Is Code Protected Speech?: 3D-Printed Firearm Files and the First Amendment
By: Dan von Sohsten
Modern 3D printing technology has quietly upended one of the foundational assumptions behind American gun regulation, that manufacturing a firearm requires specialized tools, materials, and expertise. Today, anyone with a consumer-grade 3D printer and an internet connection can download a computer-aided design (“CAD”) file, feed it into a 3D printer or CNC machine, and produce a fully functional firearm in a matter of hours. These weapons have no serial numbers and are completely untraceable by law enforcement. Gun control advocates have labeled them “ghost guns,” and they have prompted a growing wave of state and federal regulations aimed at restricting their proliferation.[1]