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Posted on 04/15/2026 3:02:53 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Full story
Legislation in California aimed at preventing the production of 3D-printed firearms has civil liberties groups raising an alarm.
The bill, A.B. 2047, would require businesses that sell 3D printers in the state to alter their software to detect and block the printing of untraceable firearms, commonly referred to as “ghost guns.”
The legislation would also make it a crime to “knowingly disable, deactivate, uninstall, or otherwise circumvent any firearm blocking technology” on a 3D printer.
While proponents of the bill say it is necessary to prevent the spread of unregulated firearms, critics — including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) — argue that it threatens consumer choice, free expression and privacy.
The bill “will not only mandate censorware — software which exists to bluntly block your speech as a user — on all 3D printers; it will also criminalize the use of open-source alternatives,” the EFF said.
Passage of the bill, the EFF believes, would lead to the same issues seen with some traditional printers. Companies such as HP, for example, have prohibited altering their printers’ code and locked users into their ecosystem of products.
Other states could follow California’s lead
Ghost guns have been targeted at both the federal level and by numerous states. Last year, the Supreme Court upheld federal regulations that treat ghost guns like other firearms, requiring that they have serial numbers making them traceable. California is one of 16 states with ghost-gun laws on the books.
The 3D printer bill goes a step further than California’s current law, and it could inspire additional regulation elsewhere.
“As gun violence continues to devastate our communities, we cannot allow 3D printing technology to become a new pipeline for untraceable weapons,” the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a Democrat, said when she introduced the measure in February. “This legislation takes a proactive approach to public safety by ensuring that 3D printers sold in California include the technology to block the production of illegal firearms.”
While other states have proposed similar laws, including Washington and New York, the EFF said that California’s bill is by far the most troubling.
“A.B. 2047 goes further than any other legislation on algorithmic print-blocking by making it a misdemeanor for the owners of these devices to disable, deactivate, or otherwise circumvent these mandated algorithms,” the civil liberties group said.
The legislation would also have a detrimental effect on lesser-known 3D printer businesses.
“The bill favors incumbent manufacturers over newer competitors and over the interests of consumers,” the EFF said. “Less-established manufacturers will need to dedicate considerable time and resources to implementing the ineffective solutions discussed above, navigating state approval, and potentially paying licensing fees to third-party developers of sham print-blocking software.”
The EFF fears that if passed, such laws could expand well beyond California.
“This law demands an unfeasible technological solution for something that is already illegal,” the organization said. “Not only is this bad legislation with few safeguards, it risks the worst outcomes for grassroots innovation and creativity — both within the state and across the global 3D printing community.”
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Good luck California. 3D printers run off open source G code. Using their logic. Any block of metal can be considered a “firearm” since someone CAN (and they do) make firearms from metal.
California = poster-child for Out of Control Government
Use a bamboo tube like Captain Kirk.
Why is there such a thing as ghost guns.
Why does the government trace guns?
LOL! With the twine wrapped around the end!
Born and raised in CA.
They always wanted to split the state
North and South.
They should have split it mostly East
and a very narrow coastal West,
that is the real divide.
Let the coast areas go.
Keep the food, minerals, and productive
people in America.
Let the Coasties go their own way.
As long as they don’t allow foreign
military there, with all their superior
wit and intelligence, they will prosper.
From Atlas Shrugged:
“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt.”
I guess ghost rifles are ok ?
besides if I were going to make anything like that I would use a cnc machine not a plastic printer.
Outlaw them with 10,000 fine and prison time -possession of them and making them. It helps some, like with other crimes.
Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.
They vote!
What are they talking about? Making your own guns is not illegal, even BATFE admits that. Even selling one that you previously made for yourself, so long as you're not making so many that it appears it's actually a business for you.
That would be the last straw for me.
I’ve been designing tools for 55 years and for the
last 15 years I’ve had 3D printers.
This morning I designed a crutch that slips onto
your thigh, above the knee, and extends below the foot.
It has a hinge, so you can go down stairs.
No weight would be on the ankle or knee.
I couldn’t find anything like it on Amazon.
I got my newest printer running yesterday.
This was an error that needs to be reversed. Serial numbers were never required in American history until the GCA, a recent infringement.
It would be tough to carry around.
There are hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of firearms in the USA that have no serial number because they were made before 1968 (before the GCA). Some manufacturers affixed serial numbers before it was required but there are gazillions of gun still in existence, still being shot from time to time, that are factory-made but don’t have a serial number because they were made before it was mandatory.
Would not 3-D printers be protected under the 1st Amendment? freedom of the “press”?
Like always, tech legislation being pushed by someone unable to comprehend the technology inside a flashlight.
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