Governor Kathy Hochul and other New York state lawmakers want 3D-printer companies to block the printing of components used to create “ghost guns” — firearms without serial numbers that can be printed privately, easily avoiding a background check.
At a press event on Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said two 3D-printing companies had voluntarily agreed to adopt technology that would block the creation of guns using their printers; another digital design company agreed to remove some firearm CAD files (the printing blueprints) from their services, Bragg said. Lawmakers have proposed legislation that would make it illegal to sell or possess gun CAD files without a license and would require 3D-printer companies to block the printing of firearms. Related restrictions have been proposed or are law in states like Colorado, New Jersey, and Washington.
“You can’t print counterfeit money. We don’t let you do that,” Bragg said. “So why would we let you print lethal guns?”
The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024 brought renewed attention to ghost guns. Luigi Mangione, the man on trial for shooting and killing Thompson, is accused of having a 3D-printed gun in his belongings when he was arrested. In 2025, Wired detailed how easy it was to research, print, and shoot the weapon Mangione is accused of using in Thompson’s killing.
Bragg and Justin Wagner, managing director at Everytown for Gun Safety, said they had also approached YouTube about content on the platform related to 3D-printed firearms. (Wired printed its gun with the help of a YouTuber.) Bragg and Wagner said the platform had in the past tweaked its algorithm and age-gated some content from children, though Bragg said it was an “ongoing conversation.” In 2024, YouTube cracked down on certain firearms content; Bragg thanked the company for the changes.
Still, there are questions about how much the proposed legislation would stop the proliferation of ghost guns. It’s easy and cheap to print firearms and components — you can buy a printer for just a few hundred dollars — and gun CAD files are easy to access online. (California is currently suing two sites that offer instructions for making guns and accessories.)
It’s also not just high-profile murders that untraceable, homemade firearms are linked to. Recent research found that rates for suicide by firearms increased for every 20 ghost guns recovered per 100,000 people.
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