Come and Take It : The Gun Printer's Guide to Thinking Free

Cody Wilson, a self-described crypto-anarchist and rogue thinker, combines the controversial yet thrilling story of the production of the first ever 3D printable gun with a startling philosophical manifesto that gets to the heart of the twenty-first century debate over the freedom of information and ideas.

Reminiscent of the classic Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman, Cody Wilson has written a unique, critical, and philosophical guide through the digital revolution. Deflecting interference from the State Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the story of Defense Distributed—where Wilson’s employees work against all odds to defend liberty and the right to access arms through the production of 3D printed firearms—takes us across continents, into dusty warehouses and high rise condominiums, through television studios, to the Texas desert, and beyond.

Harkening to both Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and The Anarchist Cookbook, Come and Take It follows a group of digital radicals as they navigate political subterfuge to create a technological miracle, against all odds. Combining elements of a modern-day thriller with a fascinating philosophical treatise, Wilson paints a scathing and timely portrait of an ideologically polarized America and his own struggle in the fight for liberty.

Cody Wilson is a former student of the University of Texas School of Law. He is the founder and director of Defense Distributed, a non-profit organization that developed and published the world’s first open source gun designs suitable for 3D printing. Forbes called Wilson one of the most polarizing figures in technology, and Wired named him one of the fifteen most dangerous people in the world. Since the development of his firearm, the Liberator, Wilson has become the spokesperson for the digital arms revolution and an enfant terrible of the lecture circuit. He is a member of the tech fraternity unSYSTEM. His work has been featured in DOMUS Magazine, exhibited at the New Museum, and has been permanently acquired by London’s V&A, the world’s greatest museum of design.