Depending who you ask, the widespread release of downloadable blueprints for 3D-printed guns would be either an unmitigated disaster or a giant nothing burger.

Congressional Democrats and gun safety groups say giving Texas-based digital firearms nonprofit Defense Distributed free rein to publish those files would lead to an influx of untraceable plastic, or mostly plastic, firearms, both in the U.S. and abroad. The weapons would undermine gun laws and threaten public safety, they say, serving as ideal tools for people legally barred from purchasing guns, or for would-be terrorists looking to sneak them into secured areas. A federal judge appeared sympathetic to those concerns this week, issuing a restraining order temporarily blocking further downloads of the blueprints but not before Defense Distributed published schematics for seven firearms.

The National Rifle Association and other gun rights advocates, meanwhile, have sought to downplay the controversy. They argue that 3D-printed gun blueprints are already available online, and that disseminating them further should be allowed as free speech. In the NRAs only official statement on the matter, one of the groups executive directors dismissed fears about a rise in undetectable plastic firearms, arguing that such guns are illegal under a 1988 law.

It was an awkward claim , coming from an organization that fundamentally opposes most gun restrictions with the argument that gun laws dont work. It also offers little insight into why the NRA supports expanding the ecosystem of homemade 3D-printed firearms, which some say may eventually cut into the profits of the NRAs gun-manufacturer allies.

We reached out to the NRA hoping to clarify, but no one responded. So, we took a closer look at the groups possible motivations. The NRAs stance on 3D-printed guns, we found, meshes perfectly with the organizations ethos.

There are two ways to understand this harmony. On the surface are the NRAs outward-facing arguments, which spokeswoman Dana Loesch and other NRA supporters have rallied behind in recent days. But below that is a darker, more discreet logic that unites Defense Distributed and the NRA in a broader campaign to undermine gun control efforts.