A Texas company defending itself in a fast-moving federal copyright lawsuit in Orlando has filed court papers declaring that the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson used a 3D-printed pistol and silencer built from digital printing files provided by a Florida-based “black-market operator,” reports the Florida Bulldog.
That assertion is contained in court papers filed last week by Defense Distributed against an entity known as “The Gatalog,” Lake Worth, Fla., lawyer Matthew Larosiere and other principals of The Gatalog. The papers were filed as a counterclaim in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Larosiere against competitor Defense Distributed and its CEO, Cody Wilson.
“This is no run-of-the-mill Copyright Act dispute," days Defense Distributed. “At issue is a full-fledged criminal racketeering enterprise called ‘The Gatalog,’ run by Larosiere and associated principals, that profits by dealing illegally in the digital firearms information that Defense Distributed handles legally. “The Gatalog is a black-market operator in the worst sense, achieving its illegal ends with dangerously illegal means of criminal wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and even threatened murder, stealing business from Defense Distributed – the only firm serious enough to do the work legally – and distorting an otherwise thriving and compliance market in digital firearms information,” the counterclaim says. Larosiere disputes that statement, calling the counterclaim a “harassment lawsuit” intended to divert attention away from his copyright lawsuit. Until recently, the traditional arms industry – companies like Smith & Wesson, Ruger, Glock and Sig Sauer – has had a lock on gun manufacturing. The development of sophisticated 3D printing technology has opened a crack in that enterprise. Plastic 3D printed guns are controversial because they essentially are invisible to law enforcement. They don’t require background checks to own, contain no serial number and are often impossible to trace, and with the right equipment can be 3D printed at home, sometimes without metal parts.
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