GOF: Hochul Quietly Slipped New 3D Gun Restrictions Into New York Budget

Gun Owners Foundation says New York lawmakers didn’t just pass another gun control measure, they buried it inside the state’s 2026 budget.

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In the latest installment of Bullet Points, GOF’s Dan Wos argues that Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic lawmakers quietly slipped new restrictions targeting 3D-printed firearms and digital design files into the massive budget package instead of advancing the proposal through the normal legislative process.

According to Wos, that’s no accident.

The big problem gun control advocates have is the fact that all gun restrictions are unconstitutional,” he says at the start of the video, arguing that New York gun owners have repeatedly found ways around the state’s firearm restrictions.

Wos points to New York’s ammunition background check system as one example. He says many Empire State gun owners responded by simply buying ammunition in neighboring states, prompting Hochul to threaten legal action against out-of-state gun dealers using New York’s Gun Industry Public Nuisance Law.

The focus of the video, however, is the state’s latest effort to regulate homemade firearms.

According to GOF, the new budget creates criminal penalties involving digital firearm manufacturing code, including certain CAD files, blueprints, and other digital instructions used to produce firearms, firearm components, or some accessories with 3D printers.

The legislation also directs New York to develop regulations requiring many 3D printers sold in the state to include technology designed to prevent the printing of firearms or firearm parts.

Supporters have described those requirements as “blocking technology.”

The budget also establishes a state working group tasked with recommending technical standards before enforcement begins and authorizes action against sellers whose printers fail to meet those future requirements.

Wos argues the provisions were intentionally placed inside the state budget instead of moving as a standalone gun-control bill.

“Why?” he asks. “Because it’s possible that even the most anti-gun-minded folks might come to their senses… and realize that what the New York State Legislature is doing is blatantly unconstitutional.”

Throughout the video, Wos also challenges the term “ghost gun,” arguing that homemade firearms have been part of American history since the nation’s founding and that advances in 3D printing technology have simply modernized that long-standing tradition.

He also questions whether New York’s new restrictions will prove enforceable, suggesting the measures could eventually face legal challenges.

Whether those challenges materialize remains to be seen, but GOF says the outcome could have implications well beyond New York.

“Putting a stop to it in New York could be beneficial to every state in the nation,” Wos concludes.

For now, the organization is encouraging gun owners to keep a close eye on how the new regulations are implemented and whether they survive judicial scrutiny.

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