will likely be illegal

Law Center, an anti-gun violence advocacy organization that tracks statutes related to rearms.

Colorado’s forthcoming bill would make it illegal to use a 3D printer to produce a rearm but would not go as far as some states — such as New Jersey — that bar the distribution of instructions for how to make a gun with a 3D printer.

State Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora an end to that so that we can interrupt the level of gun violence that we’re seeing in our state and across the nation.”

Other prime sponsors of the bill are Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver; Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins; and Rep. Junie Joseph, DBoulder.

“No law stops illegal activity,” Hansen said. “I have no doubt there will be people who will break the law. But, the point is, we have nothing on the books right now to address unserialized rearms.” e measure is expected to cruise through the Democratic-controlled legislature to Gov. Jared Polis, who supports the legislation. ere’s also growing, bipartisan support outside of the Capitol for regulating ghost guns. e mayors of Denver, Colorado Springs and Aurora wrote a joint opinion column in January supporting legislation that would restrict untraceable guns. e bill would also add crimes around unserialized guns and gun parts to the list of reasons someone could be barred from purchasing a rearm.

Ghost guns have been associated with several high-pro le shootings in Colorado over the past year, including one in March when an East High School student with a history of making guns shot two administrators. e alleged shooter in the Club Q massacre in Colorado Springs also had a history of using a 3D printer to produce guns at home.

Eleven states — including Washington, Nevada, California and Rhode Island — as well as Washington, D.C., have enacted laws regulating ghost guns, according to Gi ords e Gi ords Law Center is an o shoot of Gi ords, an organization that advocates for tighter gun regulations across the country and is named after former U.S. Rep. Gabby Gi ords. e Arizona Democrat was gravely wounded in a 2011 mass shooting that forced her to retire from Congress. ere are di culties around regulating the production of guns that can be made behind closed doors, but Anderman said the bill will focus primarily on sellers and distributors of ghost gun parts. e bill comes as Democrats in the Colorado legislature have taken up four other measures aimed at preventing gun violence. e bills would impose a three-day waiting period for all gun purchases, raise the minimum age for buying guns to 21 and expand Colorado’s red ag law to let teachers, prosecutors and medical professionals also petition a judge to order the temporary seizure of someone’s guns. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

“As federal law has evolved and as the industry tries to get around these regulations we make updates to the law,” said Allison Anderman, an attorney with the Gi ords Law Center, who worked on the Colorado bill.

Regulations around ghost guns in other states are all relatively recent, making their e cacy di cult to gauge, Anderman said.

“We are trying to essentially go after the supply,” Anderman said.

In 2022, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a rule requiring that kits that can be used to create rearms at home must include serial numbers.

A fourth bill would make it easier to sue the gun industry.