Colorado lawmakers are pushing laws that may criminalize possession of pc code used to fabricate firearms, triggering fierce backlash from Second Modification advocates who warn the measure represents an unprecedented assault on each gun rights and free speech protections.
Home Invoice 26-1144, launched by Democratic Reps. Lindsay Gilchrist and Speaker Professional Tempore Andy Boesenecker alongside Democratic Sens. Tom Sullivan and Katie Wallace, handed the Home Judiciary Committee on February 18, 2026, by a 7 to 4 party-line vote after hours of testimony. The measure now heads to the complete Home for consideration.
The laws builds on Colorado’s present 2023 ghost gun regulation by banning manufacturing firearms or firearm parts utilizing 3D printers, CNC milling machines, or “comparable gadgets.” Extra controversially, it criminalizes possession of digital directions like CAD recordsdata or code for programming these machines if authorities decide the particular person possesses them with “intent to fabricate” or “intent to distribute.”
Distributing such digital recordsdata to anybody in Colorado who is just not a federally licensed firearms producer would additionally change into unlawful. A primary offense carries Class 1 misdemeanor fees with potential jail time, whereas a second or subsequent offense escalates to a Class 5 felony punishable by one to 3 years in jail, necessary two-year parole, fines as much as $100,000, and lack of firearm possession rights. The invoice takes impact July 1, 2026, if signed into regulation.
Gun rights organizations have mounted fierce opposition centered totally on constitutional considerations. The Nationwide Rifle Affiliation’s Institute for Legislative Motion warned that HB26-1144 “prohibits the possession of digital instruction recordsdata and/or code associated to firearm parts by personal people, elevating First, Second and Fifth Modification violation implications” and “units forth a harmful precedent for enforcement and policing of the web by state officers.”
Past First Modification considerations, critics assault the invoice’s definitions as dangerously broad and its enforcement requirements as unconstitutionally obscure. The laws defines “3D printing” to embody CNC milling machines and “comparable gadgets,” which opponents argue sweeps in a large vary of ordinary manufacturing instruments utilized by machinists, hobbyists, and small companies, not simply 3D printers.
The Colorado State Capturing Affiliation, the state’s official NRA affiliate, formally opposes HB26-1144 alongside the broader suite of Democratic gun regulation measures. State Rep. Ava Flanell, a Republican from Colorado Springs and former firearms teacher, known as the payments “heavy handed” and warned they “will make it more durable for accountable residents to train their rights,” arguing the legislature ought to concentrate on “holding criminals accountable” reasonably than limiting instruments.
Scott James, the Weld County Commissioner for District 2, criticized this laws, stating that it “pushes Colorado into making an attempt to police info switch throughout the web by means of a state prison statute.” He added that the passage of this invoice can be “a recipe for courtroom fights and selective concentrating on, not a transparent recipe for higher security.”
The Nationwide Capturing Sports activities Basis has lengthy argued that 3D printing is a “excessive value, restricted manufacturing expertise that doesn’t current a public security danger” and that criminals will not be meaningfully utilizing 3D printing to supply firearms.
As of late February 2026, HB26-1144 has cleared the Home Judiciary Committee and awaits a vote from the complete Colorado Home of Representatives. Given the party-line nature of all votes to this point and Democratic management of the legislature, passage is taken into account seemingly, however authorized challenges, notably on First Modification grounds, are extensively anticipated. If Colorado criminalizes the possession of ones and zeros on exhausting drives whereas exempting licensed producers, the state could have crossed a constitutional line that transforms peaceful residents into felons for possessing info, setting the stage for what may change into a landmark free speech case that extends far past firearms.
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About José Niño
José Niño is a contract author based mostly in Charlotte, North Carolina. You may contact him by way of Fb and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack publication by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
