Last updated September 2026 · By Nick Hall, tracks California gun bills from introduction to chaptering every session for USA Gun Shop readers
Quick take: Governor Gavin Newsom signed 10 gun bills on September 26, 2026. The two that touch buyers most are AB 2047, which could eventually bar sales of 3D printers without firearm blocking technology, and SB 948, which adds a four-hour live-fire course to the Firearm Safety Certificate starting in 2029.
- What happened: Newsom signed AB 1743, AB 1753, AB 1943, AB 1974, AB 2047, AB 2339, AB 2378, AB 2636, SB 948 and SB 1220, chaptered as Chapters 457 through 466 of 2026.
- Why it matters: SB 948 changes what it takes to get a Firearm Safety Certificate, and AB 2047 regulates the printer rather than the file.
- What’s next: The bills take effect January 1, 2027, but the biggest buyer-facing pieces carry later start dates in 2028 and 2029.
- Who to watch: The California Department of Justice, which certifies the new FSC instructors and has to watch for an ASTM International printer standard.
Most end-of-session gun packages out of Sacramento are a stack of reporting fixes with one headline bill stapled on top. This one has two bills that matter at the gun counter and eight that mostly matter in courtrooms, schools and county offices. We read the enrolled text of all ten so you don’t have to.
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Table of Contents
What AB 2047 Does to 3D Printers
AB 2047, by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), creates the California Firearm Printing Prevention Act in the Civil Code. It defines firearm blocking technology as “hardware, firmware, or other integrated technological measures capable of ensuring a three-dimensional printer will not proceed to any print job unless the underlying three-dimensional printing file has been evaluated by a firearms blueprints detection algorithm.” The detector has to screen out files for firearms and for machine gun conversion devices, including pistol converters.
Here’s the mechanism. Beginning no later than July 1, 2027, and every quarter after that, the Department of Justice checks whether ASTM International has published an industry standard for blocking technology on 3D printers. If it has, and the standard shows the technology is feasible, DOJ gets 24 months to publish guidance or regulations setting minimum performance standards. One year after that guidance, it becomes unlawful to sell, offer for sale or transfer for consideration a 3D printer in California that isn’t equipped with compliant blocking technology.
The enrolled text of AB 2047 exempts printers used exclusively to make props for the entertainment industry, and it lets DOJ run a self-certification process for printer manufacturers. It also carries an off-ramp: if ASTM International has not published a standard by July 1, 2029, DOJ does not have to keep checking.
So what changes for a California printer buyer on January 1? Nothing, yet. Even on the fastest possible track, no sale ban can start before 2028, and the whole thing hangs on a private standards body writing a standard first. It passed the Assembly 60 to 18 on final concurrence after a 29 to 10 Senate vote, and it adds a new front to the wider fight over 3D printed guns.
SB 948 Adds a Live-Fire Course to the FSC
California already requires anyone who buys or receives a firearm to hold a Firearm Safety Certificate, and getting one means passing a written test. SB 948, by Senator Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley), adds training on top. Under the enrolled text of SB 948, anyone applying for an FSC on or after January 1, 2029 must have completed a course within the prior year that runs “no less than four hours in length, including live-fire shooting exercises.”
The live-fire portion has to happen on a range and include a demonstration of safe handling and basic shooting proficiency. The classroom side covers safe storage law, private sales and straw purchases, relinquishment rules for prohibited persons, self-defense and use-of-force law, and legal transport. Instructors must be certified by DOJ, and anyone holding a valid CCW permit, or who completed a CCW course in the previous three years, is exempt.
But SB 948 also hits people moving into California with guns. The window for a personal firearm importer to report grows from 60 days to 180 days, and starting January 1, 2028 the importer must certify under penalty of perjury that they hold an FSC or qualify for an exemption. Bringing a firearm into the state without getting an FSC within 180 days becomes an infraction.
If you’re a first-time buyer in California, getting your certificate before January 1, 2029 means the written test alone. If you wait, budget a range day and a course fee. The bill cleared the Senate 28 to 12 on concurrence and the Assembly 56 to 19, and it layers onto the rest of California’s gun laws rather than replacing anything.
The Other Eight California Gun Bills in the Package
Two bills widen who is barred from owning guns. AB 1753 (Stefani) imposes a 10-year firearm ban on anyone convicted on or after January 1, 2027 of specified offenses, including misdemeanor violations of a gun violence restraining order or other protective orders and offenses that constitute hate crimes. SB 1220 (Hurtado) adds the same 10-year ban for convictions on or after that date for altering or removing a gun’s serial number, or possessing a gun that has been altered that way.
AB 1753 does a lot more besides. Restrained persons must now surrender ammunition along with firearms, and starting January 1, 2028 California police can seek enforcement of another state’s extreme risk protection order. It sits on top of the red flag laws California already runs.
AB 2339 (Gipson) tightens how juvenile and mental health prohibitions get reported to DOJ, and keeps the five-year firearm ban in place for someone certified for intensive treatment even if they are released after a certification review or a habeas petition. AB 1974 (Stefani) lets local law enforcement agencies set up voluntary programs where owners can hand over guns for temporary safekeeping, with unclaimed guns destroyed after the agency’s deadline.
The rest sit further from the counter. AB 1943 (Gipson) requires schools to send parents a “Secure Firearm Storage Notification.” AB 1743 (Wicks) makes clear that the data behind DOJ’s gun trace analysis is available on request to local and state agencies and to the UC, CSU and private college systems. AB 2378 (Gabriel) creates an Office of Community Violence Intervention to run the CalVIP grant program, and AB 2636 (Pacheco) tells juvenile courts to weigh a loaded-firearm carry charge when deciding whether a minor gets deferred entry of judgment.
When the New California Gun Laws Take Effect
California’s constitution puts a regular-session bill into effect on January 1 after a 90-day wait, and none of these ten is an urgency measure. Signed September 26, 2026, they all take effect January 1, 2027. And several carry their own later triggers inside that: July 1, 2027 for the first AB 2047 check and the state’s model school storage notice, January 1, 2028 for the SB 948 importer certification and the AB 1753 out-of-state order provisions, January 1, 2029 for the FSC live-fire course, and July 1, 2029 for the AB 2047 off-ramp.
The governor’s release lists “3D-printed firearms and illegally modified and unserialized firearms” among the emerging threats the package targets. Newsom’s own line: “California has been a leader in gun safety because survivors, advocates, researchers, law enforcement, legislators and communities have continued to come together to turn hard-earned lessons into action.”
The printer bill gets the headline. The FSC bill is the one that will cost a first-time buyer a Saturday.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does California's AB 2047 do?
AB 2047 creates the California Firearm Printing Prevention Act. If ASTM International publishes an industry standard for firearm blocking technology on 3D printers, the Department of Justice must publish minimum performance standards within 24 months, and one year after that it becomes unlawful to sell a 3D printer in California that is not equipped with compliant blocking technology.
Does AB 2047 ban 3D printers in California?
No. It does not ban owning or using a 3D printer. It could eventually bar the sale of new printers that lack firearm blocking technology, but only after an ASTM International standard exists and DOJ publishes guidance. If no ASTM standard is published by July 1, 2029, DOJ no longer has to keep checking.
When do the new California gun laws signed in September 2026 take effect?
All ten bills Governor Newsom signed on September 26, 2026 take effect January 1, 2027. Some provisions start later: SB 948's importer certification on January 1, 2028, its live-fire FSC course on January 1, 2029, and AB 2047's printer sale rules only after DOJ issues guidance.
What is the new Firearm Safety Certificate training requirement?
Under SB 948, anyone applying for a Firearm Safety Certificate on or after January 1, 2029 must have completed a training course within the prior year that is at least four hours long, includes live-fire shooting on a range, and is taught by a DOJ-certified instructor.
Who is exempt from the SB 948 training course?
People who hold a valid California CCW permit, and people who completed an initial or renewal CCW training course within the previous three years, are exempt from the new FSC training course.
I'm moving to California with my guns. What changes under SB 948?
A personal firearm importer now has 180 days instead of 60 to report a firearm brought into California. Starting January 1, 2028, the report must include a certification under penalty of perjury that you hold a valid Firearm Safety Certificate or qualify for an exemption, and failing to get an FSC within 180 days is an infraction.
What does California's SB 1220 do?
SB 1220 bars anyone convicted on or after January 1, 2027 of altering, removing or obliterating a firearm's serial number or other identifying marks, or of possessing or selling a firearm altered that way, from owning or possessing a firearm for 10 years after the conviction.
Related Reading
- California Gun Laws: CCW, AWB, Roster and Everything You Need to Know
- California Handgun Roster Explained: What You Can Buy
- 9 Best California Legal Handguns: On-Roster Picks Ranked
- 3D Printed Guns: Complete Guide to Laws, Tech and History
- DOJ Sues California Over Glock Ban and Handgun Roster
- Ninth Circuit Rejects a Wider ATF Ghost Gun Rule
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