New legislative proposals in Washington state are putting 3D printing and similar technologies in the crosshairs when it comes to the use of the tech to create so-called “ghost guns.” But some industry leaders and hobbyists are alarmed by potential restrictions.
Two bills have been introduced in the Washington State Legislature in a bid to update existing laws around unserialized, untraceable firearms and keep pace with how accessible and affordable 3D printing technology has become.
The bills address software and hardware capabilities:
- HB 2320: This proposal targets the manufacturing process of so-called “ghost guns” by banning the use of 3D printers or CNC machines to create firearms or components (frames and receivers) without a license. It restricts the distribution of digital CAD files to unlicensed individuals and establishes a “rebuttable presumption” of criminal intent for anyone possessing such manufacturing code.
- HB 2321: This bill focuses on hardware-level prevention by requiring all 3D printers sold in Washington to be equipped with “firearm blueprint detection algorithms.” These mandatory software features are designed to automatically identify and reject print requests for firearms or illegal parts, with compliance verified by the Attorney General’s office.
Washington enacted previous laws around ghost guns in 2019 and 2022 with HB 1739 and HB 1705.
Rep. Osman Salahuddin (D-Redmond) is a sponsor of both new bills, but his primary focus is on HB 2320.
“With a 3D printer that can cost a few hundred dollars and a digital file downloaded online, someone can now manufacture an untraceable firearm at home. No background check, no serial number, and no accountability,” Salahuddin said during a public hearing in Olympia, Wash., last week (starting at 1:00:19 of this video).
Salahuddin pointed to examples of existing laws being subverted, including a September 2025 incident in which Pierce County law enforcement recovered over 23 firearms — many of which had 3D-printed parts — from a 13-year-old boy with alleged school shooting ideations. Last week, a Seattle man was sentenced to 27 months in prison after 20 privately manufactured ghost guns and 103 “Glock switches” — devices that turn a semi-automatic handgun into an automatic fire machine gun — were found in his apartment.
While concern over the manufacture and possession of untraceable firearms remains steadfast, Salahuddin said he does not want legislation to impose any undue restrictions on legitimate businesses or hobbyists who rely on 3D printing or CNC milling. A spokesperson for the representative said HB 2321 was “filed intentionally as a conversation starter” and aligned with legislation advanced by New York’s governor.
“He recognizes that the bill’s language will require careful refinement and robust stakeholder engagement over the interim to address outstanding concerns, but he views this as a meaningful place to begin that work,” Salahuddin’s office told GeekWire. “He plans to meet with both 3D printing experts and victims of gun violence to better understand and address issues related to liability and software.”
In last week’s hearing, in response to a question about over-broad language in the bill, Salahuddin said he, too, had heard from people — including a dentures maker — who were not interested in firearms manufacturing but were concerned they could be caught up in legal trouble for possessing a machine without proper blocking features.
Others expressed concerns in threads on Reddit about how locking down the software side of machines “would close off a lot of experimentation.”
“The primary legislative focus this session is HB 2320, which addresses the distribution of digital firearm manufacturing software rather than hardware,” Salahuddin’s office reiterated, pointing out that Rhode Island, New Jersey, California, Colorado, and Hawaii have enacted similar laws.
Dan Shapiro, co-founder and CEO of Seattle startup Glowforge — makers of laser-engraver machines — is also worried about any overreach, especially in HB 2321.
“I look at this and I say, there isn’t a way that we could comply,” Shapiro told GeekWire. “There’s no product that we could build that would be legal for sale under this. Software not only doesn’t exist, it can’t exist because you can’t look at physical pieces and determine conclusively whether or not it’s going to turn into something dangerous.”
Shapiro explained that because laser cutters and CNC mills interpret raw geometry — squares, circles, and curves — the software lacks the context to identify a specific end product.
“The version of this that [the legislation] is wishing exists is that you could look at a set of shapes and somehow understand whether or not that set of shapes could be made into a gun and only a gun, and that just isn’t possible,” he said.
Shapiro also warned that “imaginary requirements” would hand a market advantage to Chinese competitors who would ignore Washington’s mandates.
“If I’m in a state that has outlawed our product and set imaginary requirements that we can only ship our product if we do the impossible, then our own state has effectively said, ‘Sorry, you can’t buy from Seattle. You have to buy from [China] because they’re the ones who are going to sell the product,’” Shapiro said. “They’re not going to care that our laws ask for the impossible.”
