The Wire · CalGunHub

AB 2047 signed, setting conditional path to 3D-printer firearm blocking rules

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The California Firearm Printing Prevention Act ties any sales restriction on 3D printers to future industry standards and Department of Justice action.

Written by the CalGunHub desk from public reporting

Who this affects: AB 2047 does not change anything for 3D-printer buyers or sellers on day one. It starts a monitoring process: the Department of Justice begins quarterly checks for ASTM International standards by July 1, 2027, and only if those standards exist would guidance follow within two years and a sales requirement one year after that. Printer manufacturers, retailers and distributors are the parties directly addressed by the statute's text. The act also defines what counts as firearm blocking technology and carves out entertainment-industry prop printers. Anyone with a stake in additive manufacturing should track the department's announcements, because each later date is conditional. This is general information, not legal advice.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2047 on Sept. 26, 2026, enacting the California Firearm Printing Prevention Act as Chapter 461 of the Statutes of 2026. The author is Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), with coauthors Grayson, Patel, Rogers and Stefani. The Assembly concurred in the final amendments 60-18 on Aug. 31, the last day of session, and the bill was enrolled Sept. 14.

The act places a new Title 21.1 in the Civil Code (Part 4, Division 3, beginning at section 3273.631), and it works through a series of contingencies rather than an immediate sales rule. Beginning no later than July 1, 2027, the Department of Justice must check every quarter whether ASTM International has issued industry standards covering such technology. If standards appear, the department must publish guidance or regulations within two years. A year after that guidance, the statute requires manufacturers to put compliant blocking technology in 3D printers placed on the California market for consideration, and it makes sales of non-equipped printers unlawful under its terms. Should ASTM still have no standards by July 1, 2029, the department's duties terminate.

The bill defines the term as hardware, firmware or integrated measures that block a print job until the file has been screened by a firearms-blueprints detection algorithm and found incapable of producing a firearm or machine gun conversion device. It exempts printers dedicated solely to making entertainment-industry props and shields bona fide development and testing of blocking technology from liability tied to digital firearm manufacturing code.

AB 2047 was part of the 10-bill package signed Sept. 26. As a non-urgency statute it takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, but any printer sales requirement would arrive years later and only if the outside standards materialize.

Sources

  1. NBC Palm Springs: Newsom Signs 10 California Gun Safety Bills Into Law
  2. Desert Sun: What the new California gun laws mean for gun owners
  3. Office of the Governor: Governor Newsom signs new bills to further prevent gun violence and strengthen California's gun safety leadership
  4. Office of the Governor: Legislators, survivors and gun-safety advocates support Governor Newsom's signature on California's latest gun-safety package
  5. bill_text: Signed Sept. 26, 2026 (Ch. 461, Stats. 2026); statute begins Jan. 1, 2027; DOJ starts quarterly standards checks July 1, 2027; any sales rule arrives at least a year after DOJ guidance and only if ASTM standards exist.

Informational only, not legal advice. Facts are attributed to the sources listed above.