Inside the 3D Printer Ban Buried in the New York Budget
Lawful Masses with Leonard French
Jun 7, 2026
New York just became the first state in the country to order your 3D printer to scan what you make — and decide whether you're allowed to make it. It's buried in the state budget, it redefines a computer file as a "firearm product," and the software to enforce it was picked out seven months before the law existed.I'm Leonard French, a copyright and tech attorney, and this one isn't really about guns. It's about who controls the
tools you bought and paid for.In this video I break down what New York's FY2027 budget (S.9005-C / A.10005-C, Part C) actually does — separating the law that PASSED from the scarier version everyone online is still reacting to:The "ghost gun" that set this off — and why the new law wouldn't have stopped itHow a budget bill quietly swept in 3D printers, CNC machines, and lathesThe "convertible pistol" / Glock-switch ban and its wild definition of "common household tools"Why sharing a gun design file is now a crime — and the safe harbors nobody's talking aboutThe First Amendment fight over whether code is speech (Junger, Corley, and the brand-new Third Circuit ruling)Why engineers say the print-blocking tech literally can't work — and why the law admits itThe Manhattan DA letter that named the surveillance software before any of this was lawWhat this means for the rest of us: right-to-repair, open-source firmware, and who really "owns" a machineWhatever you think about firearms, the architecture being built here is the story. If a tool can be forced to phone home for permission before it does what you bought it to do — do you own it?
This video, presented by attorney
Leonard French, analyzes the legal and technical implications of a new provision in New York's fiscal year 2027 budget (Part C) that effectively mandates surveillance on 3D printers and similar digital manufacturing tools.
Key Takeaways:
- The Catalyst: Following the death of Brian Thompson in 2024, the media focused on "ghost guns," specifically 3D-printed frames. French explains that the law is misdirected, as the pressure-bearing parts of such firearms are made of metal, not plastic (1:15 - 3:10).
- Broad Scope: The law, buried in a massive budget bill to avoid open debate, applies not just to plastic 3D printers, but to any machine that builds or shapes objects from a digital file, including CNC mills and lathes (4:14 - 6:21).
- The Surveillance Mandate: New York is attempting to force manufacturers to integrate AI-based software that scans project files for "restricted" shapes before allowing the machine to operate. French notes that this is technically impractical because printers process "dumb" geometric coordinates (G-code) rather than identifiable 3D shapes (11:41 - 13:50).
- Pre-emptive Enforcement: Remarkably, the Manhattan District Attorney was pressuring manufacturers to adopt specific surveillance software (from a company called Print and Go) seven months before the law was even enacted (14:30 - 15:30).
- The "Sleeper" Provision: The law includes a provision that creates a working group to determine if the required technology is actually feasible; if they report it is not, the mandate pauses itself (13:51 - 14:29).
- Constitutional Conflict: The video discusses a growing legal battle over whether "code is speech." While some courts have protected source code, others (like the recent Defense Distributed v. New Jersey decision) have treated it as functional, non-expressive data, which lowers the bar for government regulation (8:34 - 11:41).
French argues that the core issue isn't about guns, but about digital autonomy—if a machine can be forced to phone home for permission to function, the owner no longer has full control over the tools they purchased (16:58 - 18:42).
