You're right in that this weapon isn't really worth the effort, and if it were only about this particular file neither Defense Distributed or the US government

You're right in that this weapon isn't really worth the effort, and if it were only about this particular file neither Defense Distributed or the US government would have cause for concern. This is a big deal because 1) this is one of the first weapons designed from the ground up to be printed. Most printed firearms based on existing tech break easily because they weren't designed to be built with the materials you can print with. Over the next several years better and better firearms will be designed. In this way it is important the same way the very first shitty light bulb was important. 2) this addresses the still very unanswered question about what options governments have to restrict speech and international distribution of information over the Internet.