As some lawmakers look for ways to curb gun violence, they have converted their websites to 3D printers and introduced, and in at least one case even passed, legislation that would restrict their sales. Although the worst thing a 3D printer, even the best 3D printer, can do on its own is burn you, any model can print the parts for so-called “ghost guns,” which are home-made firearms that don’t have serial numbers. Both 3D printer fans and gun rights advocates worry that these laws would cause undue hassle for hobbyists and students without making the public safer.
A bill introduced in the New York State Assembly aims to stop the proliferation of ghost guns by requiring anyone who purchases a 3D printer to undergo a criminal background check that could take up to 15 days. Opponents argue that the proposal would not effectively prevent the creation of ghost guns, but it would have a chilling effect on children who use 3D printers to learn and on manufacturers who use them for everything from device repair to robot building.
“I can’t imagine how this would reduce ghost guns at all,” Clayton “Uncle Jessy” Parker, who runs a popular YouTube channel about 3D printing, said in an interview. “There are already a large number of printers in New York State, including in public schools and public libraries, that can print. There is no function in a 3D printer or software that detects whether a part is for a ghost gun or a child’s toy.”
Shooting back at ghost guns
The proposed law would require background checks for all 3D printers sold in New York that can produce firearms or related components, such as Auto-Sears, which converts semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic weapons, receivers and similar items.
“Three-dimensional printed guns are becoming more and more common every year,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jenifer Rajkumar, wrote in a memo. “In 2019, 100 were taken off the streets in New York City. In 2022, that number jumped to 637.” At the same time, the number of ghost gun shootings nationwide has increased by 1,000 percent.”
The New York Police Department has seen a 60% increase in ghost gun seizures on city streets for two consecutive years. Recently, the NYPD traced certain online ghost gun sales to a “ghost gun printing shop” housed at a daycare center where 3D printers and firearms were found.
In addition to this, there are other bills in New York that deal with 3D printed weapons. Two bills introduced in May aim to treat 3D-printed guns like other restricted weapons such as machine guns and assault weapons. Both versions of these bills, one in the Senate and one in the Assembly, are currently being considered by the committee. However, they do not limit the 3D printers themselves.
Several states such as Hawaii, Delaware and New Jersey have each passed laws banning 3D printed firearms. However, there are currently no comprehensive federal laws banning ghost guns.
At least one other state is targeting the use of 3D printers in the name of gun safety. The California legislature recently passed AB 1089, a bill targeting ghost guns. The measure prohibits “the sale, purchase, possession or receipt of a three-dimensional printer whose sole or primary function is the manufacture of firearms to or by any person in the state who is not a state-licensed firearms manufacturer as specified.”
Given that any 3D printer can be used to print gun parts, it’s unclear how California’s law will work. Can you buy any 3D printer as long as it isn’t specifically marketed as a gun printer (which few, if any, of them are)?
The Biden administration has pushed for an ATF rule introduced last year that expanded the federal definition of a firearm to include its components. This change would require gun sellers and people who 3D print firearms or their parts to provide serial numbers. Gun sellers would also be required to permanently retain these serial numbers in their inventory to facilitate tracking and tracing of these components.
Gun control advocates say ghost guns are a serious threat nationwide. Federal law does not prohibit individuals from making a gun for personal use, Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, said in an interview. However, unlike weapons manufactured by licensed manufacturers, these weapons are not required to have a serial number.
“The proliferation of ghost guns and other homemade firearms threatens to destroy the fabric of federal gun laws,” he added. “Gaps in federal law have helped create enormous demand for parts to build homemade firearms, including those commonly known as ghost guns.”
It is difficult to determine the number of ghost weapons because they are home-made weapons. From 2016 to 2021, there was a 1000.3% increase in ghost guns collected and reported to the Department of Justice. Everytown for Gun Safety calls ghost guns “the fastest-growing gun safety problem in the country.” The gun control group maintains an online database of ghost gun-related shootings.
Resistance to printing laws
Laws like those proposed in New York and California could also affect hobbyists who use 3D printers. “My biggest concern is kids who want to learn more about STEM, making, designing and coding, and they might not be able to buy a 3D printer because of that,” Parker said.
Parker also said New York’s proposed law doesn’t do enough to distinguish 3D-printed items for ghost guns from those intended for benign reasons.
“How will this law tell the difference between 3D printed parts of a ghost gun and parts I printed to fix my broken refrigerator door?” he added. “It also prevents anyone from purchasing printed parts online in another state and having them shipped to you in New York State. What about 3D printed Nerf gun parts? I’m in favor of better legislation for firearm sales and background checks on actual firearms, but this just seems like a huge waste of taxpayers’ time and money.”
Grant Schmidt, the owner of Shot Tec, a gun sales and training company, said regulating 3D printers is a fruitless endeavor.
“3D printers will soon be as ubiquitous as paper printers,” he said in an interview. He added that ghost guns represent a return to the traditional practice of local firearms arts.
“My first firearm, a sophisticated potato gun that shot more than just potatoes, was confiscated by the local police when I was 14,” Schmidt said. “It was made from off-the-shelf parts from plumbing and grill hardware stores, and this was before the Internet offered free blueprints and STL files.”
Schmidt’s company has a 3D printer and uses it to produce holsters, for example.
“But we haven’t really used it for the actual manufacturing of firearms because traditional methods are still faster, easier and more productive,” he added. “The vast majority of so-called ghost guns are actually not 3D printed and are made from gun parts kits or hardware store parts.”
Civil liberties experts have also raised concerns about regulations targeting 3D printed firearms. They argue that banning these firearms or their design instructions could potentially violate the First Amendment since the files are essentially text and code.
“We may desire robust safeguards against the spread of dangerous information, but in doing so we should be careful not to allow sweeping regulations to withstand rigorous scrutiny in the name of national security,” attorney Andrew Huang wrote in a Harvard Law School publication last year . “Perhaps society would instead be better off setting more palatable precedents by using interim review in litigation over 3D printer code, even if the laws in question are content-based.”
