California Assembly Passes Landmark Bill to Stop the Rise of 3D-Printed Ghost Guns

AB 2047 Now Heads to the State Senate

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Yesterday, the California Assembly passed AB 2047, the Firearm Printing Prevention Act, landmark legislation to address the growing threat of 3D-printed ghost guns and DIY machine guns in California communities. AB 2047 would require that consumer 3D printers sold in California include existing technology capable of blocking attempts to print firearms and illegal gun parts, including conversion devices that turn pistols into machine guns. The legislation focuses accountability upstream on manufacturers while allowing legitimate innovation in 3D printing to continue. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

"California has never waited for gun violence to spiral out of control before taking action, and today lawmakers once again proved that leadership matters," said Yarah Judal, a volunteer with the California chapter of Moms Demand Action. "As the ghost gun crisis evolves, we must evolve with it. AB 2047 tackles the next generation of untraceable firearms by stopping illegal gun manufacturing at the source, before more communities pay the price. We are grateful to Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan, who is a former Moms Demand Action volunteer, and the Assembly for advancing this critical legislation, and now urge the Senate to act quickly."

"Technology is making guns easier to access and harder to trace in real time," said Gavriella Geffner, a volunteer leader with UC Davis Students Demand Action. "No teenager should be able to manufacture deadly weapons in their bedroom with the click of a button. California has led the nation before on ghost guns, and AB 2047 ensures our laws keep up with emerging threats. We're calling on the Senate to move this bill forward and continue protecting our generation."

As 3D printers become cheaper, more powerful, and more accessible, law enforcement agencies across California are already seeing the consequences of bad actors exploiting the technology to make illegal guns. This year alone, authorities have uncovered multiple illegal ghost gun manufacturing operations involving 3D printers in communities across the state, including Cloverdale, San Jose, and Lucerne Valley. Recoveries of 3D-printed crime guns have increased nearly 1,000 percent across 20 cities over the past five years, underscoring the rapidly escalating threat posed by printable firearms and illegal gun parts.

California has long led the nation in addressing emerging gun violence threats, from ghost guns to DIY machine guns and secure storage requirements. AB 2047 builds on that legacy by creating an upstream prevention strategy aimed at protecting the integrity of California's gun safety laws before 3D-printed firearms proliferate further.

AB 2047 has been championed by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a former Moms Demand Action volunteer turned elected gun sense champion. California's leadership on gun violence prevention didn't happen by chance, and is the direct result of years of tireless advocacy. There are 28 former Moms Demand Action volunteers turned electeds in California, including bill author Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan. Of the gun safety bills passed in the last four years in California, multiple were led by former Moms Demand Action volunteers.