Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

So the feds are afraid that people in other countries could get their hands on American firearm specifications? As if foreigners don't already have enough weapons technology of their own?

This isn't about exports, this is about control.

This is an interpretation of the ITAR regs, and would be familiar to anyone who's worked in the defense industry.

It has been against the rules to export technical data (prints, models, specifications, test data, etc.) for defense related items, without a license, for some time. "Export" means giving hardcopy, digital copies, or verbally providing information to a non-USA person... even inside the US! Think of it as an attempt to try and control foreign industrial espionage.

Generally it has been applied to businesses, but applies to individuals, even though it is difficult to enforce. The internet and 3D printing is really stressing the rules. Open-source cryptography has been through all this (google "export controlled T-shirt" for some history).

Of course the rules don't apply to people in foreign countries, so it isn't quite "banning it from the internet", even if it is an attempt to stifle it in the US.