SUMMARY

California Assembly Bill 1263 (AB 1263), signed into law on October 11, 2025, significantly strengthens the state’s regulation of ghost guns (unserialized, untraceable firearms) and expands liability for the firearm industry.

The key provisions of the bill include:

1. New Requirements for Selling Firearm Parts and Machines

The bill imposes new obligations on firearm industry members (including online retailers) for the sale or delivery in California of firearm accessories, firearm barrels unattached to a firearm, and firearm manufacturing machines (like 3D printers and CNC machines). Requirements include:

• Mandatory Notice and Acknowledgment: The seller must provide the prospective purchaser with a clear and conspicuous notice detailing California’s laws regarding unlawful firearm manufacture (e.g., manufacturing more than three firearms per year without a license, or using a 3D printer/CNC machine without a license). The purchaser must acknowledge receiving and understanding this warning.

• Age Verification: The seller must require the purchaser to provide proof of identity and age, verifying they are at least 18 years old.

• Signature-Required Delivery: Packages must be conspicuously labeled to require a signature and proof of identification from a person aged 18 or older upon delivery.

2. Expanded Liability and Regulation of Digital Files

AB 1263 significantly expands the state’s ability to hold individuals and companies liable for the distribution of digital instructions used to make firearms, often referred to as Digital Firearm Manufacturing Code.

• Expanded Definition: The definition of “digital firearm manufacturing code” is broadened to include files used to produce not only firearms and precursor parts, but also large-capacity magazines and machineguns.

• Strict Liability: A person who has suffered harm from a firearm that was unlawfully manufactured using such files can bring a civil action and hold the distributor of the code strictly liable for damages.

• Rebuttable Presumption of Violation: The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that a person violated the law if they own or manage an internet website that makes digital firearm manufacturing code available and the website encourages or facilitates the use of the code to unlawfully manufacture a firearm.

3. New Criminal Offenses and Firearm Prohibitions

The bill establishes and expands criminal penalties related to the manufacture of ghost guns:

• New Misdemeanor Crime: It is now a misdemeanor crime to knowingly or willfully cause another person to engage in the unlawful manufacture of firearms, or to knowingly or willfully aid, abet, promote, or facilitate it.

• Defining Unlawful Manufacture: “Unlawful manufacture of firearms” is defined to include:

  • Manufacture by a minor or a person prohibited from possessing firearms.

  • Manufacture of four or more firearms in a calendar year by an unlicensed individual.

  • Use of a 3D printer or CNC milling machine by an unlicensed individual to manufacture a firearm.

  • Manufacture of a firearm for the purpose of selling or transferring it without a required background check.

• 10-Year Firearm Ban: Effective January 1, 2026, a person convicted of certain misdemeanors, including unlawfully manufacturing firearms, will be prohibited from owning or possessing any firearm for 10 years.

4. Firearm Industry Responsibility Act (FIRA) Changes

The bill expands the duties of a “firearm industry member” under the existing FIRA:

• Reasonable Controls: It expands the requirement for firearm industry members to implement “reasonable controls” to now include preventing the unlawful manufacture of a firearm and restricting the sale of products that promote converting legal items into illegal ones (like a pistol converter/Glock switch).

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AB1263