this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2026
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This first bill allows the state of California to regulate and oversee all 3D prints in the name of public safety.

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[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What does this accomplish?

In the USA it's easier to buy an ar-15 than configuring a multi material 3d printer to print a fidget spinner

And btw if someone really needs to 3d print a weapon they would CNC a receiver from a metal block using a $500 AliExpress contraption rather than making a single use plastic thingy that will probably amputate your fingers at first shot

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

What does this accomplish?

Spies on people who are printing large quantities of whistles.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 40 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Proposal: All elected officials must install Corruption Blocking Software that scans all their communications, financial records and assets, and uses advanced Corruption Pattern Matching Algorithms to determine if they might be taking bribes from industry lobbyists, pumping up their own investments, or secretly serving special interest groups, or if they're just general nutjobs.

[–] LostCarcosan@lemmy.today 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Honestly though... What's the process for a regular idiot to try and suggest or propose new bills? I think I'd like to actually propose such a bill

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[–] Psiczar@aussie.zone 24 points 1 day ago (3 children)

This is America, wouldn’t it be easier just to buy a gun? I get that 3D printers can make ghost guns that aren’t traceable but how many crimes have occurred where that is the murder weapon?

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

One CEO. More important than every dead schoolchild.

[–] modus@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

They asked about crimes.

[–] modus@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Agreed. Every time I've looked into printing one I look at the process and just buy it. All the ghost guns I've made were from hollowed-out 80% lowers. And one time a hardware store slamfire shotgun.

I fully support one's right to print a gat, but it sure ain't for me.

Not as much as you think. The thing is even in countries with strict gun laws 3D printed firearms are a negligible part of firearm crime.

This isn't to say that they don't exist. I saw images of criminal gun factories in Australia (which have been around well before 3D printing) that had integrated 3D printing into their stuff, but they still do a lot of metal work, too.

[–] minorkeys@sh.itjust.works 23 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why are they so scared of us that they must enslave us?

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Because we could fuck up their shit pretty easily with just the slightest mass motivation.

[–] minorkeys@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 days ago (3 children)

So...maybe let's get some of that, before we can't.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Okay, I'll meet you there! I'm sure everyone else will also show up after seeing this exchange. Let's gooooooo! This is iiiiiit!

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[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 27 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (12 children)

It's also pretty much a technical impossibility if you know anything about 3D printers.

3D printers can't read CAD. They aren't fed STLs or any other kind of 3D model. They're fed G-Code, which contains no geometrical details. It's a list of instructions saying "turn these 4 motors this speed this for this amount of time while heating that part to this temperature and turning this other motor this speed, then heat this part while tunlrning that motor that fast...." with hundreds or thousands of instructions, and then new instructions for the next layer.

In order to print a model, you first have to run it through a program called a slicer that generates that G-code by slicing it into layers with instructions for how to move, heat and cool the nozzle, build plate, and chamber, feed the filament, etc.

The printers just follow those instructions with minimal on-board processing and zero information regarding the final model's structure.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 days ago (2 children)

to comply, vendors would need to require printers sold in california to be locked (presumably by encryption) to a proprietary slicer with ai vision that could try to determine if the thing being printed looked like a gun. Maybe if there was a bullet sized barrel and access around the striker area.

Makerbot more or less did this. It was a pain in the ass to use a non-makerbot-desktop slicer with a 2/2x series.

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[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I’m sorry you can’t print a garden hose nozzle because AI thinks it is a gun.

I’m sorry you can’t print a caulking gun because AI thinks it is a gun.

I’m sorry you can’t print a water pistol because it’s a gun.

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I have a stupid glock fidget toy that would almost certainly set this thing off. God forbid I make myself a toy.

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I read the article and what a load of shit. So you can't 3D print a cosplay gun? How far will this go? Water pistols? Ray gun props? Children's toys. Plastic guns are not illegal, just certain ones.

If I lived in California, I think I would invest in a really good 3d printer now-ish and just never update the software. Big brother is watching everything.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 19 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Guns are just a weak excuse, as if it's hard to get a gun in the US.

They want to monitor what you print. This means trademarked toys and figures, or copies of parts used in self-repair projects. The next stage is to charge fees to print copyright, or patented objects, or parts to repair. This also means they can spy on your designs and intellectual property.

[–] GoofSchmoofer@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

It's almost like governments of all sizes have been captured by companies and now protect them against the evil consumer which is completely backwards to what governmental organizations were originally created for.

[–] AliasVortex@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My favorite irony of all of this is that it's very possible to build a 3D printer from scratch (hell that's how the hobby got started in the first place) with open source software that never talks to the Internet. It's more work, but not to the extent that it'd stop anybody determined.

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Sure, one of the best printers is a Voron. People build those all of the time.

[–] Gsus4@mander.xyz 8 points 1 day ago

They really must take every single last one source of joy from everyone who hasn't turned into sheep at this point.

[–] DupaCycki@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Same California that is supposedly against the federal government's assaults on people's rights and freedoms...?

Same California governor that wants to run for president to end fascism in the country...?

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[–] ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 168 points 3 days ago (1 children)

in the name of public safety

In the name of gutting small manufacturing and the ability to repair your own devices. This has never had anything to do with safety, as they can't even do the thing the bill demands. Fucking asinine

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[–] HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 38 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Can't regulate the parts as they are used in many many many devices. So as far as I'm concerned this is worthless. I can build a fucking 3d printer from an old VCR and a hot glue gun.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 19 points 2 days ago

my interest is who is PAYING to fund the bill, i wouldnt be surprised if its gun companies or palantir.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 88 points 3 days ago (48 children)

Under the proposal, printers would have to evaluate STL files, CAD files, or other geometric code using a firearm blueprint detection algorithm and block files flagged as capable of producing a firearm or illegal firearm parts, including conversion devices.

California's Department of Justice, or another relevant state agency, would have until January 1, 2028, to publish performance standards for detection algorithms and software control processes.

This is the problem when lawmakers write technical bills without speaking to technical people. They're going to publish standards for evaluating if your gcode is a firearm or firearm part? THAT'S FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE

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[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 44 points 2 days ago (8 children)

Everytown for Gun Safety says recoveries of 3D-printed crime guns across 20 cities have risen nearly 1,000% over the past five years,

So... They found a total of ten 3d printed guns in the last 5 years?

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[–] Washedupcynic@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What's to stop anyone from driving out of state to buy the printer, or having it shipped from out of state? I swear to dog legislators are virtue signaling dip-shits.

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Eventually they will all fall in line.

[–] piskertariot@lemmy.world 99 points 3 days ago (17 children)

"Uhoh, can't 3d print a gun. Guess I'll just go to Walmart."

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[–] Vinstaal0@feddit.nl 14 points 2 days ago

Printing companies should stop selling in California.

Everybody should also stop considering the US like one country, because it functions less than one country than the EU and the EU isn't and the US is.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Backdoor Bill? Haven't seen that porno yet.

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[–] HiTekRedNek@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

Authoritarians just doing what authoritarians do.

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