Editors Note: AmmoLand News readers have reported that some CAD files from sites linked below have virus and malware hidden in them. As with all unknown files on the world wild web be sure your security and virus protection is up to date & hardened before downloading or visiting. Please re-read our series on internet security and virus protection.
Update: 05/31/2109: Attention State Government employees to stupid to understand how the internet works. Providing off-site links and reporting on the current state of 3D ghost guns is not banned (yet in America) and is our right to do so under freedom of the press. AmmoLand News does NOT host or distribute any files that fall under “banned speech” laws.
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)-The battle over 3D printed firearms is once again heating up. This time the distributors of these files seem to be unstoppable.
The group “Deterrence Dispensed” has started distributing CAD files allowing people to 3D print firearms. Deterrence Dispensed is unlike that of Defense Distributed. Defense Distributed is a registered non-profit that was started by Cody Wilson. Their leaders are well known.
Deterrence Dispensed is a decentralized group. The group doesn’t have a real leadership structure, they do not have a physical address, and their real names are not known. It would be tough for states like New Jersey to sue Deterrence Dispensed into silence.
Much like Deterrence Dispensed is decentralized, they use a decentralized method of sharing files called peer to peer (P2P) networks. P2P networks use the user’s computers to form a neural-like network to disseminate files. Since there is not a central server, there is nothing to shut down. If one node is shut down multiple other nodes pop up.
P2P networks came to fame in the late nineties to share pirated music files. Since that time, it has gone mainstream and is used by multiple companies to distribute data. The most popular P2P format are Torrents.
Members of Deterrence Dispensed communicate using apps such as Signal. Signal allows a user to communicate with other users using an encrypted channel. The encryption hides the messages from prying eyes such as an overreaching government.
The group also uses Discord servers to communicate. Discord is a popular communication (free text and chat tool) method used by gamers. Although primarily used by gaming enthusiast, Discord has been used by a myriad of people, including YouTube stars, to communicate with their fan base.
Twitter was another place where these crypto-anarchists communicated until recently. Last month, at the behest of New Jersey, Twitter banned the most famous member and DeFacto spokesman for Deterrence Dispensed.
Known as only IvanTheTroll, the member has been the target of the Garden State. New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez put immense pressure on Twitter to ban Ivan because he was sharing his CAD gun files which are illegal to download in New Jersey. The social media giant banned the prominent free speech advocate without warning.
Although the pressure of the Democratic Senator did get Ivan kicked off Twitter, Menendez has not been able to silence Ivan or Deterrence Dispensed. IvanTheTroll still has an active Bitchute channel where he shows off his creations on video and he distributes his files through sites like Mega.
Bitchute is a YouTube alternative with more of a libertarian philosophy. The site has become a haven for free speech advocates on the Web. Mega is the site of the New Zealand based crypto-anarchist known as Kim Dotcom. The German-Finnish entrepreneur originally founded MegaUpload before the US Government successfully shut it down over piracy concerns.
Deterrence Dispensed is not the only decentralized group disseminating firearm cad files. FOSSCAD is another group that is sharing their work via P2P networks. They offer a 1.2G torrent on their site with all their CAD designs for 3D guns.
In addition to using P2P networks, these groups also share their files on CAD sharing sites such as Grabcad and Spee<h. Users can find files shared on the Defense Distributed Reddit page.
When Cody Wilson started Defense Distributed, he wanted to make all gun control obsolete. With groups like Deterrence Dispensed and FOSSCAD popping up and other independent developers creating CAD files of gun designs his dream might be coming true.
FGC9 WIP: Lower receiver function test from r/Defense_Distributed
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.