Oppose HB 2320 & HB 2321

Washington’s HB 2320 and HB 2321: Why Tech Enthusiasts (Everyone) Should Care

If you own a 3D printer, use CNC machines, or care about digital privacy and manufacturing freedom, these bills directly threaten you.

Washington State legislators have introduced HB 2320 and HB 2321, currently before the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee. They claim to address “ghost guns” but would instead establish unprecedented surveillance of personal manufacturing equipment while criminalizing information—all without meaningfully improving public safety.

If you’re part of the maker community, this isn’t an abstract policy debate. These bills will directly impact your ability to innovate, create, and use the tools you’ve invested in.

What These Bills Actually Do

HB 2321: Mandated Surveillance of Your 3D Printer

Full Bill Text – HB 2321 | Bill Summary

After July 1, 2027, every 3D printer sold in Washington must be equipped with “blocking features” that prevent printing firearms or firearm components. The bill mandates detection algorithms that scan every print file against a government database, reject anything flagged as firearm-related, and prevent users from overriding the system.

Violations carry escalating penalties: misdemeanor for first offense, Class C felony (up to 5 years in prison, $15,000 fine) for subsequent offenses.

HB 2320: Criminalizing Information

Full Bill Text – HB 2320 | Bill Summary

HB 2320 criminalizes possession of “digital firearm manufacturing code”—CAD files, G-code, STL files, anything that could be used to program manufacturing equipment to create firearm components. The bill creates a “rebuttable presumption” that possessing such files demonstrates criminal intent, flipping the burden of proof so you must prove innocence rather than prosecutors establishing guilt.

The definition is dangerously broad and could capture general machining tutorials, engineering reference materials, and educational content.

Why These Bills Don’t Work

The Technology Doesn’t Exist

The core problem: how does an algorithm distinguish between a legitimate firearm component (legal for licensed repair) and an illegal part? Between a firearm grip and an ergonomic tool handle, camera mount, or sculpture? Between a complete lower receiver and a partial component that becomes functional only in combination with other prints?

The bill requires systems that “cannot be overridden by users with significant technical skill.” This ignores basic technical reality. A 3D printer is just stepper motors, a heating element, and standard electronics controlled by replaceable firmware. Anyone with basic knowledge can flash alternative open-source firmware, connect motors to different microcontroller boards, use offline slicing software without detection algorithms, or modify file formats to evade scanning.

The bill essentially mandates that manufacturers solve a technically impossible problem, then holds them criminally liable when they inevitably fail.

False Positives Will Destroy Legitimate Use

The bill provides no tolerance thresholds for false positives. Your printer could incorrectly reject airsoft components, historical props, educational models, ergonomic grips for power tools, artistic sculptures, or robotics parts. With no defined accuracy standards and manufacturers facing felony charges for failures, every print becomes uncertain.

When you contact support about being blocked from a legitimate project? The bill mandates manufacturers cannot override their own systems, even for clearly lawful work.

Privacy Invasion

Your printer must scan every file you attempt to print, compare it against government databases, and potentially log your printing activity. This transforms personal equipment into surveillance hardware with no protections for data retention, privacy safeguards, or limits on government access to your manufacturing history. The Washington Attorney General would maintain and update the prohibited design database annually, with zero transparency about contents, no appeals process if your legitimate design gets flagged, and no accountability for data breaches.

Criminals Aren’t Stopped, Law-Abiding Citizens Are Burdened

Determined wrongdoers will simply buy equipment out-of-state before July 1, 2027, modify firmware on compliant printers, use older exempt equipment, employ manual tools, or continue sourcing through black markets. Meanwhile, hobbyists printing custom grips, engineers prototyping mechanical components, educators demonstrating principles, and artists creating sculptures all face surveillance and potential felony charges for false positives.

This is security theater: visible action that burdens the innocent while failing to prevent actual threats.

Why This Matters to Your Community

You understand that 3D printing and CNC manufacturing democratize production, enable rapid prototyping, support education, and empower individual creativity. These bills threaten that promise.

You’ll be directly affected if you own a 3D printer, teach with these technologies, run a makerspace, prototype products for your business, create art and replicas, build robots and mechanical projects, repair items by fabricating parts, design assistive devices, or participate in STEM programs.

This isn’t about whether you’d print firearm components. It’s about whether government should mandate surveillance of your tools, criminalize information, and restrict your ability to innovate—all in pursuit of a goal these bills cannot achieve.

The maker movement represents something important: democratized manufacturing, empowered creativity, and accelerated innovation through accessible tools and shared knowledge. These bills threaten that ecosystem by fragmenting markets, mandating surveillance, and transforming creation into a surveilled and restricted activity.

What Actually Works

If you care about addressing untraceable firearms (and you should—recoveries increased 1,083% from 2017 to 2021), evidence-based solutions exist:

Aggressive prosecution under existing federal law (the Undetectable Firearms Act already prohibits firearms lacking sufficient metal). Supply chain monitoring for bulk purchases of firearm components that complement 3D-printed parts. Enhanced forensic technologies for tracing recovered firearms through polymer analysis and ballistic databases. Strengthened Extreme Risk Protection Orders targeting dangerous individuals based on evidence of risk. Federal coordination through ATF for consistent, effective regulation.

These address actual threats. HB 2320 and 2321 burden the innocent while failing to prevent crime.

What You Can Do Right Now

Find Your Representatives

https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder

Enter your address to identify your state senator and two state representatives.

Contact the Committee

Both bills are in the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee. Contact committee members:

Rep. Jamila Taylor (D), Committee Chair

Rep. Jim Walsh (R), Ranking Minority Member

Send This Letter

Copy, paste, and customize with your personal details. Personal stories matter more than generic opposition—add a paragraph about how these bills would specifically affect you.

Subject: Opposition to HB 2320 and HB 2321 – [Your District] Constituent

Dear [Representative/Senator Name],

I am writing as your constituent from [Your City] to express my opposition to House Bills 2320 and 2321. As a member of Washington’s maker and technology community, these bills would directly harm my ability to innovate and create while failing to improve public safety.

HB 2321’s requirement for “firearms blueprint detection algorithms” is technologically unworkable. Over 2,100 different 3D-printed firearm designs exist with continuous modifications that evade pattern recognition. The bill demands systems that “cannot be overridden by users with significant technical skill,” but anyone with basic knowledge can flash alternative firmware or use offline slicing software. Anyone with basic knowledge can bypass these restrictions through firmware modification or offline software.

The bill provides no tolerance for false positives, meaning my printer could incorrectly reject legitimate projects—airsoft components, historical props, educational models, ergonomic grips, artistic sculptures, robotics parts. With manufacturers facing felony charges for failures, my equipment becomes a locked-down appliance.

HB 2320’s prohibition on “digital firearm manufacturing code” raises First Amendment concerns about criminalizing information. The definition is dangerously broad and could capture general machining tutorials and educational content. The “rebuttable presumption” that possessing files demonstrates criminal intent inverts the burden of proof.

Compliance would also require my 3D printer to scan every file I print and log my manufacturing activity. This transforms personal equipment into a surveillance device.

Here’s what won’t happen: criminals will simply buy equipment out-of-state before July 1, 2027, modify firmware on compliant printers, or use older exempt equipment. Law-abiding makers, educators, and small businesses bear the burden while actual threats remain unaddressed.

[Add your personal story: How would this affect you specifically? Your makerspace? Your business? Your education? Your hobbies?]

I respectfully urge you to oppose these bills. Evidence-based alternatives—aggressive prosecution of existing laws, supply chain monitoring, enhanced forensic technologies, and strengthened Extreme Risk Protection Orders—can address actual threats without surveilling tools or criminalizing information.

I would appreciate knowing your position on these bills and whether you will vote against them.

Thank you for your service.

Sincerely,

[Your Full Name]
[Your Address]
[Your Phone]
[Your Email]

Maximize Your Impact

Send your letter to all three of your district legislators, the committee chair, and the ranking minority member. Use email (gets read quickly) and physical mail (carries more weight). Share this post in maker communities, Discord servers, subreddits, and forums. Act quickly—the committee held a public hearing on January 21. Action could come soon.

Resources

Have you contacted your representatives yet? Let’s defend the freedom to create.

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