Firearms: ghost guns
Chaptered. Effective date is not on the official record yet.
Official status checked 2026-10-04 23:45 PT
Asm. Mike Gipson · Last amended 2025-09-05
Bill summary
Existing law makes it a crime for a person to manufacture or cause to be manufactured specified firearms.
Existing law prohibits a person, other than a state-licensed firearms manufacturer, from using a computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine or three-dimensional printer to manufacture a firearm.
This bill would prohibit a person from knowingly or willfully causing another person to engage in the unlawful manufacture of firearms or knowingly or willfully aiding, abetting, prompting, or facilitating the unlawful manufacture of firearms, including the manufacture of assault weapons or .50 BMG rifles or the manufacture of any firearm using a three-dimensional printer or CNC milling machine, as specified.
The bill would make a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor.
The official digest continues on the official text.
Now vs if chaptered
NOW (as of 2026-08-26): chaptered and operative. §29186 is a live misdemeanor. §29805 10-year ban applies to listed manufacture-related misdemeanors convicted on or after Jan 1, 2026. Civil CAD-distribution expansion is live. This is not AB 2047 (printer-sale mandate, not chaptered).
Defender utility
This is a live charging and prohibition statute, not pending printer-blocking (that is AB 2047). If the client is charged with §29186, demand a specific unlawful-manufacture theory from the §29186(b) list — the statute piggybacks existing crimes (29180, 29185, 29010, 30600, 32310, 32625, etc.) and is a misdemeanor, but a conviction on or after Jan 1, 2026 triggers a 10-year §29805 ban. Do not treat CAD hosting or speech as a completed 29186 without knowing/willful aid. Keep homemade-arms / PMF tradition and §29180 serial notes separate from this aiding statute. Civil Code 3273.61 is a civil hook (AG/city attorney / private harm), not a Penal Code count.
Who this is for. PDs on unlicensed-manufacture, PMF/serial, CAD, or 3D/CNC cases — §29186 is a live aiding count plus a new 10-year §29805 predicate.
Key dates
- Chaptered
- 2025-10-11
- Operative
- 2026-01-01
- 29805 predicate start
- 2026-01-01
Exemptions (draft)
Civil CAD distribution still excepts federally licensed manufacturers, on-duty military/NG, LE, and forensic labs. Industry notice/ID/signature-delivery rules do not apply to FFL dealers/manufacturers/importers, ammo vendors, on-duty military/LE, forensic labs, wholesalers, or common-carrier delivery. Statute is severable.
Penalties (if chaptered)
§29186: misdemeanor. Civil 3273.61 / 3273.625: compensatory damages, injunction, AG/city/county civil penalty up to $25,000 per violation, fees; rebuttable presumption against websites that host and encourage digital firearm manufacturing code. §29805: 10-year firearm prohibition after listed misdemeanors on or after Jan 1, 2026 (jail up to 1 year and/or $1,000).
Bank hints
- Motion Bank: Historical Tradition of Homemade and Privately Made Firearms (modular)
- Motion Bank: Case Note — Cal. Pen. Code § 29180 et seq. (AB-857 serial numbers)
- Motion Bank: 3D / CNC unlicensed manufacture §29185