Washington State’s House Bill 2321 is currently causing a bit of an uproar, as it seeks to add blocking technologies to 3D printers, in order to prevent them from printing “a firearm or illegal firearm parts”, as per the full text. Sponsored by a sizeable number of House members, it’s currently in committee, so the likelihood of it being put to a floor vote in the House is still remote, never mind it passing the Senate. Regardless, it is another chapter in the story of homemade firearms, which increasingly focuses on private 3D printers.
Also called ‘ghost guns‘ in the US, these can be assembled from spare parts, from kits, from home-made components, or a combination of these. While the most important parts of a firearm, like the barrel, have to be made out of something like metal, the rest can feature significant amounts of plastic parts, though the exact amount varies wildly among current 3D-printed weapons.
Since legally the receiver and frame are considered to be ‘firearms’, these are the focus of this proposed bill, which covers both additive and subtractive technology. The proposal is that a special firearms detection algorithm has to give the okay for the design files to be passed on to the machine.
This blocking feature would have to be standard for all machines sold or transferred in the state, with a special ‘preprint authentication’ handshake protocol required. The attorney general is here expected to create and maintain a database of the no longer legal firearm and parts designs for those without a requisite license.
Putting aside for a moment the ridiculousness of implementing such a scanning feature, even if it wouldn’t be child’s play to circumvent, it also barks up the wrong tree. Although in the most recent ruling pertaining to this topic in Bondi v. VanDerStok it was acknowledged that advances in 3D printing have made this worth considering from a legislative context, the main issue with ‘ghost guns’ comes still by far from kits and similar sources.
Based on this, it seems highly unlikely that HB 2321 will be put up for a vote, never mind get signed into law. Although 3D printed designs like the 9 mm x1 9 mm cartridge Urutau bullpup are apparently quite functional, it’s notable that its manufacturing involves many steps, many DIY store parts, and a bolt carrier manufactured from steel bar stock, not to mention a significant time investment. Trying to detect ‘firearm parts’ at any of these steps would seem to be a fool’s errand, even if privacy considerations were not an issue.
While we are at it, require that all computer operating systems and / or browser software will detect the down or up loading of child porn and then “phone home” to the FBI reporting the offender. Ditto for pirated copyright music or videos. Better yet, lets ban computers, cell phones, and mp3 players because they encourage pirating copyrighted materials. Really, why does government bend over backwards to throw the baby out with the bath water?
As written, the bill covers not just 3D printers but also all CNC machine tools capable of doing 3D manufacturing (see Sec 1(7)). That means it covers everything from little benchtop machines to the house-sized machines that Boeing uses to mill wing skins for airplanes. Under this bill, it will be illegal to trade used printers or CNC machine tools in WA state.
The probability that FANUC, Haas, or any other major machine tool manufacturer will comply with this law is less than zero. They don’t make enough sales in WA state to justify the expense and risk involved, so small manufacturers in the state will be SOL when it comes time to acquire, replace, or upgrade their machines unless they go to the trouble and expense of getting a federal firearms manufacturing license. And it will be a crime to sell their used machines to anyone in the state.
This also effectively bans the sale of any 3D printer or CNC machine tool with user modifiable firmware.