3d printer
Jennifer Sensiba for TTAG

New York residents eyeing a new 3D printer may soon have to submit a criminal background check if a newly proposed state bill becomes law. The recently introduced legislation, authored by state senator Jenifer Rajkumar, aims to snub out an increasingly popular loophole where convicted felons who would otherwise be prohibited from legally buying a firearm instead simply 3D print individual components to create an untraceable “ghost gun.” If passed, New York would join a growing body of states placing restrictions on 3D printers in the name of public safety.

The New York bill, called AB A8132, would require a criminal history background check for anyone attempting to purchase a 3D printer capable of fabricating a firearm. It would similarly prohibit the sale of those printers to anyone with a criminal history that disqualifies them from owning a firearm. As it’s currently written, the bill doesn’t clarify what models or makes of printers would potentially fall under this broad category. The bill defines a three-dimensional printer as a “device capable of producing a three-dimensional object from a digital model.”

“Three-dimensionally printed firearms, a type of untraceable ghost gun, can be built by anyone using a $150 three-dimensional printer,” Rajkumar wrote in a memorandum explaining the bill. “This bill will require a background check so that three-dimensional printed firearms do not get in the wrong hands.” …

“To those who think printing 3D guns is the way of the future. You are wrong,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said during a press conference following the daycare siege. …

But Second Amendment die-hards aren’t the only ones who’ve objected to regulation targeted at 3D printed firearms though. Free speech experts and some civil libertarians have argued banning 3D-printed firearms, or at least the designs to create them could run afoul of the First Amendment since the instructions are simply lines of text and code. 

— Mack DeGeurin in New York Bill Would Require a Criminal Background Check to Buy a 3D Printer

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

69 COMMENTS

      • I mean……… Yeah also sucks they are looking to expand school grounds to 3000 feet off property for the felony if you have a gun in possession.

        • That is more than half a mile and would eliminate concealed carry if applied to licensed carriers. At least from maps of California cities, with the 1000 foot limit, you cannot go anywhere without entering multiple school zones, thus requiring nonlicensees to have all firearms l=unloaded and locked up.
          This is just another attack on Bruen and a blatant attempt to eliminate the carrying of firearms by all but the police and the criminals.

        • A08050 does not seem to have any exemption for license re 3k foot off property so yeah seems like it.

        • You deserve the Tyrants and Tyranny…You Allow. Even the Founding Patriots were smart enough to understand that and acted appropriately to resolve the problem. Even though they knew in doing so would likely cost them everything they owned, as well as their lives. Their desire to be free from the bounds of tyranny was stronger than their fear of even death. Because what the fought for was important for their families future, as well as the future of what was to become the greatest nation in the history of humanity. Freedom and Liberty. Passed from 1 generation to the next. Not by blood, but by the promise that it be protected from those who would work to destroy ‘IT’. That they could control the citizenry. Taking away the very Freedoms the Founding patriots fought and died to establish and defend. Making them the Subjects of Tyranny and no longer a Free people in control of the government and their own destiny. Choices are made everyday. Be a citizen or be a subject. Each must choose for themselves, but make no mistake, You choose everyday and complaining about that choice will never change the effects of it. Albert Einstein defined Insanity, as doing the same thing over and over again. Expecting a different result. What results are your choices producing?

        • Nice sentiment Darkman but a bit trite and meaningless given population realities out here. Unless we are getting reinforcement court is the only viable avenue for change here.

        • {Within 3000 feet from any ‘school zone’}

          “That is more than half a mile and would eliminate concealed carry if applied to licensed carriers.

          Makes it even more ripe for being struck down as unconstitutional.

          I *love* the smell of fascist desperation in the morning, it’s the smell of victory… 🙂

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRp7tYWnJJs

        • Geoff in addition to the potential gun law updates (and pending court circuses) more than a few Covid based laws good and bad are being proposed. Makes for interesting reading and freedom of information requests to see various stock holdings for a few of our representatives. At the rate things are stacking up Bruen part 3 before the end of the decade and gun rights in NY within 3 (decades of course 😋)

    • Remember kids…a BGC is, by its very definition, an assumption by Guv of your guilt in which you’re required by Guv to prove your innocence via a process set up by Guv before you can exercise your right guaranteed by the creators of that Guv.

      A right delayed…

      Shall not be infringed…

  3. And if you want to give the printer away…the recipient has to undergo a check.
    Will they go door to door looking for these?
    People will start smuggling them in from other states.
    OMG…the horrors.

      • There is going to be a “plastic pipeline” to go with the “iron pipeline” that transports guns into NY.

        These things don’t work. At best they will stop some grandpas who committed a low level crime decades ago from getting a 3D printer. What they won’t do is stop organized crime or even not-so-organized but determined criminals from acquiring guns. Every now and then they may bust a “weapons lab” or some unfortunate hobbyist with a 3D printer and some receivers.

        Yet strangely most crimes committed in a city, especially violent ones, turn out to be “known” individuals with a lengthy rap sheet. Even the “mass shooters” or even actual terrorists are cases where the authorities knew about them yet still missed it, and it wasn’t a background check that kept them from their crime. Even some of the recent jihad attacks in Europe were “yep, yeah, we had been kinda watching that guy.”

        The revolving door of justice doesn’t stop career criminals if they get put away for a couple months or years.

  4. I remember the screaming about Glocks being “Plastic guns” and “Undetectible” in an airport scan… totally false, and the 9-11 terrorist criminals used box-cutters…

    • Plastic straws are still mostly available outside of NYC, styrofoam takeout containers and plastic grocery bags are gone through.

      • We spent a long weekend hiking at Letchworth and visiting Corning this past summer. Going to the store for some supplies was interesting. I feel for you guys even more now…

    • Debbie- I’m old enuff to remember using waxed-paper straws as a kid drinking at the soda fountain. They are bio-degradable and why they went to PLASTIC is beyond me. Bring back the paper straws, I say!

  6. This may explain the big push to outlaw making guns at home… they are fearful that people will start turning them out en masse.
    Seems to me that making a functional and safe to shoot firearm is more than just making a copy. Specialised steel, machining, heat-treating and the equipment to do that is necessary unless you don’t care about your fingers and eyes and other body parts. I’m sure the 3-D printer doesnt do all that for you…

    • It’s more the idea that people can do anything outside the systems of control. Until metal printers are less expensive than a new truck for junk models the glass filled nylon is the best I know of and still requires a lot of metal parts for anything bigger than a 22. What was interesting was some work I heard about with printing sabots (think the old accelerator rounds) with various sub caliber darts. Can very quickly run into ap laws but if they make everything illegal how many fucks are there left to give?

      • Most pistol & shotgun cartridges are not extreme high pressure and can be used in cheap concoctions like the Sten or Luty or SlamBang shotgun. Depends on how desperate someone is.

    • Para-gliderists should be required to pass a background check and qualify for a pilot’s license! ALL paragliders will be registered, licensed and clearly marked with ID numbers! THAT would put a stop to this para-glider violence! No Tolerance for unlicensed rogue paragliderists! 😉

      • Isn’t that how NY ended up with Hochul after the ouster of Cuomo? It’s seems worse now.. Same for Chicago and NYC Mayors.

        • Close enough, a groping scandal (at least partially overblown) that happened conveniently soon after he refused to get even more draconian re Covid restrictions as he understood they were about to get destroyed in court. So we got Hochul for more lefty and less competent. Up end I got a raise that might cover some of the inflation increases in basic costs of living due to her being more of a pawn of the party.

  10. They are going to create a market for “Ghost Printers”.

    Although there is a loop hole as big as a truck. It applies only to “retailers”. So for lack of a better term “straw buyers” could easily buy it at retail, then sell it to anyone with no checks.

    1. Any retailer 4 of a three-dimensional printer sold in this state which is capable of 5 printing a firearm, or any components of a firearm, is required and 6 authorized to request and receive criminal history information concern- 7 ing such purchaser from the division of criminal justice services in 8 accordance with the provisions of section eight hundred forty-five-b of 9 the executive law.

  13. Plastic,,,,, a long time ago the DEA and your local State Bee Eyes would check electric bill’s of people suspected of growing weed indoors.
    A lot of people bought Hydroponics kits, didnt take long before a lot of those people got busted.
    Ghostgunms =3dPrinters,Plastic and Electricity. The Elf Bee Eyes and Batfeces ain’t got nothing else better to do then arrest citizens and get promotions.
    Tnod eb a ytefas drazah, it’s an old saying we had back at the meat plant.

  14. Looks like Albany has every other “crisis” under control that 3D is at the top of the list now?🤔

    • “Look a distraction” is more the play with increasing issues with migrants, gangs, and homeless of various levels of scammer. With that said more than a few proposed laws will be a pain in the ass to work with if they make it to a vote.

  16. In a weird way this is sort of a step in the right direction.

    One background check leads to an infinite number of guns.

  17. Unintended consequences will follow. If some entrepreneur wants to start a small business in New York — say they invented a better mousetrap, patented it, and now they want to start producing it using a 3-d printer, the state of New York will say, “Sorry, our background check shows that 35 years ago you stole a loaf of bread, so you can’t start a business in New York that requires a 3-D printer,” what are they supposed to do?
    A) Leave New York state
    B) Go on welfare, since NY won’t let them start a business.
    B) Decide that if NY won’t let them start a business, and if NY wants to treat them like a criminal just for wanting to start a business, they might as well become a real criminal, so they turn to a life of crime. Real crime, not just buying 3-D printers.

  19. Unbelievable! But this is what you get when your state elects DEMONcRAT Leftist Control Freaks.

  20. So a 14 year old kid who wants to make Star Wars figurines will have to find a new hobby?

    What if a rehabilitated felon wants to start a business making hard-to-find plastic car parts?

    Do morons who propose junk like this not realize that it takes them down the exact same rabbit hole as trying to ban certain classes of and features on guns? It is a never-ending process of additional rules and regulations that fails to accomplish its stated goal and does nothing but add new layers of bureaucracy to an already needlessly complex, and ineffective, system.

    You cannot stop violence by controlling stuff, you have to do it by controlling violent people.

  23. Hey kids! Another black market opportunity here. First they do the background check/tax for ammo. (Make some cash – blue states will sell you all you want) Now we can make some cash smuggling 3d printers. New York is just full of entrepreneurial opportunities!

  24. Peek /carbon / gfk is still not Inconel 718 ore X750 if you watch the best carbon/plastic substanz for printing and metal printing ?? Another league for it self not afordable for the 0815 person on street today and difficult powder handling !

  25. “device capable of producing a three-dimensional object from a digital model.”
    that language captures CNC machines as well. What a bunch of chowder-heads.

  26. I have a shop full of mostly GI surplus machine tools/equipment. Lathe, mill, drill press, power hammer, assorted cutters etc. All from Government surplus actions over decades. Only exceptions are the forge and foundry furnace. Same with my woodworking shop. With the exception of the jointer and router table, the majority of the power equipment is Surplus.
    While none of the equipment is CNC, it is very capable of being used to make parts for any number of things.
    Are some government agents going to come all the way out here and check up on what I may or may not be capable of making? Or do the politicians think firearms can only be made with Computer controlled machines? Are they going to require we register our files, drill bits, and hacksaw blades as well?

  29. Maybe next thing they should require a background check for is to buy pot. Any criminal convictions would be prohibited!

    • “ Maybe next thing they should require a background check for is to buy pot. Any criminal convictions would be prohibited!”

      Patriot, that would make it hard for those politicians to write all thes dumb laws; they gotta be completely stoned to come up with them.

    • This sum good sht man,Ghost Weed. Cant get it at the weed buying place, uhhh uh. Gotta know a guy named Casper.

  30. Next: HANDS can point like a gun shape, LIPS can make that “pow-pow-pow” sound, so cut -em off. Oh, and BRAINS can think about guns, and HEARTS can help make all that happen, so lose those, too.
    “But don’t worry, we Democrat and RHINO polititians lost our brains and hearts years ago, and people STILL vote for us!”

    • There are only certain types of people We the People are allowed to vote for.
      Your vote matters 🤪

  31. It’s time for the State of New York, to separate itself from the city of new york.
    This would solve most of your freedom fighting problems I think. New York City has become the city-state of social!sm.

  32. People really need to decide what they want. Do they want freedom with all its messy issues???

    Or do they want their “free” condoms, “free” abortions, “free” medical marijuana. They want “free” sex change operations. “Free” needles. Do they want a “free” government doctor???

    A government doctor who will monitor them. In the injection centers. So they don’t have a drug overdose. Because they voluntarily engage in intravenous drugs use.

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