A Texas-based group that a US federal judge had barred from issuing blueprints for 3D printed plastic guns on the internet says it has made the firearm designs available for sale.
Cody Wilson, founder of Defense Distributed, said at a news conference on Tuesday in Austin, Texas, that he would sell the files and ship them to buyers on a flash drive.
"Today I want to clarify, anyone who wants these files will get them," Wilson said. "I'll sell them. I'll ship them."
The files could previously be downloaded for free, but US District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle, Washington, on Monday issued a nationwide injunction that blocked online distribution of 3D printed gun files.
Josh Blackman, a lawyer for Wilson, said in a statement on Tuesday that the court expressly allowed Wilson to mail files.
Lasnik did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Monday's decision blocked a settlement between the Trump administration and Defense Distributed, which argued that the US Constitution guaranteed access to the online blueprints under the First Amendment right to free speech and the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
A 3D-printed gun called the Liberator. Source: AAP
"Wilson is trying to push the boundaries over what the US Constitution protects and the court will have to clarify whether the injunction goes far enough to cover flash drives," said Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University who has written a book on gun litigation.
Files available on Defense Distributed's website included blueprints of components for a version of the AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle, used in several US mass shootings. They were available for purchase at a suggested price of $US10 ($A14) each.
A group of 19 US states and the District of Columbia sued the US government in July, arguing that publishing the blueprints would allow criminals easy access to weapons. They said the Trump administration had failed to explain why it settled the case.
"We knew this fight wouldn't end with yesterday's court order, and this is just the latest attempt by Cody Wilson to put his own selfish, asinine interests ahead of public safety," said Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, one of the gun control advocacy groups opposing the blueprints as part of the litigation.
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