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Politics

California "Ghost Gun" Bill Would Effectively Ban 3D-Printed Guns, Homemade Weapons

Nick Gillespie | 9.5.2014 3:38 PM

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Guns.com reports that a new, highly restrictive piece of legislation, SB808, awaits only Gov. Jerry Brown's signature before becoming law in California:

The bill, championed famously by state Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, in a January news conference in which he extolled the characteristics of "30 magazine clips" and "ghost guns," aims to largely outlaw 3D printed guns and place restrictions on guns made by home based builders. Introduced just eight months ago, the bill passed the state Senate on Aug. 29 by a 21-12 vote and navigated through the State Assembly by a closer 46-30 margin.

"Technological advancements require that we update our laws to meet new and growing public safety concerns to make sure dangerous individuals cannot manipulate technologies at the expense of public safety," said de Leon in a release last week.

Yeah, it probably will work almost as well as current gun laws do at keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals.

The law will require

a state Department of Justice Bureau of Firearms background check and authorization before assembling a firearm in the home of a state resident. Additionally, before this could be granted, the candidate would have to show proof that building the gun would not violate local city or county codes.

It would further require those who in the state that have already made their own gun after December of 1968 to obtain and engrave or affix a DOJ-issued serial number and prohibit the sale, transfer or inheritance of these guns.

In a final step, all guns made by unlicensed homebuilders would have to be serialized, have that serial number logged by the DOJ, and kept on record. Furthermore, homebuilders would have to pay a fee.

Noncompliance could result in up to a $1,000 fine and/or a year in prison.

Read more here.

Hat Tip: Declan McCullagh's Twitter feed.

Watch Reason TV's interview with Cody Wilson, 3D-gun evangelist and provocateur deluxe:

Read more about Wilson and Defense Distributed here.

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NEXT: Lava Flow Causes State of Emergency in Hawaii

Nick Gillespie is an editor at large at Reason and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie.

PoliticsGunsNanny StateScience & TechnologyCivil LibertiesPolicy3D PrintingCalifornia2nd AmendmentJerry Brown
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  1. Almanian!   11 years ago

    Yo, fuck Cali.

    But I repeat myself...

    1. juris imprudent   11 years ago

      And people wonder why I left the political shit-hole.

  2. OldMexican   11 years ago

    California "Ghost Gun" Bill Would Effectively Ban 3D-Printed Guns, Homemade Weapons

    HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

    1. Zeb   11 years ago

      Word order can make a big difference. A law effectively being a ban doesn't mean that the ban will be effective.

      1. Mock-star   11 years ago

        So they are going to ban something that was created specifically to avoid the suspicious eyes of our rulers in case they try to ban them. Yeah, best of luck with that.

  3. Hugh Akston   11 years ago

    Good luck enforcing that one.

  4. Mainer2   11 years ago

    Look, DeLeon absolutely believes in the rights granted to you by the Second Amendment. These are just common sense gun regulations. You really have to question why someone wouldn't be willing to compromise to keep families and children safe from gun violence.

    1. OldMexican   11 years ago

      There's no doubt in my mind that a legislator who proposes a ban on something that doesn't exist can only have the best of intentions in mind... and not paranoia or schizophrenia.

    2. fish   11 years ago

      That is some high quality satire there my friend.

      (tip-o-the-cap)!

      1. GroundTruth   11 years ago

        Prob'bly would come across betta if you could heya him say it with a nice, slow, gentle DownEast accent.

  5. Rich   11 years ago

    the candidate would have to show proof that building the gun would not violate local city or county codes.

    Let's apply this to more important stuff. In particular, "the candidate would have to show proof that running for office would not violate local city or county codes."

  6. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Yeah, it probably will work almost as well as current gun laws do at keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals.

    Technically, it will make the hands that possess them belong now to criminals.

    1. Zeb   11 years ago

      So the law's only possible effect is to have more guns in the hands of criminals.

  7. Rich   11 years ago

    After watching de Leon's video, I find myself asking "With all due respect, Senator, are you retarded?"

    1. Bardas Phocas   11 years ago

      He's a California state senator - so there is a high probability he is, at least, a bit slow.

      1. fish   11 years ago

        DeLeon is brilliant! He just plays slow for the benefit of his retarded constituents!

    2. GILMORE   11 years ago

      ABLEIST RIGHT WINGER ALERT

    3. juris imprudent   11 years ago

      Is it still a mental disability if it is self-inflicted?

  8. MegaloMonocle   11 years ago

    PASS IT, CA! PASS IT!

    The faster CA descends into a hell of its own making, the faster the rest of us can scavenge its corpse.

    1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

      Hey!

    2. juris imprudent   11 years ago

      Scavenge the corpse? Are you kidding - you know how you have to deal with that kind of carcass don't you?

  9. John   11 years ago

    What is the over under on the number of days before some half wit in the media talks about the dangers of the evil "ghost gun" like it is actually a type of gun like a carbine or revolver?

    1. Mainer2   11 years ago

      Did Space Ghost carry a gun ?

      1. John   11 years ago

        I loved that show.

        1. Mainer2   11 years ago

          Going to see the 911 this weekend.
          Paint is done, glass is in and it's off to the engine guy to re-install the drive train.

          1. John   11 years ago

            You are so close. I have to come up to see it the next time I am in Boston.

            1. Mainer2   11 years ago

              Do let me know.
              If the 911 is still unfinished, you can check out the 70 Caprice.

  10. zarafeatherstonetek   11 years ago

    my neighbor's step-aunt makes $71 /hour on the computer . She has been fired for 5 months but last month her pay check was $16392 just working on the computer for a few hours. read this post here....

    =============== http://www.netjob70.com

    1. OldMexican   11 years ago

      nutjob70?

    2. Andrew S.   11 years ago

      $16,392 at $71 an hour means just under 231 hours a month. Fuck, man. I don't want to work that much, even for good money.

    3. Obama's Buttplug   11 years ago

      What I want to know is why the bitch was fired.

      1. fish   11 years ago

        Somebody asked her to reprise "two girls one cup"...even step-aunt has her limits.

  11. Jordan   11 years ago

    What about ghost barrel shrouds? Has that menace been taken care of?

    1. Jordan   11 years ago

      For those unaware, that's the ghost shoulder thing that goes up.

    2. Rich   11 years ago

      What are ghost silencers, chopped liver?

  12. Dances-with-Trolls   11 years ago

    Most likely to devolve into a progressive dystopia first: Illinois, California, or New York?

    1. John   11 years ago

      Illinois. It has the least going for it. New York still has NYC and California still has a great climate and a ton of natural resources. Illinois has Chicago and the worst winters this side of Minot. It is basically Detroit with nicer people. Illinois is doomed.

      1. MegaloMonocle   11 years ago

        CA is a magnet for illegal immigrants, though, so they've got that going for them.

        1. John   11 years ago

          Gerry Brown is working hard to destroy any hope for the illegals getting jobs. So CA may not be such a magnet for much longer.

          1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

            Jerry just invited more here. And why do you think they need jobs? They can get welfare.

      2. Pope Jimbo   11 years ago

        Uffda!

        John, how can you use Minot as your comparison point for bad winters when you know it is Minnesoda day here on Reason.

        Please amend your comment to reference International Falls, MN instead of that suckhole Minot.

      3. LarryA   11 years ago

        NYC is a bug, not a feature.

    2. Mainer2   11 years ago

      I would guess that depends on the ratio of urban to rural population. e.g. there is a lot of Illinois that isn't Chicago.

      1. Dr. Fronkensteen   11 years ago

        At least we have water.

    3. GroundTruth   11 years ago

      You left out Massachusetts and New Jersey. But I'll give CA the win seeing as how they are mostly there already.

  13. PRX   11 years ago

    the candidate would have to show proof that building the gun would not violate local city or county codes.

    that's not how it works deleon. city, county, & state will have to show how their laws infringing on the right to bear arms don't violate the 2nd amendment.

  14. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    Will detection of the evil spirit guns be handled by three witches peering into a steaming cauldron of amphibian parts?

    1. Xeones   11 years ago

      How do you think DeLeon cam up with this law? By using reason? Pssssh.

    2. Episiarch   11 years ago

      That's how animists do it, so...yes?

    3. Xeones   11 years ago

      It's amphibian parts all the way down.

  15. Episiarch   11 years ago

    Why are CA politicians so fucking gun-banny? I mean even New York or Illinois aren't this bad outside of NYC and DC.

    1. Episiarch   11 years ago

      Not DC, Chicago.

    2. John   11 years ago

      Because California has two huge full retard Prog urban centers and NY and Illinois only have one. The population of greater LA and greater SF make up more of California than the population of Chicago does of Illinois or NYC does of NY.

      That is my guess anyway. For whatever reason, the sane areas of Illinois and New York seem to have more power than they do in California where the nuts really do run the asylum.

      1. DK   11 years ago

        Yes, I like this much better than the six state proposal. Two states - one, essentially a figure eight; the other, the holes. The eighters and the a-holes.

        1. Agammamon   11 years ago

          The best part of this plan? All the guns will in the surrounding area will keep the A-holes in place.

  16. GILMORE   11 years ago

    No mention of Ares Armor? - california's most notable supplier of unfinished/non-serialized receivers, and effectively the target of the law?

    Everything Ares was doing was legal (yet has been treated as though they were not) - it seems now california is getting around to writing the laws they've already criminalized people for.

    1. Mock-star   11 years ago

      Possibly. Except, if that was indeed their goal, they utterly failed in true government fashion. 80% receivers are not firearms. They are just chunks of aluminum alloy or polymer.

  17. Spyrius Droid   11 years ago

    Person Wanting Gun for potential Criminal Activity with no record: State, may I build a gun in my home?

    State: Yes.

    Person Wanting Gun for Criminal Activity with no record: Thanks!

    *Crime committed*

    State: We need better background checks!

    ---------------------------------

    Person Wanting Gun for potential Criminal Activity with a record: Screw the law, I'm not asking the state for permission- I'll build it anyways.

    *Crime committed*

    State: 3-D printing machines are the problem! All 3-D printing machine purchases need to be approved by background check!

    ---------------------------------

    Person Wanting Gun for potential Criminal Activity with a record: Dude, can I use your 3-D printing machine?

    Friend: Sure, why not? It's not like they can tell what machine printed something.

    *Crime committed*

    State: 3-D printing machines are the problem! Ban 3-D printing machines! All machines must be destroyed!

    1. Agammamon   11 years ago

      SMASH THE METAL MOTHERFUCKERS!

  18. Toki Wartooth   11 years ago

    "Ghost Guns"

    So California is going to outlaw proton packs. Who do I call if theres a ghost?

    1. Agammamon   11 years ago

      The CA Bureau of Paranormal Control of course.

      I'm sorry, but our office is closed right now, please call back during business hours, M-W-F between 9am and 4pm.

  19. Jaybirdmojo   11 years ago

    Is that a toupee?

  20. MegaloMonocle   11 years ago

    Ya know, pro-gun activists would probably help themselves if THEY WOULD STOP POINTING GUNS DIRECTLY AT CAMERAS.

    That is all. Carry on.

  21. This Machine Kills 40s   11 years ago

    I don't know what a "Ghost Gun" is, but now I really, really want one.

  22. Agammamon   11 years ago

    own gun after December of 1968 to obtain and engrave or affix a DOJ-issued serial number and prohibit the sale, transfer or inheritance of these guns.

    Seems like this would be a huge sticking point helping out any court challenges if this law should be implemented.

  23. Vampire   11 years ago

    Politicians prefer their prey weak and defenseless. The state commits more aggression and violence against others than even the criminals. They fear armed individuals because they are able to defend themselves and their property. It is much harder to rob an armed household, than one without any means of defense.

    An "assault" weapon is a force multiplier, and multiplies the effectiveness of an individual being able to defend their home, and could better protect them against the totalitarians, and their nefarious activities if it becomes necessary.

  24. ant1sthenes   11 years ago

    Don't give the EPA any ideas. Losing my ghost gun would be bad enough, but if they shut down my ghost containment unit, the results will be a disaster of biblical proportions.

  25. Response   11 years ago

    Burn down the internet. Think of the children.

  26. Cyto   11 years ago

    I am reminded of the anti-pornography raids of the 80's. Prosecutors would haul away boxes of dildos and blow-up dolls and decry the obscenity, saying that silicone rubber molded into an elongated cylinder violates community standards. I always wondered how a shape, any shape, could be illegal.

    Take a perfectly-legal lump of clay. Mold it into an erect penis. Suddenly it is illegal?

    Now we have 3-d printers. But we could well be talking about sheet metal and bending. Take a rectangle of steel. Perfectly legal. Bend it into a rectangular box. Flirting with the law. Add a spring and bingo! Felony weapons charge for making an illegal magazine.

    3-d printing certainly removes barriers to creating these parts, but any decent machine shop is equally capable of producing weapons parts. Over in the middle east they produce AK-47 knockoffs from scrap metal in a shop the size of a one car garage. The expertise required to machine the parts to convert an AR-15 for full auto is not out of reach for a motivated high-school shop student.

    The whole thing seems crazy to me - that a small piece of plastic could somehow be enough to put you in jail for 20 years, whatever that shape might be.

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