New York enacted a law mandating that 3D printers sold for home and business use must include technology to prevent the printing of firearm components. This requirement is scheduled to become effective in 2029, though an extension provision exists if experts determine the technology is not yet technically viable.

The proposed technology would function by analyzing digital designs submitted for 3D printing. These designs would be compared against a digital library of known firearm parts, and any matching designs would be rejected by the printer. Bill Decker, executive chairman of the Association of 3D Printing, said, "It's not going to work. It's more of a political statement than anything else."

Rory Mir, director of open access and technology community engagement at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said, "These sort of censorship algorithms don't work, and they wind up capturing and blocking a lot of lawful speech." Conversely, Julian Chultarsky, a technical account manager at Physna, said, "Geometric search is mature, it's deployed, it is ready to be applied to this problem." Eleven states currently prohibit the possession of 3D-printed firearms, and six additional states require serial numbers for these weapons.

Privately made firearms recovered from crimes and submitted to federal authorities increased from approximately 1,600 in 2017 to nearly 27,500 in 2023, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report. Firearms produced using 3D printers typically do not have serial numbers, which makes them difficult for law enforcement to trace. About one-third of U.S. states have enacted laws to ban or regulate firearms assembled at home without serial numbers.

The global number of 3D printers has grown from approximately 30,000 in 2012 to over 3 million currently. Over the same period, the worldwide 3D printing industry's annual value increased from about $2 billion to $26 billion.