Only 115 downloads before it was removed, but you can still find them on the pirate bay and fosscad. All the fear-mongering on the subject of 3d printed guns is really hilarious. Also the idea that projects like this will somehow "put 3d printing in a bad light" is just absurd; So what if some ignorant politicians try and pass laws to try and suppress this project, and other "physibles" they deem too dangerous for the public? They cant. Even if they got the liberator files taken off line it can still be transferred as an image or on a t shirt. The Official outrage over this and other issues of "unauthorized" 3d printing only go to show that our current political structure is completely incapable of suppressing this technology.

As far as the actual lawsuit goes, I cant see how it could fail based on any legitimate interpretation of the law. Of course its not like that has stopped our courts in the past (read US v Miller on the legality of the national firearms act). But what arguments can they make? It is completely legal to share drawings and CAD files of firearm parts online, even the receivers for rifles and pistols (the only parts that are considered firearms under US law). Many of these files could be put directly into a CNC mill and result in the user having a fully functional firearm. There has been no government outcry over this. No calls that it violates ITAR (even though some of these files actually are US military equipment such as the M16 and its machine-gun parts). The only argument that can be made in the State Departments favor is that 3D printers are somehow fundamentally different technology and that they and their files need to be regulated differently and all previously available manufacturing data. That seems like a really tough case to make. It also seems like it will be really hard to sell to the public when the very open source, unregulated nature of 3D printing is what has brought so many amazing innovations, especially in the area of personal medical devices, prosthetics, etc. People have seen the good 3d printing can do, and any restriction on what people can and cant print, even if starts with some obscure weapon, will end up effecting all other aspects of home manufacturing as well. I hope anyone pursuing a knee-jerk government response to 3d printed weapons realizes this