Yup. Wait till our genius lawmakers figure that out! Then we'll have all software that can be used to do that job require registration and inspection to certify that it "won't print gun parts." Or maybe "all software" for good measure, in case any sneaky so-and-sos try to make an IRC client with a secret "slicing easter-egg." Better yet, all software of any kind has to be sold through an App Store so we can have Google, Microsoft and Apple gatekeep. That'll work. Gun problem solved.

Indeed. I grew up in a a machine shop than ran both manual and CNC machines and spent my summers in front of mills and lathes running jobs. I now do industrial automation and machine repair. With that being said, yeah, no way will this work. Ever.

And software? My Bridgeport and Logan were built before computers were available to the home consumer. Good luck stopping someone like me.

They'll still need some DRM in the printer so it will only accept signed gcode that came from the the slicer.

Otherwise it's pretty trivial for someone to just bypass the slicer and hand write the gcode.

Unable to find the article quickly, but, I read a compelling perspective recently: DoD vendors seeking to restrict use of 3d printed replacement parts that they would normally supply. There was some speculative tie-in with the recent wave of consumer level regulation.

Meanwhile, the US Army has delegated authority to 3d-print replacement parts to commanders in the field:

https://breakingdefense.com/2025/09/army-allowing-commanders...

“We’re basically saying, ‘Hey colonel, hey general, you have to make the decision. If a door handle is broken on an ISV, you need to get it into the field. If you think that replacement door handle is sufficient, send it out.’

“A lot of howitzers are down right now for very simple pieces that we could 3D print and have known how to 3D print, and actually have the design files to 3D print, but we haven’t done it,” Driscoll said. “So we, the Army, have kicked off a very aggressive approach to that.”

If you put the DRM in the printer I can hard wire the stepper motors to some H-bridges and an Arduino and run the unsigned gcode.

I have no intention to print weapons, but just saying that this law does nothing.