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Cody Wilson
Cody Rutledge Wilson (born January 31, 1988) is an American gun rights activist and crypto-anarchist. He started Defense Distributed, a non-profit organization which develops and publishes open source gun designs, so-called "wiki weapons" created by 3D printing and digital manufacture. Defense Distributed gained international notoriety in 2013 when it published plans online for the Liberator, the first widely available functioning 3D-printed pistol.
In 2012, Wilson and associates at Defense Distributed began the Wiki Weapon Project to raise funds for designing and releasing the files for a 3D printable gun. Wilson was the company's first spokesperson, and called himself its "co-founder" and "director."
Learning of Defense Distributed's plans, manufacturer Stratasys threatened legal action and demanded the return of a 3D printer it had leased to Wilson. On September 26, 2012, before the printer was assembled for use, Wilson received an email from Stratasys suggesting he was using the printer "for illegal purposes". Stratasys immediately canceled its lease with Wilson and sent a team to confiscate the printer.
Wilson inquired at the ATF in Austin about the legal status of his project, where he was questioned by officers there. Six months later, he was given a Federal Firearms License (FFL) to manufacture and deal weapons.
In May 2013, Wilson successfully test-fired a pistol called "the Liberator", made using a Stratasys Dimension series 3D printer purchased on eBay. After test firing, he released the blueprints of the gun's design online through a Defense Distributed website. The State Department Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance demanded he take the files down, threatening prosecution for violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). In October 2014, Defense Distributed began selling a miniature CNC (computer numerical control) mill named Ghost Gunner to finish "80 percent" receivers, like those used to build the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
In November 2014 Wilson was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, a pick the publication would notably regret nine years later. On May 6, 2015, Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation filed Defense Distributed v. U.S. Dept. of State, a constitutional challenge of the ITAR regime used to control speech. On July 10, 2018, the State Department offered to settle the lawsuit and Wilson continued to work at DEFCAD. Wilson briefly resigned from the company in 2018 after being indicted for sexual assault. In September 2019, after accepting a plea deal and probation, he rejoined the company.
In 2013, Wilson, along with Amir Taaki, began work on a Bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet called Dark Wallet, a project planned to anonymize financial transactions. He appeared at the SXSW festival in Austin in 2014 to discuss Dark Wallet.
On U.S. election day, November 4, 2014, Wilson announced that he would stand for election to a seat on the board of directors of the Bitcoin Foundation, with "the sole purpose of destroying the Foundation." He said, "I will run on a platform of the complete dissolution of the Bitcoin Foundation and will begin and end every single one of my public statements with that message."
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Cody Wilson
Cody Rutledge Wilson (born January 31, 1988) is an American gun rights activist and crypto-anarchist. He started Defense Distributed, a non-profit organization which develops and publishes open source gun designs, so-called "wiki weapons" created by 3D printing and digital manufacture. Defense Distributed gained international notoriety in 2013 when it published plans online for the Liberator, the first widely available functioning 3D-printed pistol.
In 2012, Wilson and associates at Defense Distributed began the Wiki Weapon Project to raise funds for designing and releasing the files for a 3D printable gun. Wilson was the company's first spokesperson, and called himself its "co-founder" and "director."
Learning of Defense Distributed's plans, manufacturer Stratasys threatened legal action and demanded the return of a 3D printer it had leased to Wilson. On September 26, 2012, before the printer was assembled for use, Wilson received an email from Stratasys suggesting he was using the printer "for illegal purposes". Stratasys immediately canceled its lease with Wilson and sent a team to confiscate the printer.
Wilson inquired at the ATF in Austin about the legal status of his project, where he was questioned by officers there. Six months later, he was given a Federal Firearms License (FFL) to manufacture and deal weapons.
In May 2013, Wilson successfully test-fired a pistol called "the Liberator", made using a Stratasys Dimension series 3D printer purchased on eBay. After test firing, he released the blueprints of the gun's design online through a Defense Distributed website. The State Department Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance demanded he take the files down, threatening prosecution for violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). In October 2014, Defense Distributed began selling a miniature CNC (computer numerical control) mill named Ghost Gunner to finish "80 percent" receivers, like those used to build the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
In November 2014 Wilson was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, a pick the publication would notably regret nine years later. On May 6, 2015, Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation filed Defense Distributed v. U.S. Dept. of State, a constitutional challenge of the ITAR regime used to control speech. On July 10, 2018, the State Department offered to settle the lawsuit and Wilson continued to work at DEFCAD. Wilson briefly resigned from the company in 2018 after being indicted for sexual assault. In September 2019, after accepting a plea deal and probation, he rejoined the company.
In 2013, Wilson, along with Amir Taaki, began work on a Bitcoin cryptocurrency wallet called Dark Wallet, a project planned to anonymize financial transactions. He appeared at the SXSW festival in Austin in 2014 to discuss Dark Wallet.
On U.S. election day, November 4, 2014, Wilson announced that he would stand for election to a seat on the board of directors of the Bitcoin Foundation, with "the sole purpose of destroying the Foundation." He said, "I will run on a platform of the complete dissolution of the Bitcoin Foundation and will begin and end every single one of my public statements with that message."
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