New York has enacted a first-of-its-kind law requiring 3D printers sold for home or business use to include technology that blocks them from manufacturing firearms, according to the Associated Press. The measure aims to curb the growing problem of untraceable “ghost guns” that have been recovered in crimes across the country.
The new requirement, also under consideration in California, attempts to thwart the latest technique for producing ghost guns. About one-third of U.S. states already have taken steps to ban or regulate build-it-yourself firearms that lack serial numbers and evade the background checks required to purchase guns from federally licensed dealers.
What makes the New York effort unique, the Associated Press reported, is that it targets the equipment used to produce the firearms, not the people who make them. The law could force 3D printer manufacturers to embed blocking technology in devices sold for home and business use.
The blocking technology being pushed in two of the nation’s most populous states has the potential to set industry standards for 3D printers, according to the AP. It also could serve as a model for other Democratic-led states wanting to add to their gun regulations, which often already ban certain semiautomatic weapons and allow firearms to be temporarily confiscated from people deemed to pose a threat to themselves or others.
But the AP reported that there are questions about whether the technology can work effectively and concerns about its effect on personal privacy and constitutional rights. The law represents a significant shift in state gun regulation by targeting the tools used to manufacture firearms rather than the firearms themselves or their purchasers. It also raises unresolved questions about the reliability of hardware-based gun-blocking technology and the privacy implications of mandatory device-level monitoring.