VICTORY FOR GUN SAFETY: World’s Fourth-Largest Economy Becomes Second State in the Nation to Require 3D Printer Industry to Build in Safeguards Against Illegal Gun Manufacturing

California Governor Newsom Signs the Firearm Printing Prevention Act into Law

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law The Firearm Printing Prevention Act (AB 2047). This groundbreaking legislation will help stop the next generation of ghost guns before they are made by requiring consumer 3D printers sold in California to incorporate technology that identifies and blocks attempts to print firearms and illegal firearm parts.

With Governor Newsom's signature, California becomes just the second state in the nation to establish safety standards for 3D printers to prevent the printing of illegal guns and gun parts, and by far the largest economy to do so. As the fourth-largest economy in the world and a global center of technology and innovation, California's action sends a powerful signal to the 3D-printing industry: companies that build and sell rapidly evolving technology have a responsibility to ensure their products are not easily exploited to manufacture illegal firearms.

"California has once again shown the country what it looks like to get ahead of an emerging gun violence threat, rather than waiting for it to become a crisis," said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. "In establishing safeguards against 3D-printed guns, California is setting a standard that the 3D-printing industry and states across the country should take seriously. We thank Governor Newsom and Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan for making sure California remains at the vanguard of the gun safety movement."

"Ghost guns have evolved, and today California made clear that our gun safety laws will evolve with them," said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. "For years, survivors, students and volunteers across California have fought to close the loopholes that allow people to make untraceable guns outside the law. AB 2047 builds on that progress by confronting the next generation of this threat before it becomes even more widespread. We're grateful to Governor Newsom, Assemblymembers Bauer-Kahan and Gipson, and the gun sense champions in Sacramento for continuing to move this work forward."

"California has spent years building some of the strongest gun safety laws in the country, and we refuse to let rapidly evolving technology create a new loophole around them," said Clare Senchyna, a volunteer with the California chapter of Moms Demand Action. "This law proves that we do not have to choose between innovation and public safety. We can embrace new technology while expecting the companies behind it to build in commonsense safeguards that keep their products from being exploited to make illegal guns. We are grateful to Governor Newsom and Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan for once again keeping California at the forefront of gun safety."

"Students are already seeing 3D-printed guns and gun parts show up in our schools and communities, so we know this threat isn't hypothetical," said Justus Weatherspoon, a student leader with UC Davis Students Demand Action. "California is leading by acting before this technology becomes another easy way for people to make illegal guns. Young people deserve leaders who look ahead at emerging threats to our safety, and today California showed the rest of the country how that's done."

3D-printed firearms are the next wave of the ghost gun crisis. As 3D printers become cheaper, more capable and more accessible, people who cannot legally purchase firearms can increasingly circumvent California's gun safety laws by manufacturing untraceable guns and gun parts at home. Earlier this year, New York became the first state in the nation to pass legislation establishing safety standards for 3D printers to prevent the printing of illegal guns and gun parts.

In recent months, law enforcement across California has recovered 3D-printed firearms, firearm parts and manufacturing equipment in investigations involving convicted felons, machine gun conversion devices, firearms trafficking and other serious criminal activity. Recent recoveries have included approximately 100 homemade and illegally purchased firearm conversion devices alongside a 3D printer in Madera County; 105 machine gun conversion devices and a 3D-printed ghost gun in a joint Modesto Police and ATF investigation; and 27 finished or nearly finished 3D-printed guns and two 3D printers from an 18-year-old's bedroom in San Jose.

AB 2047 pairs California's leadership on gun safety with its leadership on technology and innovation. The law focuses on future sales of consumer 3D printers, establishing meaningful safeguards while minimizing disruption to legitimate uses of the technology.

California has already led the nation in confronting the first generation of ghost guns. In 2022, Governor Newsom signed landmark legislation to further regulate ghost guns, crack down on unlicensed firearm manufacturing and strengthen accountability for those who make and sell illegal ghost gun parts. AB 2047 is the next step in that work: stopping the next generation of ghost guns before they can be manufactured.