TL;DR: Bitcoin pioneer and notorious Second Amendment (2A) advocate Cody Wilson is returning to public advocacy. Wilson was best known as a 3D printed firearm innovator, and has recently remerged, rejoining the company he founded to launch pre-orders for the Ghost Gunner 3, after a widely publicized international manhunt, arrest, and eventual plea deal in a sex case.



Cody Wilson Reemerges, Launches Ghost Gunner 3

Wilson told the Free Beacon on Wednesday, “It just has been my cause. I don’t know how public I need to be anymore. If it hampers the cause like I thought it would last year, I’d definitely depart. But I’ve been invited to return and, if our people still want me to be there, I’m definitely going to be there.”

By Fall of last year, Wilson was knee-deep in what appeared to be a colossal battle between those who believe in less restrictive firearms laws (or none at all) in the United States versus many states’ attorney generals who think 3D printer gun capability was a step too far. On the surface a less careful media consumer could conceivably be for 2A protection but support “common sense” prohibitions upon everyone with a device being able to print their own firearm.

Wilson’s plight, however, was to connect the issue to broader concerns, wrapping 2A inside the First Amendment (1A), which forms the five foundational principles of the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition are contained in 1A. Speech, it has been argued, is itself the gateway to all other hallmarks of a freer society.

Wrapping 2A in 1A

Bitcoiners instinctively understood Wilson’s argument. The movement itself grew out of cypherpunk, open-source culture, eventually giving way to cryptoanarchy. The fight Wilson was engaging-in was about being able to offer digital files to be downloaded from his website for free. They were blueprints, essentially, for increasingly popular 3D printers and milling machines, allowing at least the lower receiver of pistols and rifles to be molded from the comfort of home.

The US government fought him hard, demanding he take down the files, which he did. Wilson sued the State Department after getting nowhere with the Obama administration, and the case was later settled out of court in 2018 largely in his favor. That’s when nearly a dozen states individually began suing Wilson and Defense Distributed, a fight on-going today.

As that battle was entering its new legal phase, Wilson was accused of paying for sex with an underage female. An international manhunt ensued, and news headlines screamed with glee at the mere hint of Wilson’s impropriety during the search for his whereabouts. Social media dunking began in earnest, and it seemed clear to many observers his public relations days were over. By the Summer of this year, Wilson formally entered into a plea deal with prosecutors.

In Order to Feel Guilty, You Have to Have a Criminal Mind

The terms appear to be probationary, spread out over 7 years, and, all things considered, will ultimately lead to the court not entering a finding of guilt. That means Wilson is not a felon, and his 2A rights are not restricted. “If it had been so severe, I would have been prosecuted,” Wilson maintained, insisting he didn’t know the female was not of legal age. “Obviously I regret it happening. It was a massive distraction. But, in order to feel guilty, you have to have a criminal mind. You have to know you were committing a crime.”

His cause for entering public life again is the pre-order of Ghost Gunner 3 and its promotion. “It’s got twice the build volume. It supports the AK-47 now. It has a variable frequency drive … It’s a totally different animal. It took us five years to figure it all out. But, you know, if we had like an unlimited time and budget to design this machine, this is what this would look like. Only like six parts, I think, are carried over from the previous generation. It’s completely rebuilt,” Wilson explained.

Ghost Gunner 3 is described by the company as “a general purpose CNC mill,” allowing customers “to finish 80% receivers and frames with ease.” A $500 deposit reserves a spot to make an eventual purchase ($2,100 total, including deposit, before shipping). The plan is to start sending out the first batch by early 2020.

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