3D GUNSMore States Restrict 3D-Printed Firearms
For decades, making an untraceable firearm required specialized tools, technical expertise and hours of work. Today, it can start with a downloaded file and a consumer-grade 3D printer. At least six states this year have outlawed or imposed regulations on such guns.
For decades, making an untraceable firearm required specialized tools, technical expertise and hours of work.
Today, it can start with a downloaded file and a consumer-grade 3D printer.
As advances in additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, make it easier to produce firearms at home, lawmakers in a growing number of states are pursuing new restrictions specifically for 3D-printed guns. That rapidly evolving category of weapons can be manufactured from digital blueprints and often lack serial numbers used by law enforcement to trace firearms.
This year, Colorado, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Washington state enacted laws tightening rules around 3D-printed guns and firearms without serial numbers. The new laws include restrictions on manufacturing untraceable firearms, limits on the distribution of digital gun-design files, and requirements aimed at preventing the use of 3D printers to produce gun parts.
California lawmakers are considering a measure requiring 3D printers to include firearm-blocking technology. A Minnesota proposal to regulate 3D-printed firearms did not advance out of the legislature.
The push has been concentrated largely in Democratic-led states, though 3D-printed and other firearms without serial numbers concern some Republicans as well. Police and prosecutors have increasingly warned that such weapons can complicate criminal investigations and make it harder to trace firearms recovered at crime scenes.
The proposals also enter a legal landscape shaped by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have expanded Second Amendment protections and prompted challenges to numerous state firearm restrictions. Gun rights groups have already sued over some state efforts to regulate “ghost guns” and the online distribution of firearm-design files.
Ghost guns are typically built from DIY kits or produced using a 3D printer, and often lack serial numbers required for tracking. Ghost guns can also bypass the usual background checks and other state requirements for firearm purchases and transfers.
In addition to opposing the laws on Second Amendment grounds, some gun rights advocates argue that restrictions on 3D-printed guns violate free speech protections by limiting the spread of digital information.
State Measures
Maine enacted a law in January that prohibits the sale of guns without serial numbers and requires such numbers on all privately manufactured firearms, including 3D-printed guns. New Jersey’s new law prohibits unlicensed individuals from possessing digital instructions used to 3D-print firearms.
