Arkansan Inventor of 3D Printed Gun causing International Controversy, possible jail time
CABOT (KATV) - An Arkansan from Cabot is causing international controversy as the brains behind the 3D printed gun.
Cody Wilson is 25 year-old graduate of UCA, who went from being named student government president and liberal arts student of the year to being named one of the 15 most dangerous people in the world by Wired magazine last year.
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"What we've done is explode the entire paradigm by saying look now it's out there, anyone can have it. It isn't given stewardship and by that, there's no central point of failure or compromise or pollution. It's sort of liberalized or liberated," Wilson said.
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The U.S. Department of state sent Defense Distributed a letter saying that the department was reviewing if the organization had violated foreign arms trade regulations. ITAR regulations require technical defense data exports receive authorization from the State Department first.
"We sought to kind of reproduce that, psychological, you could call it terror. By saying in a sense, we have a released a gun into the Internet. This gun is now available to anyone in the world at anytime, whether they're on our side or not," Wilson said.
Violating these regulations could land Wilson in prison, facing fines or both.
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"The U.S. government views the export of defense articles and defense services as an integral part of safeguarding U.S. national security and furthering U.S. foreign policy objectives. The United States is cognizant of the potentially adverse consequences of indiscriminate arms transfers and, therefore, strictly regulates exports of defense items and technologies to protect its national interests and those interests in peace and security of the broader international community."
http://www.katv.com/story/23868654/arkansan-inventor-of-3d-printed-gun-causing-international-controversy