According to law enforcement sources, 3D-printed ghost guns are one of the fastest-growing threats to public safety. In just three years, the ability for any New Yorker to produce a killing device in their own home has grown exponentially. In 2022, police said the lower receiver of a handgun could be made using most 3D-printers, leaving would-be gun manufacturers only to have to order the additional parts. Now, in 2025, about 96% of a firearm can be made in any home, leaving only screws and springs to be added to make it operable.
Police say this rapid progression of the deadly tech is being spearheaded by fringe groups through online chat rooms, open-source file-sharing websites and video platforms like Odysee. Cops say these gun aficionados are sharing their own designs on these pages, not necessarily because they are dangerous trigger-pullers themselves, but because they are looking for glory from their peers. However, once these schematics hit the web, anyone and everyone can access them.
Dubbed “3D2A” and ”3D Printing For All communities,” these groups not only aim to share information with one another over the net but also to help perfect their designs, with the aim of making the weapons more durable, effective, and easier to use.
“I started this group due to too many people who want to control the actions of others. Free speech is encouraging, and like minds prosper. If you want to post about 3A stuff also, feel free. This group doesn’t restrict any topic; all I ask is no bashing members,” the description of one 3D printing Facebook group read.
Deputy Chief of the NYPD Intelligence Division Courtney Nilan has spent years leading the charge in the battle against the proliferation of ghost guns while also raising awareness of just how rapidly the apparatus is evolving. Nilan says groups like 3D2A are nothing new, and they are only becoming more prevalent.
— Dean Moses in ‘New Second Amendment:’ How the NYPD, Manhattan DA are fighting radical online ghost gun manufacturers
Fighting pointless, winless battles at taxpayers expense is the bread and butter of government.
It’s really the opposite. 3DP is a red herring for us.
Unlike European gun control (restricting the pressure-bearing components), here in the US we can buy the barrel and all the parts that lock the breech, and polymer-composite frames you can drop from a helicopter or drive over with a truck.
Yet people fixate on “How can I extrude this potato-chip-brittle plastic to make something that’s ‘unique and artistic and my own’ because I downloaded a file and pushed a button?”
I don’t think it’s a red herring.
3D printing is driving innovation in a lot of areas, including gun manufacturing, suppressors, etc. There are lots of 3D-printable polymer options that aren’t “potato-chip-brittle”. Even if the parts aren’t durable, they prove out the fit, form and function, which can then be replaced with durable parts.
If you think 3D printing a functioning firearm is “downloading a file and pushing a button” you’ve obviously never 3D printed anything. I would consider myself fairly knowledgeable having designed and printed a number of things (not necessarily gun related), as well as plenty of “download and print”.
You can go out and buy a pre-built table or bookcase. But using tools to build your own provides a different level of satisfaction. Same with gun manufacturing.
Three rather distinct topics.
One, I do build my own. People who design 3DP guns are brilliant; they (or you, in this case) have to know everything us traditional gunsmiths know, in enough detail to break it down into digestible steps, plus the computer aspect.
Likewise for the people driving innovation in manufacturing.
Both are very different from the people printing a Glock frame instead of a 80%, or making something that will last one or two shots because they found a file, instead of drilling similar holes into materials suitable for lasting thousands. One of my favorite materials for scratchbuilding was always 4130 aircraft tubing. I don’t scratchbuild any more because I don’t want to take my chances in a “Ghost Gun” state, but people who choose to do so will find a lot fewer people trying to “stop the signal” at Aircraft Spruce or McMaster.
3D printers enable criminals to have access to firearms that they otherwise wouldn’t. Is that any different than the current “black market” availability? Of course, a single criminal misuse of anything creates a knee-jerk political reaction (how many knew what a Bump Stock was before LV? What about “Glock Switches” in NY and Chicago?), and perhaps that’s your “red herring” point. I would like to see the “ghost gun” numbers broken down to actually “Personally Manufactured Firearms” [ala from an 76 or 80% – via drilling holes or light machining..], 3D printed guns [ala FGC9, etc], or “Factory firearms with no serial number” [eg, likely stolen and serial number filed off]. Of course, those stats don’t change the “legality” and shouldn’t be used to further any restrictions… As you point out, in the US, factory firearms are plentiful, so why the “hassle” of PMF or 3D printing…
I also see this as a 1A challenge – and I think even the ACLU has begrudgingly agreed. “The more you tighten your grip, the more will slip through your fingers”….
You’re asking, why? I’m asking, why not? It’s fun to overcome the challenges of 3D printing something that can stand up to the stresses of firing a round. It’s not as simple as download the file and hit print. Maybe my printed gun lasts a few hundred rounds. Maybe it breaks on round two. Time to examine it and find out why it failed. Likewise, why do people build tables out of wood when metal tables will last longer and are stronger? Because they like to.
I tryed to ansser three times (twice to 300 and once to you) but my mild, respectfuul and nonprophane difrince of opinyon got nooked. It wasn’t about buying factory, but rather bilding using more durable materials and developing manuall skylls.
The people in New York need 3D print new state politicians that support the constitution and constitutional rights.
I would say it is simply too late to put the gun genie back in the bottle. If a Japanese man can make a gun in that benighted land, anyone can. Like the Brits, banning knives. Do they think someone with a bench grinder and some tape can’t make one?