3D Printing and CNC Manufacturing Laws: Research Digest

Date saved: 2026-10-27 03:01 (PDT)

Sources: PCMag, KOTA Territory News, Washington State Legislature, California Assembly, Colorado General Assembly, New York State Legislature, Maine Legislature, New Jersey Legislature, Virginia Legislature

Key findings

Washington State: HB 2320 and the upstream regulation of digital files

Washington State Legislature (effective March 24, 2026): HB 2320 defined "digital firearm manufacturing code" as any digital instructions in the form of CAD files or other code stored and displayed in electronic format that may be used to program a 3D printer or CNC milling machine to manufacture a firearm, frame or receiver, unfinished frame or receiver, magazine, or unlawful firearm part. The law made it unlawful for any person to manufacture, including by use of a 3D printer or CNC milling machine, or own, buy, sell, loan, furnish, transport, or have in possession any machine gun, bump-fire stock, undetectable firearm, short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled rifle. It also prohibited knowingly or recklessly manufacturing a frame or receiver or an unfinished frame or receiver by use of a 3D printer, CNC milling machine, or other means, unless the party is a federal firearms manufacturer or a federal firearms dealer licensed for the sole purpose of repairing existing firearms. (Source)

California: AB 1263 and the proposed AB 2047 content-filter mandate

PCMag (October 2026): California has taken action with Assembly Bill 1263, which increases liability for those who facilitate or share digital firearm manufacturing code, in addition to the proposed Assembly Bill 2047, which mandates that 3D printers sold in the state incorporate technology to detect and block the production of firearm components. AB 2047 would require that the California Department of Justice publicly release performance and technology standards by 2028. (Source)

Colorado: HB26-1144 criminalizing 3D-printed firearm manufacture

KOTA Territory News (June 13, 2026): Colorado's HB26-1144, signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in May, expands the state's restrictions on firearms without serial numbers. The new law prohibits using 3D printers and similar manufacturing technologies to make firearms, unfinished gun parts, large-capacity magazines, and rapid-fire devices. (Source)

New York: printer content-filter requirement in state budget

PCMag (October 2026): As part of New York's state budget approved this year, a new law will require 3D printers sold in the state to include blocking technology, if a state working group determines it to be technologically feasible, that prevents the production of firearms and illegal gun parts. Violating the law would carry a civil penalty with a $5,000 fine per product. (Source)

Six states enacting restrictions in 2026

KOTA Territory News (June 13, 2026): At least six states this year have outlawed or imposed regulations on 3D-printed guns. 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. In Colorado, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed a law in May expanding the state's restrictions on firearms without serial numbers. Washington Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a similar law in March. New York's state budget included a new law requiring 3D printer blocking technology. California lawmakers are considering a similar proposal. (Source)

The federal backdrop

PCMag (October 2026): Part of the urgency behind these laws can be traced to federal analysis during the Biden administration, a study commissioned by executive order in 2024 when agencies increasingly grouped 3D-printed firearms into that broader category of ghost guns. It is already illegal in California, Washington, and New York to possess an untraceable firearm. (Source)

The legislative trend this year is unmistakable: at least six states have moved to restrict 3D-printed firearms and the digital files that make them possible, and the scope of the restrictions is expanding upstream from the physical weapon to the manufacturing process itself. Washington State's HB 2320, signed in March, did not just ban untraceable firearms. It explicitly defined "digital firearm manufacturing code" as any CAD file or instructions that can program a 3D printer or CNC milling machine to produce a firearm, frame, receiver, or unlawful part, and made it unlawful to distribute that code. California's AB 1263 expanded liability for those who facilitate or share digital firearm manufacturing code, and AB 2047 would require 3D printers sold in the state to include technology that detects and blocks the production of firearm components. Colorado's HB26-1144 criminalizes the manufacture of certain firearms and parts via 3D printing. New York's state budget included a requirement that 3D printers sold in the state include blocking technology, with a $5,000 fine per product for violators.

The throughline is that lawmakers are increasingly treating the digital file as the weapon, not just the output. The federal analysis during the Biden administration, commissioned by executive order in 2024, grouped 3D-printed firearms into the broader category of ghost guns and set the stage for this state-level cascade. The question now is whether content-filter mandates on consumer printers (the requirement that a machine refuse to print what its software decides is a gun part) will become standard hardware specification, and what that means for the broader 3D printing and CNC manufacturing community, whose members range from hobbyists to small job shops to open-source hardware developers.