logoalt Hacker News

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

231 pointsby Buildstartedyesterday at 10:12 PM154 commentsview on HN

Comments

umviyesterday at 10:57 PM

> 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.

show 9 replies
dgellowyesterday at 10:46 PM

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

show 6 replies
deckar01yesterday at 11:06 PM

I tried to photo copy a dollar bill when I was a kid on a dinky inkjet printer. It printed half way then spit out something about counterfeit prevention. I scanned the bill, printed the top half, fed the paper back in, and printed the bottom half. This can only actually stop the completely unmotivated.

show 2 replies
denverllcyesterday at 11:19 PM

Louis Rossman believes these bills are partly funded/lobbied for by Bloomberg.

https://youtu.be/E1B2cWEaWDw?is=xwpLZoyVSi6psztQ

show 2 replies
giantg2yesterday at 11:18 PM

NY is pushing the same sort of stuff. The question to ask is how many people are actually being killed with 3D printed weapons? I don't have that info, but I would guess they are statistical outliers and would have been replaced by other homemade weapons if not available. Politicians love to "fix" problems that aren't really problems in the first place.

show 1 reply
jshmrsnyesterday at 10:51 PM

Roll call from the Assembly vote: https://legiscan.com/CA/rollcall/AB2047/id/1702219

show 1 reply
androiddrewyesterday at 10:44 PM

Yeah you. Better get your printer air gapped because they are going to brick it in the name of getting re-elected

monaxyesterday at 10:48 PM

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

show 5 replies
exabrialyesterday at 11:11 PM

* Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D)

* Dr. Darshana R. Patel (D)

* Tim Grayson (D)

show 1 reply
tedd4utoday at 12:28 AM

If you're in San Francisco, note that Catherine Stefani and Matt Haney both voted for this ridiculous bill.

Roll call: https://legiscan.com/CA/rollcall/AB2047/id/1702219

LinuxAmbulanceyesterday at 10:42 PM

What are the odds of this passing successfully?

A grim day for 3D printing if so.

show 3 replies
UncleOxidanttoday at 12:11 AM

There's also this Chip "Security" Act on the federal level: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/chips-security-act-ga...

wxwyesterday at 11:31 PM

The actual bill in question: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml...

It seems more precise to say that 3D printers sold/transferred in California would need built-in anti-firearm-printing controls?

I don't see how this directly bans students/teachers/businesses from owning 3d printers, which is what the title seems to say.

show 1 reply
swalshyesterday at 11:27 PM

This offends me, because I believe code is speech, and speech should not be restricted.

int32_64yesterday at 11:18 PM

Are 3D-printed guns even remotely reliable, or is it just a moral panic? A brass tube and a pin is probably less likely to fail than 3d printed materials.

show 8 replies
HoldOnAMinuteyesterday at 11:31 PM

Which 3D Printers should I be buying right now?

KingMachiavelliyesterday at 11:34 PM

Err, the email list has like 13+ bad addresses? I get a lot of "Address not found" responses.

charcircuityesterday at 11:14 PM

Many firearm companies were founded by someone who made their own firearm design. Banning people from manufacturing things is anti innovation.

phibzyesterday at 11:30 PM

Why is a 3d printer more dangerous than a CNC?

show 2 replies
trhwayyesterday at 10:54 PM

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.

show 1 reply
mc32yesterday at 10:47 PM

Why does California since Arnold left office feel the need to regulate above the average other states regulate? [in fairness gov Brown would veto some of the crazier ideas that arrived at his desk]

Why do the pols feel like they have to pick fights in so many places? I doubt there’s a majority of voters who want this.

show 6 replies
greenavocadoyesterday at 11:21 PM

Blatant first amendment violation

yieldcrvyesterday at 11:18 PM

This doesn’t have to be unconstitutional, just regulate the intermediary in such a way that it forces the behaviors you are trying to regulate directly

In this case you can say

“You need a license to do this activity”

[adds all the requirements in the bill to the licensing authority]

“Unlicensed activity is forbidden”

so now you can get your tiny LLMs added to 3D printers so that license holders can operate again, without specifically mandating unworkable technology or getting a freedom of expression challenge from the manufacturers you just invented court standing for

This works under every governance system

show 1 reply
cortesoftyesterday at 11:03 PM

This is such a dumb law. We have millions of guns in the state, 3D printed guns are never going to be more than a blip in the statistics for gun deaths.

show 3 replies
TacticalCoderyesterday at 11:10 PM

I'll really get downvoted on this "turning ever more red" HN platform but...

All democrats present voted yes. All republicans voted no.

ConanRusyesterday at 10:50 PM

[dead]

jalalxyesterday at 10:47 PM

WTF is going on in US?

show 2 replies
vlian2088yesterday at 10:45 PM

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

show 5 replies
gueloyesterday at 10:55 PM

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-...

show 4 replies