Making a gun at home may soon become illegal in New York.
Lawmakers are responding to an increase in violent crimes committed with ghost guns, namely untraceable weapons that are being homemade using a 3D printer.
Someone who distributes or has a 3D printed gun may be prosecuted with a misdemeanor under existing New York law. The proposed legislation would make it unlawful to intentionally share the digital instructions that a printer has to follow while making firearms, prohibiting the use of a 3D printer to produce a weapon.
According to a sponsor of the law, State Senator Brad Hoylman, the intention is to “attack the manufacture” of these weapons, which can be printed for a small fraction of the price of a conventional rifle.
“We have individuals who that are printing silencers, they’re printing magazines for AR’s and AR-type rifles,” said NYPD Inspector Courtney Nilan. “Guns aren’t manufactured in New York,” Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said. “Through these printers, that is changing.”
According to the NYPD, the components required to build a fully working 3D printed pistol cost roughly $150.
The NYPD reported a 75% spike in ghost gun seizures over the past year. Since the beginning of 2022, 20 ghost firearms have been discovered at the locations of murders or shootings in Manhattan alone. There have been 90 ghost gun prosecutions in the office since the Manhattan district attorney’s office started keeping count in 2021.
In New York, licensed gun owners are permitted to create a gun using a 3D printer, but they must register the new weapon with the ATF right once. According to the authorities, however, nobody has ever done it.
