It appears that the Second Amendment Foundation has reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice in the suit they filed challenging the State Department’s mandate that Defense Distributed take plans for 3-D printed firearms off of their website in the name of national security.

As we reported last year,

Last fall, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Defense Distributed’s First Amendment rights were trumped by national security interests. In plain English . . . John Kerry’s State Department had asserted that Defense Distributed on-line distribution of plans for 3-D printed weapons presented a threat to national security. They ordered DD to take the plans off of their site. As you might expect, Defense Distributed’s founder, Cody Wilson, didn’t take State’s order lying down. With the help of the Second Amendment Foundation, he sued the State Department on free speech grounds. And in a 2-1 decision last September, he lost. Their next move was to ask for an en banc hearing of the case by the entire Fifth Circuit. But in a ruling that was handed down today, Defense Distributed’s motion was denied in a 9-5 vote.

Now, however, in a press release from attorney Josh Blackman, it appears that Defense Distributed and SAF have reached a very advantageous settlement with the Department of Justice. And the release contains this paragraph:

Significantly, the government expressly acknowledges that non-automatic firearms up to .50-caliber – including modern semi-auto sporting rifles such as the popular AR-15 and similar firearms – are not inherently military.

That distant sound you hear are heads exploding on the anti-gun left.

Here’s the press release: