer. Pro-2A warriors should cheer: a win here shreds not just CA’s net but the blueprint for every blue-state busybody eyeing the same playbook.

The ripple effects for the 2A community are massive. Victory could flood the digital commons with untraceable, unserializable designs, turbocharging home fabrication and gutting ghost gun hysteria. It flips the script on Big Tech’s complicity, too—platforms like GitHub might finally host blueprints without fear. But lose, and expect a domino fall: more states aping CA, federal copycats via ATF rulemaking 2.0, and a chilling effect on DIY innovation. Eyes on the docket—this is CTRL+PEW drawing a line in the silicon sand for the right to code, craft, and carry. Stay locked and loaded, patriots; the Second Amendment’s next battlefield is binary.

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