Protecting 3D Printing

Small-scale 3D printing is a resource that has too many positive implications for the future to be constrained by people who fail to understand the technology. 

Trish Randall | October 7, 2026

As President Trump is doing so much to make it possible for America to make things again -- manufacturing, energy, Artificial Intelligence -- there’s a portion of our nation’s innovative and entrepreneurial inspiration and activity that is under serious threat.

At approximately $16 billion a year, it’s not one of the biggest industries, but for imagination and creativity, and inspiring the next generations of American producers, it’s huge.

We’re talking about 3D printing.

Use of 3D printers has brought joy to users creating items that are decorative, entertaining, and useful. Many a home business has developed following the purchase of a home 3D printer. Even more important for our nation’s future innovation, many young people have developed real skills in computer-aided drafting and open-source software design via 3D printing.

Last week, Gavin Newsom signed a law designed to severely restrict use of 3D printers. The stated goal is to prevent 3D printers from producing any print that could be used as a component of a firearm. All machines in California homes, libraries, and schools -- and businesses -- will be forbidden from initiating any print unless the government decides the proposed print cannot possibly be usable as a firearm component. There is an exception for prop guns for entertainment (possibly to convince the big movie companies not to flee his communist hellhole?).

There are so many ways this action is anti-American. It’s restricting one activity to restrain another activity, which is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court ruling in Bruen. It’s illegal to enact prior restraint on software........

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