New York’s New 3D Printing Law, As Written, Is Extremely Harmful And Annoying

from the first-do-no-harm dept

The good folks over at Adafruit are raising the alarm about a new New York State 3D printing law that could greatly imperil the public’s freedom to tinker and could generally make life way more annoying for the schools, libraries, hospitals, small businesses, hobbyists, and garages that utilize 3D printers.

New York’s 2026–2027 executive budget bill (S.9005 / A.10005) includes language requiring that all 3D printers operating in the state need to include software or firmware that scans every print file through a “firearms blueprint detection algorithm” and then locks the hardware up so it refuses to print anything it flags as a potential firearm or firearm component.

As Adafruit’s Phillip Torrone notes, the key problem here is it’s largely impossible to detect firearms from geometry alone:

“A firearms blueprint detection algorithm would need to identify every possible firearm component from raw STL/GCODE files, while not flagging pipes, tubes, blocks, brackets, gears, or any of the millions of legitimate shapes that happen to share geometric properties with gun parts. This is a classification problem with enormous false positive and false negative rates.”

NY’s new law would apply to open source firmware like Marlin, Klipper, and RepRap, which are generally maintained by volunteers without the resources for compliance. As well as office printers that never touch the internet, or CNC milling machines that can basically generate any shape you can imagine.

Torrone goes on to explain how the bill could be dramatically improved by exempting open source firmware, and focusing more concretely on the intent to create fire-arms, instead of waging an impossible enforcement war on ambiguous shapes. They’re also recommending limited liability for retailers, schools, and libraries, and the elimination of mandatory file scanning:

“But the answer to misuse isn’t surveillance built into the tool itself. We don’t require table saws to scan wood for weapon shapes. We don’t require lathes to phone home before turning metal. We prosecute people who make illegal things, not people who own tools.

The Open Source 3D printing community probably does not know about this. OSHWA and other open source advocacy orgs have ignored many of the things we really need their help with. That needs to change. This bill is in early stages — the working group hasn’t even convened yet. There’s time to work together, in the open, for amendments that make sense.”

Random aside: it’s worth reminding folks that this proposal comes on the heels of a recently passed New York State “right to repair” law (supposed to make it easier and cheaper to repair technology you own) that Governor Kathy Hochul basically lobotomized at lobbyist behest after it was passed, ensuring it doesn’t actually protect anybody’s freedom to tinker.

Filed Under: 3d printer, 3d printing, consumers, hobbyists, legislation, new york, new york state, tinker