Attorney General Bonta: States Must Be Allowed to Regulate Ghost Guns and Prevent 3D Printing of Firearms

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta, as part of a coalition of 21 attorneys general, joined a multistate amicus brief in support of a Colorado law requiring anyone in possession of an unserialized frame or receiver to obtain a serialization by January 1, 2024, and prohibiting a person from using a 3D printer to create a frame or receiver. The case, National Association for Gun Rights v. Polis, is currently being reviewed in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
"These requirements are crucial in keeping ghost guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals and critical to solving violent, firearm-related crimes," said Attorney General Bonta. "In the State of California, we have seen firsthand the effectiveness of our commonsense gun laws, and it is imperative that similar laws are implemented nationwide. Each year, an increasing number of unregistered firearms and firearm components find their way into our state from areas with laxer gun control laws. This not only leaves law enforcement in the dark but also puts our communities at risk. We cannot accept this as the norm, which is why I am committed to protecting the well-being and security of all Californians through commonsense gun laws."
A Colorado district court rejected plaintiffs' challenge to the law, finding that several plaintiffs lacked standing and concluding that the statute does not burden plaintiffs' Second Amendment rights because it only imposes a condition on a firearm's commercial sale.
The amicus brief explains that many states prohibit the possession and sale of unserialized firearms, emphasizing that reversing the district court would endanger these prohibitions. Second, the brief offers policy-oriented arguments for why the Tenth Circuit should uphold Colorado's law, explaining how unserialized firearms contribute to gun violence and how the absence of a serial number hinders law enforcement. Finally, the brief explains that Colorado's law comports with the Second Amendment because ghost guns are not commonly used by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.
Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, in filing the brief.

A copy of the brief can be found here.