In a San Francisco Superior Court filing on Feb. 6, Bonta and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu allege Florida-based Gatalog Foundation Inc. and CTRLPew LLC unlawfully distributed digital blueprints and computer code used to manufacture hundreds of "ghost guns" and banned accessories like Glock switches and illegal high-capacity magazines.

The complaint claims defendants made available over 150 designs for weapons and components that can be 3D printed at home - including frames, receivers, and suppressors - without serial numbers or background checks. California law already bars unlicensed firearm manufacture, background check-skipping schemes, and, more recently, distributing the code that makes it all possible.

According to the complaint, California laws "specifically prohibit 3D printing firearms and prohibited firearm accessories without a license to manufacture firearms, and since 2023, has also prohibited the distribution of computer code for printing them to those without a license."

"Dangerous Untraceables," Says Bonta

Bonta claims that people making their own guns constitutes a "public safety crisis," as law enforcement seizures of ghost guns in the state skyrocketed from 26 in 2015 to an average of 11,000 per year since 2021. Prosecutors argue ghost guns bypass serials, background checks and traditional gun-safety measures, making them a magnet for people prohibited from possessing guns.

"These defendants' conduct enables unlicensed people who are too young or too dangerous to pass firearm background checks to illegally print deadly weapons without a background check and without a trace," Bonta said in the press release.

But gun-rights advocates argue there's more to the story.

"The Second Amendment protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms - and that right does not disappear because California dislikes how a firearm is made," Gun Owners of America Senior VP Erich Pratt told ZeroHedge. "For generations, Americans have lawfully built firearms for personal use. This lawsuit doesn't target criminals; it targets constitutionally protected conduct and even speech itself. You don't defend public safety by gutting the Second Amendment and criminalizing law-abiding citizens. Criminals will continue to ignore the law, as they always have.":

Hobbyists or Criminal Enablers?

Among the named defendants is gun-rights attorney Matthew Larosiere - long a voice for hobbyists who argue it's been legal for Americans to build firearms for personal use so long as they obey federal law. Critics of the lawsuit, including analysts in the gun-rights community, say this latest action blurs the line between hobby and crime and could chill lawful expression and innovation.