California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business • Hacker News Board

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#21

Post by smt88 » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:52 PM UTC

vlian2088 wrote: post #5

why do your states constantly behave as if they are sovereign nations?

Assuming this is a sincere question from someone who doesn’t know US history:

States in the US were modeled after sovereign nations, perhaps even more loosely connected than the EU is today. They didn’t even share a currency.

Eventually the federal government became more important and powerful, and there are many federal laws now, but states are fundamentally still their own thing with the rights to do certain things that are more like a sovereign nation than a province.

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#22

Post by trhway » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:54 PM UTC

As the latest affair shown, US is falling behind in drone tech. Now another key modern tech is going to be similarly outlawed.

Note that in particular banning of 3d printing severely decreases chances for bringing back manufacturing - high labor and other costs makes domestic manufacturing feasible only when it is highly automated and highly customizable.

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#23

Post by guelo » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC

Photocopiers and printers have included anti-counterfeiting tech for decades, so there is precedent for this kind of thing. And this is addressing a real growing problem:

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/santa-rosa-167-gun...

https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/da-task-force-seizes-ghost-g...

https://www.vvng.com/3d-printed-firearm-recovered-after-man-...

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#24

Post by jrockway » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC

vlian2088 wrote: post #5

why do your states constantly behave as if they are sovereign nations?

The 10th amendment to the Constitution reads "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#25

Post by xienze » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC

dgellow wrote: post #6

If that becomes current law I don’t want to ever hear about Europe being over-regulated compared to the US…

Well that's one state, and the one that fancies itself as the most European in spirit, at that.

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#26

Post by kogasa240p » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:56 PM UTC

micromacrofoot wrote: post #12

dgellow wrote: post #6

If that becomes current law I don’t want to ever hear about Europe being over-regulated compared to the US…

Regulatory speaking, California is America's Europe

Without the robust train system, but that is changing slowly.

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#27

Post by iAMkenough » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:56 PM UTC

jalalx wrote: post #10

WTF is going on in US?

We collectively went from singing the praises of "essential workers" to striving to replace and deport them in a 5-year period.

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#28

Post by umvi » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:57 PM UTC

> The required technology is not possible - 3D printers read code, not intent; they cannot tell what a shape is for.

"Anthropic announces Project Disarm, a new model designed for 3d printer manufacturers to quickly infer whether the intent of an stl file is a weapon. The printer first submits the job to the cloud, and only after it's approved will it print."

Not that I want this future, just that I can imagine it.

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#29

Post by jltsiren » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:58 PM UTC

micromacrofoot wrote: post #12

dgellow wrote: post #6

If that becomes current law I don’t want to ever hear about Europe being over-regulated compared to the US…

Regulatory speaking, California is America's Europe

Europe favors comprehensive regulation, with laws or directives dealing with families of related issues. California does regulation in a very American way, with individual bills targeting specific issues. It just does more of that than the average state.

Re: California AB 2047 makes 3D printers off-limits to students, educators, business

#30

Post by aidenn0 » Tue, Jun 23, 2026, 10:59 PM UTC

monax wrote: post #11

Next they will ban hardware store ? Because you could make a weapon with that pipe

Fun fact:

There is a law in California that has been interpreted to mean that all clubbing weapons are illegal. So if you by a length of pipe and keep it around (e.g. under your bed) explicitly for self-defense purposes, you have committed a crime.

IANAL, but as far as I can tell, keeping a shotgun in your home for self-defense purposes would be fine, as long as you aren't planning ahead of time to use it as a club.

[edit]

My information is slightly out-of-date; there was an injunction against enforcement in 2024 from Fouts v Bonta. I have no clue the injunction is or is not still in effect, so ask your lawyer before carrying a club.