The battle over untraceable firearms is shifting from the internet to your living room. Following a string of high-profile crimes linked to 3D-printed weaponry, lawmakers in California and New York are pushing pioneering legislation that requires the hardware itself to block the production of gun parts.
Recent headlines have underscored the rising threat of DIY firearms. Last year, authorities thwarted a former National Guardsman allegedly attempting to ship 3D-printed gun parts and automatic "switches" to al-Qaida. Shortly after, federal agents dismantled a Colorado operation churning out machine gun conversion devices hidden in Lego boxes. However, the issue reached a boiling point in December 2024 with the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The suspect, Luigi Mangione, reportedly used a partially 3D-printed handgun frame and a custom-printed suppressor to carry out the attack.
For over a decade, gun control advocates have tried to scrub 3D-printed firearm blueprints from the web. Those efforts have largely stalled in court, with judges frequently ruling that computer code is a form of constitutionally protected speech. Now, legislators are changing their strategy: if they can't ban the files, they will regulate the printers.
New legislation in California and New York aims to require 3D printer manufacturers to install "print blocker" software. These built-in detection algorithms would scan a user's digital blueprint and automatically halt the machine if it recognizes a firearm component.
While a similar initiative recently failed in Washington state following backlash from the maker community, the coastal legislative efforts are gaining rapid momentum. California’s AB 2047—which recently cleared the Assembly—would require the state's Department of Justice to maintain an authorized roster of compliant 3D printers. By March 2029, selling an unapproved, un-blocked printer in California could result in a $25,000 fine, and users caught bypassing the digital locks would face misdemeanor charges. (The bill does carve out a notable exception for Hollywood prop makers.)
New York has already pushed its own iteration across the finish line. Tucked into the state's FY 2027 budget signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in late May, the Empire State's mandate goes even further by applying the blocking requirement to computer numerical control (CNC) machines and classifying the illicit distribution of gun files as a felony. Hochul has repeatedly warned that homemade, untraceable firearm parts are the fastest-growing public safety threat in the nation.
Despite the political victories, the underlying technology remains a massive question mark. Neither state has strictly defined how these detection algorithms should function, leaving manufacturers scrambling to develop workable solutions. Meanwhile, digital rights advocates and 3D printing hobbyists are raising alarms. Critics argue that rudimentary scanning software will inevitably trigger false positives—ruining legitimate prints for harmless household items—while simultaneously laying the groundwork for unprecedented hardware-level surveillance in private homes.