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California’s New Bill Requires DOJ-Approved 3D Printers That Report on Themselves
(blog.adafruit.com)
this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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I guarantee that those guns have metal powder in them to make them detectable.
Since all firearms owned by civilians must be detectable by metal detectors.
They have metal internal components just like almost every 3d printed gun does. There are some things that you just need metal for, like springs. The vast majority of 3d printed guns are actually guns purchased from a gun store and then modified with the equivalent of handmade after-market parts.
In order to be undetectable by metal detectors, you would have to keep the amount of metal in them to about that of a pair of glasses. So basically a firing pin and that's about it. I think a break action firing chamber would probably set it off like a big belt buckle would, and no recoil or magazine springs mean that it would have to be a single shot weapon with a manual reload - some kind of break action. And no barrel liner or a metal barrel at all, nor metal bullet casings. A shotgun shell might be able to make it through because of their mostly plastic shell with a copper back about the size of a quarter, but that's gonna be about it.
It's really not the issue that politicians and the media make it out to be. It's just fear mongering.
I can see you care about this topic. I'm not here to piss in your soup. I just said what the purpose is.
But in essence you are correct. The problem isn't that you can print certain parts, it's how easy it is to access everyone else supporting it. E.g. bullets or shells
Don't worry, you're not pissing in my Cheerios or anything, I just always end up in one of those "That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works!" rants whenever they pull the "ghost gun" nonsense.
It's like how it's illegal in Mass to own a suppressor unless you're a cop or military, then you can buy as many as you want. Like...it reduces recoil a little and reduces the noise from permanent hearing loss to temporary hearing damage, it's not gonna make a gun silent. Movie magic quiet is only possible with very particular sub-sonic rounds of a specific caliber. You want silent? You put a suppressor on an air rifle. Dead silent and completely legal to put a suppressor on in all 50 states because it's not a gun, despite being just as dangerous at close ranges.
Edit: Also, these laws are often supported by firearms manufacturers because it benefits them to prevent people from being able to go elsewhere, like making aftermarket car parts illegal or forcing people to get their service done at a car dealership.