A new bill proposed in the California State Assembly could potentially require the makers of 3D printers to confirm that they are using algorithms or other technologies to prevent the printing of firearms.
The new bill is AB-2047, and it mostly mimics Washington’s HB 2321 and New York Assembly’s S9005/A10005, all proposed recently in 2026. However, California goes one step further by “[banning] the sale or transfer of any 3D printer in California unless it appears on a state-maintained roster of approved makes and models.”
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If the bill is passed as is, then by July 2027, the California Department of Justice would be required to publish guidance on certifying 3D printers and their software controls to block the printing of gun parts. The department would accept applications for approval before January 2028, and six months later in July 2028, every company intent on making or selling a 3D printer in California would need to attest that they have met those stanards. That September, the stated would publish a list of authorized makes and models to be updated quarterly.
Unauthorized printers would be banned from sale beginning on March 1, 2029.
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As with the Washington and New York bills, circumvention of these measures would be made illegal. The California bill specifically states the following:
(A) For firmware design, guidance for how vendors are required to demonstrate that their technology will ensure a printer directs potential print jobs to the algorithm before printing can occur.
(B) For integrated preprint software design, guidance for how vendors shall demonstrate that printers will accept print jobs exclusively from a single preprint software and will not accept print jobs from any other preprint software, including from a user seeking to evade a detection algorithm.
Washington’s bill, meanwhile, states the measures “cannot be overridden or otherwise defeated by a user with significant technical skill.” This could ultimately mean every printer in the state would have a locked bootloader, firmware, and/or slicer.
Adafruit, which sells tools and supplies to makers, points out on its blog that the combination of the three states represents a significant slice of the 3D printing market, for a combined 20% of the U.S.’ population, and 24% of the nation’s GDP. If all three bills pass, 3D printing vendors could balk at making and maintaining separate product lines for California, Washing, New York state, and the rest of the country.
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