A Texas group created to share designs online allowing anyone to produce a 3D-printed firearm at home is suing New Jersey's attorney general for attempting to block access to its website by residents of the Garden State.

Defense Distributed is slated to release its design schematics for homemade guns on its website August 1 after a lengthy legal battle with the federal government led to a settlement earlier this month.

But New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal last week sent the group a letter claiming that making the files available to New Jersey residents would be a violation of state law.

"The Liberator" is one of the 3D printed gun designs offered by Defense Distributed.

The move inserted New Jersey into a national controversy at the intersection of the First and Second amendments. It also prompted a lawsuit accusing state officials of civil rights violations.

Defense Distributed's founder, Cody Wilson, first posted the schematics for a 3D-printed firearm partially made from hard plastics in 2013, provoking a legal crackdown from President Barack Obama's administration.

But the group's argument -- that sharing design files was protected speech -- fared better with President Donald Trump's administration, and a settlement was reached with the Department of Justice in July.

The agreement sparked outrage from gun control groups and officials from states with tight gun laws, including New Jersey.

Grewal wrote in a cease-and-desist letter that the release of the digital files would "flood the illegal firearms market and pose a direct threat to the public safety of my state," calling it a violation of the state's public nuisance laws.

Releasing these computer codes would be no different than driving to NJ and handing out hard-copy files on any street corner. Defense Distributed must immediately drop its publication plans. We plan to sue by Aug. 1. Our cease-and-desist letter: pic.twitter.com/FZBvisPwwu — AG Gurbir Grewal (@NewJerseyOAG) July 26, 2018

Wilson said Sunday he would temporarily block users with New Jersey IP addresses from accessing the files when they are posted. Later, in an email to NJ Advance Media, Wilson said he "elected to correct your attorney general in court" and filed papers in the U.S. District Court in West Texas.

The suit also names Los Angeles City Attorney Michael Feuer, who sent a similar letter, as a defendant.

The complaint accuses Grewal and Feuer of engaging in an "ideologically-fueled program of intimidation and harassment." It calls their legal threats "an unconstitutional prior restraint," a term that applies to efforts by the government to suppress publication of information it deems harmful.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Sunday evening.

I have filed suit against @NewJerseyOAG and @CityAttorneyLA. We will not be silenced. https://t.co/v8NH8FBWzf — Cody R. Wilson (@Radomysisky) July 29, 2018

3D-printed guns are comprised, at least in part, of components produced by printers that use digital files to make three-dimensional plastic renderings. Such weapons are not particularly durable or reliable, but have elected officials in New Jersey raising the alarm because they are virtually untraceable and could be obtained by anyone.

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-New Jersey, said last week he intends to introduce the "3-D Firearms Prohibition Act," which would aim to ban the weapons.

A last-ditch legal effort by gun control groups to block Defense Distributed from releasing the files in August was rejected by a federal judge.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.