Building Your Own
Making a firearm for your own use has been lawful under federal law for as long as there has been federal firearms law. What has changed, fast, is state law — and the gap between the two is where people get into trouble.
Read your state first
Federal law is the floor, not the answer. At least sixteen states regulate privately-made firearms, and several now require a serial number on anything you build. New Jersey has gone further and made it unlawful for an unlicensed person to possess the digital design files at all. Conduct that is unremarkable in one state is a felony one border away.
What federal law says
Building for personal use
18 U.S.C. § 922Federal law does not require a license to make a firearm for your own use, provided you are not a prohibited person and the firearm is otherwise lawful. A manufacturing license is required only if you make firearms for sale or distribution. Several states override this — check your state below before you start.
Undetectable firearms
18 U.S.C. § 922(p)A firearm that cannot be detected by a walk-through metal detector, or whose major components do not produce an accurate image under X-ray, is unlawful regardless of who made it. This is the provision most directly implicated by fully-printed designs, and it is why printed guns are built around a steel insert.
Machineguns
18 U.S.C. § 922(o)Civilian manufacture of a machinegun has been prohibited since 1986. This covers conversion devices such as auto sears, including printed ones, and it applies to home builds without exception. This is the single most commonly prosecuted mistake in the home-build space.
Frames, receivers, and kits
27 C.F.R. § 478.12ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F treats certain partially-complete frames and receivers, and kits that can be readily converted, as firearms — so serialization and a background check apply at the point of sale. The Supreme Court upheld the rule in Bondi v. VanDerStok (2025), which ended the argument that unfinished receivers fall outside the Gun Control Act.
NFA items
26 U.S.C. Ch. 53Short-barreled rifles and shotguns, suppressors, and destructive devices require an approved ATF Form 1 and payment of the making tax before you build. Approval comes first — building first and filing later is a felony, not a paperwork problem.
Home manufacture by state
17 of 51 jurisdictions we have checked either prohibit self-manufacture or require you to serialize what you build.
| State | Build for personal use | Serial required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Allowed | No | Alabama law does not prohibit a non-prohibited person from building a firearm for personal use, does not require a serial number on a self-made firearm, and has no state firearm registration of any kind. § 13A-11-64 punishes DEFACING an identification that already exists — it does not obligate you to add one to a firearm that never had one, though a build using a part whose serial was removed would fall squarely within it. Local ordinances cannot fill the gap because § 13A-11-61.3 preempts them and voids any contrary ordinance. FEDERAL LAW IS THE REAL CONSTRAINT: a prohibited person may not make or possess a firearm at all; manufacturing for sale or distribution requires an FFL; commercially sold frames, receivers and parts kits are "firearms" under ATF's 2022 frames-and-receivers rule (upheld in Bondi v. VanDerStok, 2025) and arrive already serialized with a background check; NFA items (short-barreled rifles and shotguns, suppressors, machine guns) require prior federal approval and marking; and 18 U.S.C. § 922(p) bars undetectable firearms. I found no Alabama Attorney General opinion or ALEA guidance interpreting state law on self-manufacture — this conclusion rests on the absence of any such provision in the Code of Alabama. |
| Alaska | Allowed | No | Alaska has no statute prohibiting a person from privately manufacturing a firearm for personal use, and no state law requires a serial number, state registration, or a permit to build one. AS 44.99.500(a) declares that a personal firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition 'possessed in this state or manufactured commercially or privately in this state and that remains in the state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration.' AS 44.99.500(e) makes unenforceable in Alaska any federal statute, regulation, rule, or order effective on or after June 21, 2013 that bans or restricts ownership of a semiautomatic firearm or magazine, or requires a firearm, magazine, or other accessory to be registered, where doing so violates the Second Amendment or art. I, sec. 19 of the Alaska Constitution. ONE MARKING REQUIREMENT: AS 44.99.500(c) provides that 'a firearm manufactured or sold in this state and not subject to federal regulation under this section must have the words "Made in Alaska" clearly stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame' — a Made-in-Alaska stamp, not a serial number. CAUTION: AS 44.99.500 is a Firearms Freedom Act-type statute purporting to place intrastate-made firearms outside federal jurisdiction; federal courts have rejected that theory for materially identical state laws (e.g. U.S. v. Stone, 9th Cir. 2013, on Montana's act), so federal law — the Gun Control Act, the National Firearms Act, and ATF's frame-and-receiver rule — continues to apply regardless of state law. Nothing in Alaska law authorizes a prohibited person to build or possess a firearm. |
| Arizona | Allowed | No | Arizona has no state statute prohibiting a non-prohibited person from manufacturing a firearm for personal use, and no state firearm registration of any kind - A.R.S. § 13-3108 preempts political subdivisions from requiring firearm registration or licensing. No Arizona statute requires a serial number on a firearm built for your own use. The one marking provision, A.R.S. § 13-3114(E), applies only to guns manufactured AND SOLD in-state under that section: 'A firearm that is manufactured and sold in this state pursuant to this section shall have the words "made in Arizona" clearly stamped on a central metallic part such as the receiver or frame.' A personal-use build that is never sold falls outside it. A.R.S. § 13-3114 (the 2010 Arizona Firearms Freedom Act) also purports to exempt Arizona-made, Arizona-retained firearms from federal regulation; courts rejected identical Firearms Freedom Acts elsewhere (Montana Shooting Sports Ass'n v. Holder, 9th Cir. 2013), so it is not a defense to federal law. Two real limits: (1) A.R.S. § 13-3102(A)(6) and (A)(7) make it a class 6 felony to DEFACE a deadly weapon or knowingly possess a defaced one - 'deface' is defined in A.R.S. § 13-3101 as removing, altering, or destroying the manufacturer's serial number, so it reaches an obliterated factory serial, not a homemade gun that never bore one. (2) Federal law applies independently: the ATF 'Definition of Frame or Receiver' final rule (2021R-05F) and its marking consequences, the National Firearms Act, and 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) and 922(r); manufacturing for sale requires a federal license. |
| Arkansas | Allowed | No | Arkansas has NO state statute prohibiting an individual from making a firearm for personal use, NO state serialization or marking requirement for a self-made firearm, and NO state firearm registry. Arkansas's serial-number statutes run the other direction — they punish REMOVING a mark that already exists, not failing to apply one. Both sections were re-read on 2026-09-15 in the ASP's compilation of §§ 5-73-101 through 5-73-133 updated August 1, 2025, and both are unchanged. § 5-73-106(a): 'A person commits the offense of defacing a firearm if he or she knowingly removes, defaces, mars, covers, alters, or destroys the manufacturer's serial number or identification mark of a firearm' (Class D felony; History: Acts 1975, No. 280, § 3106; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-3106 — never amended). § 5-73-107(a) makes it an offense to knowingly possess 'a firearm with a manufacturer's serial number or other identification mark required by law that has been removed, defaced, marred, altered, or destroyed' (Class D felony; Class A misdemeanor if the mark is 'merely covered or obstructed, but still retrievable'), with defenses for reporting the possession before arrest and for firearms manufactured before January 1, 1968 (History: last amended 2017, No. 73, § 1). Both provisions are keyed to a 'manufacturer's serial number' or a mark 'required by law' — a firearm made by a non-licensee for personal use has neither, so neither statute is triggered by an unserialized homemade gun. Arkansas's only registration-style firearms provisions are the separate machine gun registry (§§ 5-73-207 through 5-73-209), which is a manufacturer/dealer recordkeeping regime, not a homebuilder requirement. FEDERAL LAW STILL CONTROLS AND IS THE REAL CONSTRAINT: (a) making an NFA item (short-barreled rifle/shotgun, suppressor, machine gun, AOW) requires an approved ATF Form 1 and payment of the making tax before manufacture — § 5-73-104's prohibited-weapons list also reaches such items, and 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) bars new machine guns outright; (b) 18 U.S.C. § 922(p) bars undetectable firearms; (c) a person may not make a firearm if they are a prohibited person; (d) building with intent to sell or distribute requires an FFL under 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)(A) and triggers marking duties under § 923(i); (e) ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F (2022) redefined 'frame or receiver' and reached certain parts kits, and the Supreme Court upheld the rule against facial challenge in Bondi v. VanDerStok (2025), so a kit that qualifies as a 'firearm' must be transferred through an FFL and comes serialized. Building an unserialized firearm for yourself remains lawful under both Arkansas and federal law; SELLING it later is where liability attaches. The August 1, 2025 ASP compilation shows the only post-2023 amendment anywhere in §§ 5-73-101 through 5-73-133 is Acts 2025, No. 508 (which revised the § 5-73-101 definitions, adding a definition of 'United States Armed Forces', and amended § 5-73-105); nothing in the 2023 or 2025 regular sessions addressed privately made firearms, unfinished frames or receivers, or 3D-printed firearms. |
| California | Allowed | Yes | Building a firearm for personal use is legal in California but heavily conditioned. (1) VOLUME CAP: Pen. Code § 29010(a) — 'A person shall not manufacture more than three firearms within this state in a calendar year unless that person is licensed' under § 29030 et seq.; violation is a misdemeanor. (2) SERIAL NUMBER REQUIRED IN ADVANCE: Pen. Code § 29180 (as amended by AB 1621, Stats. 2022, ch. 76, § 22, eff. 6/30/2022) requires that BEFORE manufacturing or assembling a firearm lacking a valid state or federal serial number, the person must apply to and obtain a unique serial number from the DOJ under § 29182, engrave or permanently affix it within 10 days of assembly in compliance with federal ATF marking standards, and then notify the DOJ that marking is complete with owner and firearm identifying information — which enters the firearm in the state's Automated Firearms System, so a self-made firearm IS state-registered in California. (3) ELIGIBILITY GATE: § 29182 requires a § 28220 firearms eligibility check, age 21+, a valid Firearm Safety Certificate, and a description of the firearm; DOJ must DENY if the firearm would be an unsafe handgun, assault weapon, machinegun, .50 BMG rifle, destructive device, short-barreled rifle or shotgun, unconventional pistol, or otherwise unlawful. DOJ must grant or deny within 90 calendar days for applications received on or after 1/1/2024. (4) DETECTABILITY: a largely polymer firearm must have 3.7 ounces of 17-4 PH stainless steel embedded during construction. (5) NO SALE: an unlicensed person may not sell or transfer a self-assembled firearm (narrow law-enforcement exception). (6) Prohibited persons may not manufacture at all. (7) LEGACY: anyone already owning an unserialized firearm had to comply by January 1, 2024, or within 60 days of moving to California. (8) NEW FOR 2026 — AB 1263 (Stats. 2025, ch. 636), effective 1/1/2026, creates a new misdemeanor for knowingly or willfully causing another person to engage in the unlawful manufacture of firearms, or aiding, abetting, promoting or facilitating it; it also adds a 10-year firearm prohibition on conviction (on or after 1/1/2026) of specified offenses including manufacturing an undetectable firearm, unlawfully selling unserialized firearms, and 'unlawful use or sale of a three-dimensional printer or CNC milling machine which has the sole or primary function of manufacturing firearms,' and it tightens the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act's rules on sales of firearm accessories, 'firearm manufacturing machines' and unattached barrels and on distribution of digital firearm manufacturing code (DOJ Information Bulletin 2026-DLE-02, 01/30/2026). PENALTIES under § 29180: up to 1 year in county jail and/or $1,000 fine for a handgun; up to 6 months and/or $1,000 for other firearms; each firearm is a separate offense. |
| Colorado | Prohibited | Yes | Colorado PROHIBITS making the regulated core of a firearm for personal use. The operative ban is C.R.S. 18-12-111.5(5)(a)(I), verified verbatim in both the enrolled act (SB23-279, Ch. 311, L. 2023) and the official Colorado Revised Statutes 2026: 'A person shall not manufacture or cause to be manufactured, including through the use of a three-dimensional printer, a frame or receiver of a firearm.' The only exception in 18-12-111.5(5)(a)(II) is a FEDERALLY LICENSED FIREARM MANUFACTURER - there is no personal-use, hobbyist, or 80%-kit exemption. Note the precise scope: subsection (5)(a) bans manufacturing a FRAME OR RECEIVER, so assembling a complete firearm from components whose frame or receiver was made and serialized by an FFL is not itself a (5)(a) offense; but because the frame or receiver is the part you may not make, self-manufacture as normally understood is unlawful. Supporting prohibitions: 18-12-111.5(1) bars knowingly possessing or transporting an unfinished frame or receiver unless serialized by a federal firearms licensee; 18-12-111.5(2) bars selling/offering/transferring/purchasing an unfinished frame or receiver; 18-12-111.5(3) bars possessing, purchasing, transporting or receiving any firearm or frame/receiver not imprinted with a serial number by an FFL; and 18-12-111.5(4) bars selling or transferring such an item (exceptions for FFL importers/manufacturers, permanently inoperable firearms, defaced firearms under 18-12-103, antique firearms per 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16), and firearms manufactured before October 22, 1968). EFFECTIVE DATES: SB23-279 took effect on passage, June 2, 2023, except that 18-12-111.5(1) and (3) took effect January 1, 2024. Anyone who already owned a self-made unserialized firearm/frame/receiver on June 1, 2023 had until January 1, 2024 to have an FFL imprint a serial number (18-12-111.5(5)(b)). An FFL serializing under 18-12-111.5(7) must imprint a number beginning with the licensee's abbreviated FFL number, and returning the item is a transfer requiring a background check under 18-12-112.5. PENALTY: class 1 misdemeanor; a SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT OFFENSE IS A CLASS 5 FELONY (18-12-111.5(6)(b)). A 18-12-111.5 conviction is also a ground for denial of a firearm transfer under 24-33.5-424(3)(b.3)(XII) and, as a felony, a bar under 18-12-108(7)(iii). LAYERED ON TOP: HB26-1144 (approved May 4, 2026, Ch. 94, L. 2026) added a separate offense effective July 1, 2026, applicable to offenses committed on or after that date. IMPORTANT CITATION CORRECTION: the enrolled act says 'add 18-12-119', but the official Colorado Revised Statutes 2026 codifies it as C.R.S. 18-12-118 and carries an editor's note stating 'This section was numbered as 18-12-119 in HB 26-1144 but was renumbered on revision for ease of location.' Cite 18-12-118. It makes it a class 1 misdemeanor (class 5 felony on a second or subsequent offense) to knowingly manufacture or produce a firearm or firearm component by means of three-dimensional printing using a 3-D printer, CNC milling machine, or similar device; 'firearm component' means an unfinished frame or receiver, large-capacity magazine, or rapid-fire device; the section applies only to potentially functional firearms and components and not to non-functioning or prop firearm parts; and the only exceptions are a federally licensed firearm manufacturer and an instructor, student, or institution of an accredited gunsmithing program where the manufacture is solely for educational instruction within that program. SERIALIZATION: the serial number must be imprinted by a federal firearms licensee; Colorado does not operate a state firearm registry - C.R.S. 29-11.7-102 prohibits a local firearms database. |
| Connecticut | Allowed | Yes | Verified against statute text 2026-09-15: building a firearm for personal use is legal in Connecticut, but only under a strict serialization-and-reporting regime — so the classification is self-manufacture ALLOWED, serialization REQUIRED. C.G.S. § 29-36a(a): no person may complete the manufacture of a firearm without subsequently (1) obtaining a unique serial number or other mark of identification from DESPP and (2) engraving or permanently affixing it in the manner federal law requires of licensed importers and manufacturers under 18 U.S.C. § 923(i). § 29-36a(b): not later than 30 days after completing manufacture the maker must notify DESPP and provide identifying information about the firearm and its owner; DESPP checks whether the person is prohibited from purchasing a firearm and, if not, issues the number immediately and in no case more than 3 business days after the request. "Manufacture" is defined broadly as "to fabricate or construct a firearm including the initial assembly" (§ 29-36a(j)). Since January 1, 2024, § 29-36a(c) makes it unlawful to possess any firearm lacking a serial number unless possession was timely declared to DESPP or a serial-number application is pending; pre-October 1, 2019 unserialized firearms had to be declared by January 1, 2024, and a person moving into Connecticut with an unserialized firearm has 90 days to serialize it, render it permanently inoperable, sell it to a federally licensed dealer, or remove it from the state. Transfer of a firearm manufactured in violation of the section is prohibited (§ 29-36a(e)), as is distributing, importing, keeping for sale, offering for sale or purchasing an unserialized firearm (§ 29-36a(c)(6)); § 29-36a(g) also forbids knowingly, recklessly or negligently facilitating, aiding or abetting manufacture by or for a prohibited person. Exemptions (§ 29-36a(f)): federally licensed manufacturers, antique firearms as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 921, firearms manufactured before December 16, 1968 if otherwise lawfully possessed, and delivery or transfer to a law enforcement agency. Penalty (§ 29-36a(i)): class C misdemeanor for a person otherwise eligible to possess firearms; class C felony (2-year non-suspendable minimum, $5,000 non-remittable fine) for a person ineligible to possess a firearm. Separately, C.G.S. § 53-206j governs unfinished frames and lower receivers: they may be purchased or transferred only through the same procedures that apply to pistols and revolvers under § 29-33(b)-(e), only if already serialized (via the ATF serial-numbering program or a DESPP-issued number engraved/affixed per § 923(i)), and since October 1, 2019 no one may possess an unfinished frame or lower receiver unless eligible to purchase a firearm. Violation of § 53-206j is a class C felony with a 2-year non-suspendable minimum (class B felony, 3-year minimum, if the item is known to be stolen or its markings altered). In practice, buying an unserialized "80%" lower in Connecticut is a felony; a self-built firearm must carry a DESPP-issued serial number and be reported to DESPP within 30 days. Section 29-36a's amendment history ends at P.A. 23-53 and § 53-206j's at P.A. 22-26; neither appears in the 2026 Supplement, so neither was amended in the 2025 sessions. Coming October 1, 2026 (P.A. 26-41, approved May 26, 2026): § 53-206j is rewritten to use the term "unfinished frame or unfinished lower receiver" and to broaden the definition from a body on which "most major machining operations have been completed" to any blank, casting, forging, printing, extrusion, machined body or similar item that "has reached a stage in manufacture where it may readily be completed into the frame or receiver of a functional firearm" or "is marketed or sold to the public to become or be used as the frame or receiver of a functional firearm once completed"; § 29-28(b) is amended to require a permit for the retail sale of unfinished frames or lower receivers; and §§ 29-36a(d) and 29-36b are conformed. The core self-manufacture-with-serialization rule is unchanged. |
| Delaware | Allowed | No | CHANGED AS OF SEPTEMBER 10, 2026 — this is no longer a preliminary-injunction question. On that date Judge Maryellen Noreika issued a Memorandum Opinion (D.I. 81) and Order (D.I. 82) granting in part and denying in part both sides' cross-motions for summary judgment in Rigby v. Jennings, C.A. No. 21-1523 (MN) (D. Del.), and the Clerk entered JUDGMENT and closed the case (D.I. 83). The September 23, 2022 preliminary injunction is therefore superseded by a PERMANENT injunction and a final judgment. PERMANENTLY ENJOINED — the Order bars enforcement of: 11 Del. C. § 1459A(b) (knowingly possessing an unfinished firearm frame or receiver that lacks the manufacturer's name and an individual serial number); 11 Del. C. § 1463(a) (knowingly possessing an untraceable firearm); the portion of 11 Del. C. § 1463(b) that prohibits 'knowingly manufactur[ing] [or] assembl[ing] [] an untraceable firearm' and 'caus[ing] [an untraceable firearm] to be manufactured or assembled'; and 11 Del. C. § 1463(c)(1) (using a 3-dimensional printer or similar device to manufacture or produce a firearm, firearm receiver, or major firearm component when not licensed as a manufacturer). The Court held that unserialized, untraceable firearms and unfinished frames and receivers are 'Arms' within the Second Amendment's plain text, and that the manufacturing-and-assembly ban — 'perhaps the most difficult aspect of the challenged laws' — fails at Bruen's first step because acquiring a firearm is a necessary predicate of keeping one. DECLARED CONSTITUTIONAL AND STILL FULLY ENFORCEABLE — the same Order granted the Attorney General summary judgment that these remain in force: 11 Del. C. § 1459A(a) (no knowingly transporting, shipping, transferring or selling an unfinished frame or receiver unless the person is a federally licensed gun dealer or manufacturer, the manufacturer's name and an individual serial number are conspicuously placed on it per 18 U.S.C. § 923(i), and § 923(g) records are maintained); the portions of § 1463(b) prohibiting 'sell[ing] or transfer[ring] an untraceable firearm'; and § 1463(c)(2) (distributing, including over the internet, computer-aided design files or other code for 3-D printing a firearm to anyone not licensed as a manufacturer). Section 1462 (covert or undetectable firearms, class E or D felony) was not part of the challenge and remains enforceable. PRACTICAL EFFECT — building or 3-D printing a firearm for your own use, and possessing it unserialized, is no longer enforceable against you in Delaware. That is why selfManufactureAllowed is now true and serialRequired is false: Delaware provides no procedure for a private individual to obtain or apply a serial number, and both provisions that punished the unserialized result (§§ 1459A(b), 1463(a)) are permanently enjoined. Three real limits survive: (1) you may not sell or transfer what you make, because the distribution prong of § 1463(b) stands; (2) no one may lawfully ship, transfer or sell you an unserialized unfinished frame or receiver in Delaware under § 1459A(a), so sourcing a blank in-state remains constrained even though possessing one is no longer punishable; and (3) you may not distribute the digital files under § 1463(c)(2). Federal law continues to apply independently. STATUS CAVEAT — the enjoined statutes remain on the books in unamended form; the injunction runs against the Attorney General and those acting in concert with her, it does not repeal the text. Final judgment was entered only five days before this record was verified. As of the docket read on 2026-09-15 no notice of appeal had been filed and the last docket entry was the September 10, 2026 judgment, but the State's window to appeal to the Third Circuit was still open. Anyone relying on this should confirm the current appellate status with counsel before building anything. |
| District of Columbia | Allowed | Yes | Allowed, and only with a serial number plus MPD registration — verified section by section from raw downloads today. (1) D.C. Code § 7-2504.01(a) requires a dealer's license to engage in the business of manufacturing firearms, but expressly provides that "[n]othing in this section shall preclude persons not otherwise prohibited from possessing firearms from making their own firearms solely for personal use (not for sale or distribution)" in accordance with D.C. firearms law, MPD's rules, and any applicable federal law or regulation. (2) D.C. Code § 7-2505.04(b-1), added by the Omnibus Firearm and Ghost Gun Clarification Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Law 24-347, effective April 21, 2023), states affirmatively that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of this section, a person may lawfully: (1) Self-manufacture a pistol; and (2) Possess and own a pistol that the person self-manufactured pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection and registered pursuant to § 7-2502.02" — that subsection also lifts the California-roster "unsafe pistol" bar for a self-made pistol. (3) Every firearm possessed in the District must be registered (§ 7-2502.01), and § 7-2502.06(c) gives a self-manufacturer 5 business days after completing manufacture to file the registration application. (4) A "ghost gun" is unregisterable (§ 7-2502.02(a)(8)), and § 7-2501.01(9B)(A)(iii) defines ghost gun to include any "[f]irearm, including a frame or receiver, that lacks a unique serial number engraved or cast on it by a licensed manufacturer or importer in accordance with federal law, assigned by the agency of a State and permanently engraved or cast on the firearm, or otherwise placed on the firearm in compliance with § 7-2502.02." Serialization is therefore what separates a registrable self-made gun from an unregisterable ghost gun. (5) § 7-2502.02(c) supplies two serialization routes: under (c)(1)(B), a unique serial number engraved, cast, or otherwise permanently affixed in a manner that meets or exceeds the requirements imposed on licensed importers and licensed manufacturers under 18 U.S.C. § 923(i) and its regulations; or under (c)(2), a D.C.-format serial applied BEFORE the frame or receiver is finished, which "shall consist of the first and last name of the self-manufacturer, followed by the designation 'DC' and then a set of 2 to 5 numbers," must not duplicate any serial number the self-manufacturer placed on another firearm, and must be confirmed with MPD as not already registered to another firearm before it is engraved, cast, stamped (impressed) or placed on the frame or receiver. (6) Machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, short-barreled rifles, assault weapons and .50 BMG rifles remain unregisterable regardless of who made them (§ 7-2502.02(a)(1)-(3) and (6)-(7)), and a self-made pistol still needs one of the § 7-2502.02(a)(4)(C) routes — self-defense within the person's home or place of business, or as part of a CCL application — plus § 7-2502.03 eligibility. CORRECTION to the prior record: D.C. law no longer contains the term "unfinished frame or receiver." D.C. Law 24-347 § 2(a) rewrote the § 7-2501.01 ghost-gun definition without it, and § 2(h) struck the phrase "ghost gun, unfinished frame or receiver, or ammunition" from § 7-2505.01 and inserted "ghost gun, or ammunition" in its place; the word "unfinished" appears nowhere in §§ 7-2501.01, 7-2502.01, 7-2502.02, 7-2502.03, 7-2504.01 or 7-2505.02 as they read today. Possessing an unfinished frame or receiver is therefore not itself banned as a ghost gun — indeed § 7-2502.02(c)(2)(A) presupposes a lawfully held unfinished frame, since it requires the D.C. serial to be applied "prior to finishing the frame or receiver." What is prohibited is completing, possessing, or attempting to register a firearm that lacks a compliant serial number. |
| Florida | Allowed | No | BUILDING A FIREARM FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL USE IS LAWFUL UNDER FLORIDA LAW. A full review of Chapter 790 in the 2026 Florida Statutes - the current published edition, downloaded in full and searched today - turns up no provision that criminalizes or licenses the personal manufacture or assembly of a firearm by a non-prohibited person, no provision addressing unfinished frames or receivers, "80 percent" receivers, 3D-printed firearms, or "untraceable" firearms, and no requirement that a self-made firearm bear a serial number or be registered with any Florida agency. NO SERIAL NUMBER IS REQUIRED BY FLORIDA LAW ON A SELF-MADE FIREARM. Florida's serial-number statute, s. 790.27 ("Alteration or removal of firearm serial number or possession, sale, or delivery of firearm with serial number altered or removed prohibited; penalties"; last amended s. 179, ch. 91-224, so unchanged for 35 years), is narrower than people assume: subsection (1)(a) makes it unlawful "to knowingly alter or remove the manufacturer's or importer's serial number from a firearm with intent to disguise the true identity thereof," and subsection (2)(a) makes it unlawful "to knowingly sell, deliver, or possess any firearm on which the manufacturer's or importer's serial number has been unlawfully altered or removed." Both reach only a serial number a manufacturer or importer ALREADY APPLIED - a firearm that never had one because you built it does not fall within either prohibition. Florida additionally forbids any state firearms registry: s. 790.335 ("Prohibition of registration of firearms; electronic records") declares that "A list, record, or registry of legally owned firearms or law-abiding firearm owners is not a law enforcement tool," and s. 790.0625 separately bars an appointed tax collector from maintaining any list of concealed weapon license applicants. Local governments cannot fill the gap: s. 790.33 preempts the entire field of firearm and ammunition regulation to the Legislature, with personal liability and civil penalties for local officials who enact conflicting ordinances. LIMITS THAT STILL APPLY. State: you must not be a prohibited person (s. 790.23 convicted felons; s. 790.22 minors; s. 790.233 persons under a domestic violence, stalking or cyberstalking injunction), and the Chapter 790 bans on machine guns and short-barreled rifles/shotguns absent lawful federal registration (s. 790.001, s. 790.221) and on destructive devices apply to anything you make. Federal: this analysis covers Florida law only. Federal law independently governs self-manufacture - an unlicensed person may generally make a firearm for personal use without a serial number under the Gun Control Act, but making an NFA item (short-barreled rifle or shotgun, suppressor, machine gun) requires prior ATF approval on a Form 1 and serialization, manufacturing for sale or distribution requires an FFL under 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(1)(A), the Undetectable Firearms Act (18 U.S.C. 922(p)) requires enough metal content to be detectable, and 18 U.S.C. 922(o) bars new machine gun manufacture by private persons. A self-made firearm can also become subject to serialization requirements if it is later transferred. Consult a firearms attorney before building anything unconventional. |
| Georgia | Allowed | No | Georgia law permits an individual who may lawfully possess a firearm to build one for personal use. There is no Georgia firearm registry: O.C.G.A. § 16-11-173 declares firearm regulation a matter of state-wide concern and bars counties, municipalities, and every state agency other than the General Assembly from regulating 'the possession, ownership, transport, carrying, transfer, sale, purchase, licensing, or registration of firearms or other weapons or components of firearms or other weapons.' Georgia has enacted no serialization mandate for privately made firearms, no 'ghost gun' statute, and no unfinished frame/receiver law as of the close of the 2026 session. What Georgia DOES criminalize is O.C.G.A. § 16-9-70: buying, selling, receiving, disposing of, concealing, or possessing a firearm knowing that the manufacturer's name plate, serial number, or other distinguishing identification mark has been removed or altered for the purpose of concealing or destroying the article's identity. That forbids defacing an existing serial number; it does not require adding one to a firearm that never had one. Federal law applies independently: unlicensed making for personal use is permitted under the Gun Control Act, but the National Firearms Act governs NFA items, 18 U.S.C. § 922(p) bans undetectable firearms, prohibited-person rules apply, making with intent to sell requires an FFL, and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F requires serialization once a licensee takes a frame/receiver into inventory. The claim that Georgia requires serialization of firearms manufactured after July 1, 2024, asserted by one secondary write-up seen in the August pass, is now affirmatively refuted from a primary source: the Office of Legislative Counsel's official tables of code sections amended, repealed, and enacted for the 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 sessions contain no serialization provision at all, and a July 1, 2024 effective date would necessarily appear in the 2024 table. Those same tables show sections 16-11-173 and 16-9-70 untouched across all five sessions, the one attempt on section 16-11-173 -- 2026 SB 204 -- having been vetoed (Veto No. 10). Both statutes therefore stand as quoted above. |
| Hawaii | Prohibited | Yes | Hawaii effectively bans private, self-manufactured firearms; re-verified against the current statute text on 2026-09-15. HRS §134-10.2 (unamended since L 2021, c 149, §2) makes it a CLASS C FELONY for any person who is not licensed to manufacture a firearm under HRS §134-31 and is not a dealer licensed by the U.S. Department of Justice to — for the purpose of assembling a firearm — possess, purchase, produce with a three-dimensional printer, or otherwise obtain, separately or as part of a kit: (1) a firearm receiver not imprinted with a serial number registered with a federally licensed manufacturer; (2) a firearm receiver that has not been provided a serial number registrable under §134-3(c); or (3) any combination of parts from which a firearm having no serial number may be readily assembled, provided the parts do not have the capacity to function as a firearm unless assembled. An ordinary resident therefore cannot lawfully build an 80%-receiver, parts-kit, or 3D-printed gun. The §134-31 manufacturer license is not a hobbyist route: it is a commercial license for 'any person desiring to engage in the business to sell and manufacture firearms for sale in the State', applied for ANNUALLY with the DIRECTOR OF FINANCE of each county (not the police chief) at a $10 annual fee, expiring each June 30. Serialization and REGISTRATION are mandatory in any lawful path: under HRS §134-3(b), if a firearm has no serial number the registration number must be engraved upon the receiver portion BEFORE registration; a firearm assembled from separate parts and an unfinished receiver is registered with the receiver-registering entity recorded in the manufacturer/importer field and 'assembled from parts' as the model; a build from parts created with a three-dimensional printer is recorded with model '3-D printer' and its registration number must be engraved on stainless steel, permanently embedded to the receiver during fabrication or construction, and visible when the firearm is assembled. Firearms and firearm receivers with engraved or embedded registration numbers must be physically inspected by the county chief of police or designee at registration EVEN IF a licensed dealer did the engraving. Under §134-3(c), only licensed dealers/manufacturers may register an unfinished firearm receiver and receive a serial number before assembly or before sale or transfer to a third party, and any such transfer must be conducted as if the receiver were a fully assembled serialized firearm, through the §134-2 permitting process. |
| Idaho | Allowed | No | Idaho has no statute prohibiting an individual from building a firearm for personal use, no state serialization mandate for a self-made firearm, no state registration of firearms, and no state regulation of unfinished frames/receivers or firearm-manufacturing kits. A review of Title 18, Chapter 33 (Firearms, Explosives and Other Deadly Weapons, §§ 18-3301 through 18-3327) turned up no such provision. Affirmative support: the Idaho Constitution, art. I, § 11 provides "The people have the right to keep and bear arms, which right shall not be abridged" and expressly that "No law shall impose licensure, registration or special taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms or ammunition" — which forecloses a state firearm registry. Idaho Code § 18-3302J preempts local regulation: "It is the legislature's intent to wholly occupy the field of firearms regulation within this state," and no county, city, or political subdivision may regulate "the sale, acquisition, transfer, ownership, possession, transportation, carrying or storage of firearms or any element relating to firearms and components thereof, including ammunition." So a city or county cannot impose its own serialization or build-registration rule. Idaho Code § 18-3315B ("Prohibition of Regulation of Certain Firearms," added 2014 ch. 148, am. 2021 ch. 329) penalizes Idaho officials who enforce certain federal firearm measures and its findings address firearms "manufactured in Idaho from basic materials." What Idaho DOES criminalize is defacing an existing number: Idaho Code § 18-2410 makes it a felony where a person, "with intent to deceive or defraud others, shall deface, alter, remove, cover, destroy or obliterate the manufacturer's serial or identification number on any item of property" — that punishes removing a serial that already exists; it does not require an unserialized self-built firearm to be marked. IMPORTANT CAVEAT: federal law is unaffected by any of the above. Under the Gun Control Act and ATF's 2022 Final Rule 2021R-05F, a firearm built for personal use need not be marked, but building with intent to sell requires an FFL and serialization, National Firearms Act items require ATF approval and marking, and a prohibited person may not manufacture or possess a firearm at all. Idaho's § 18-3315B does not shield anyone from federal prosecution. Anyone relying on this should confirm current federal requirements; a violation can be a federal felony even where Idaho law is silent. UPDATE (verified 2026-09-15): § 18-3302J was amended by 2026 Idaho Sess. Laws ch. 295, sec. 1, after this record's previous review. The preemption language quoted above is unchanged, but the amendment strengthened enforcement: it extends the ban to an "executive order, or policy," declares an offending measure "void, unenforceable, and subject to a permanent injunction," removes good faith or advice of counsel as a defence, imposes a $10,000 civil penalty per violation on a violating county, city, agency, board or political subdivision, and lets the attorney general or any adversely affected person or organisation sue for damages, declaratory or injunctive relief with costs and attorney's fees, subject to a 30-day AG investigation and a 30-day cure notice. The practical effect is to make it harder, not easier, for an Idaho locality to impose a serialisation or build-registration rule. |
| Illinois | Allowed | Yes | Illinois does not flatly outlaw assembling a firearm for personal use, but it has effectively closed the unserialized-build route, and getting this wrong is felony exposure. 720 ILCS 5/24-5.1 ('Serialization of unfinished frames or receivers; prohibition on unserialized firearms; exceptions; penalties') makes it unlawful for any person to knowingly possess, transport, or receive an UNFINISHED FRAME OR RECEIVER that is not serialized, and unlawful to knowingly possess, purchase, transport, or receive A FIREARM THAT IS NOT IMPRINTED WITH A SERIAL NUMBER. There is NO personal-use or hobbyist exception. Critically, an individual may NOT apply the serial number themselves: the statute provides that such items 'shall be serialized by a federally licensed firearms dealer or other federal licensee authorized to provide marking services with the licensee's abbreviated federal firearms license number as a prefix (which is the first 3 and last 5 digits) followed by a hyphen, and then followed by a number as a suffix,' marked to the federal permanence and placement standards of 27 CFR 478.124. So a lawful personal build in Illinois means starting from a frame/receiver that already bears an FFL-applied serial number, or having an FFL serialize it. Penalties: unlawful possession is a Class A misdemeanor for a first violation and a Class 3 felony for a second or subsequent violation; unlawful sale or transfer of an unserialized frame, receiver, or firearm is a Class 4 felony for a first violation and a Class 2 felony for a second or subsequent violation. Limited exceptions cover antique firearms as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16), firearms manufactured before October 22, 1968, permanently inoperable firearms, and inherited firearms (short grace period to serialize); 3D-printed firearms carry a 30-day serialization window. There is no separate state firearm registration database for ordinary firearms, but a valid FOID card is required to possess any firearm or ammunition in Illinois, and Illinois's assault weapons and large-capacity magazine restrictions under the Protect Illinois Communities Act (P.A. 102-1116, eff. 1-10-23) independently prohibit building certain configurations. PICA IS IN FORCE TODAY: on 9 July 2026 the Seventh Circuit, in Barnett v. Raoul, Nos. 24-3060, 24-3061, 24-3062 and 24-3063 (St. Eve, J.; Brennan, C.J., dissenting), held 'We REVERSE the judgments of the district court, and we REMAND the cases with directions to enter judgments for the defendants,' undoing Judge McGlynn's judgment against the Act, and the ISP assault weapons page states that the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the Macon County judgment and 'the Protect Illinois Communities Act is enforceable across Illinois.' The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Viramontes v. Cook County (No. 25-238), consolidated with Grant v. Higgins (No. 25-566), on whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect a right to possess AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles, with argument set for 2 December 2026 - so the weapons-ban side of this may change, but none of it alters Illinois carry licensing. |
| Indiana | Allowed | No | Indiana has no firearm registry of any kind and no state manufacturing license for a non-commercial builder. Limits that still apply: a person prohibited under IC 35-47-2-1.5 or 18 U.S.C. 922(g) may not make or possess a firearm; IC 35-47-5-8 makes knowing or intentional ownership or possession of a machine gun a Level 5 felony (IC 35-47-5-10 excepts persons in compliance with the federal NFA); and federal law independently governs home manufacture, including the Undetectable Firearms Act, the NFA, the prohibition on manufacturing for sale without an FFL, and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F, which requires an FFL to serialize a privately made firearm it takes into inventory. Nothing here should be read as covering the separate question of building a firearm for sale or distribution, which triggers federal licensing. |
| Iowa | Allowed | No | Iowa has NO statute prohibiting the manufacture of a firearm for personal use and NO statute requiring a serial number, state registration, or state marking on a self-made firearm. A full-text search of the official Iowa Code 2026 chapter 724 (Weapons) PDF returns no occurrence of 'unfinished frame,' 'homemade,' or any serialization mandate; the only uses of 'serial number' in chapter 724 are provisions FORBIDDING the state from recording a weapon's make, model, or serial number in connection with a permit (§§ 724.7(1), 724.10(2), 724.11(2), 724.11(5)). Iowa Code § 724.28 preempts cities, counties, and townships from enacting any ordinance regulating the ownership, possession, carrying, transfer, transportation, modification, registration, or licensing of firearms, so no Iowa locality may impose a serialization or registration requirement either. Iowa Code § 724.2(1)(f) expressly exempts from the offensive-weapons ban 'Any person, firm or corporation who under the laws of this state and the United States is lawfully engaged in the improvement, invention or manufacture of firearms.' LIMITS THAT STILL APPLY: Iowa Code §§ 724.1 and 724.3 ban possession of 'offensive weapons' (machine guns, certain short-barreled rifles/shotguns, destructive devices) except as authorized, and §§ 724.1A-724.1C tie suppressors and short-barreled rifles/shotguns to federal NFA compliance. All federal law continues to govern: the National Firearms Act, 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) (post-1986 machine guns), 18 U.S.C. § 922(r), the Undetectable Firearms Act, the prohibition on manufacturing for sale without an FFL, and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F. Iowa Senate File 2098 (91st G.A., 2026) would have created a state system issuing unique serial numbers for unfinished frames and lower receivers by 1 December 2026; it DID NOT BECOME LAW. It appears nowhere among the 2026 Iowa Acts chapters (1001-1201) in the Legislative Services Agency's official Iowa Acts Chapters index for the 91st G.A. (2026 Regular Session), it is absent from the LSA 'Code & Acts Sections Amended - 2026 Report', and its bill history records no action after the 28 January 2026 Judiciary subcommittee assignment. |
| Kansas | Allowed | No | Kansas has NO statute prohibiting an individual who may lawfully possess firearms from building an ordinary firearm for personal use, and NO state serial-number requirement, no state registration, and no state background check or licensing tied to a privately made firearm. The Second Amendment Protection Act (K.S.A. 50-1201 et seq., enacted 2013) affirmatively contemplates private manufacture: K.S.A. 50-1204(a) declares that a personal firearm 'manufactured commercially or privately and owned in Kansas' that remains within Kansas is not subject to federal regulation under the interstate commerce power, and 50-1204(b) declares that imported component parts are not themselves firearms. 'Manufacture' is defined at K.S.A. 50-1203(c) as 'to assemble using multiple components to create a more useful finished product.' ONE STATE MARKING REQUIREMENT EXISTS, and it is a marking, not a serial number: K.S.A. 50-1205 provides that 'A firearm manufactured in Kansas within the meaning of K.S.A. 50-1201 through 50-1211 ... must have the words "Made in Kansas" clearly stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame.' The statute attaches no penalty of its own; it is a condition of the SAPA framework. Separately, K.S.A. 21-6306 makes it a severity level 10 nonperson felony to intentionally change, alter, remove or obliterate the maker's name, model, manufacturer's number or other identifying mark on a firearm - that punishes DEFACING an existing marking, not the absence of one on a firearm you built. WHAT YOU MAY NOT BUILD - THIS NARROWED SHARPLY IN 2026. L. 2026, ch. 101 (Senate Substitute for HB 2501, approved 9 April 2026, effective on publication in the statute book) repealed Kansas's state-law bans on both firearm suppressors and short-barrelled shotguns. Section 2 struck the whole of K.S.A. 21-6301(a)(4), which had criminalised 'possessing any device or attachment of any kind designed, used or intended for use in suppressing the report of any firearm', and struck the words 'a shotgun with a barrel less than 18 inches in length, or' from what is now 21-6301(a)(4) (formerly (a)(5)). Section 3 struck the parallel short-barrelled-shotgun language from K.S.A. 21-6302(a)(5). The only prohibition left in those paragraphs is MACHINE GUNS - 'any firearm designed to discharge or capable of discharging automatically more than once by a single function of the trigger' - a severity level 9 nonperson felony to sell, manufacture, purchase or possess, subject to the NFA-compliance exemption now at K.S.A. 21-6301(g). The same act also deleted the old K.S.A. 21-6301(i) safe harbour that had exempted a Kansas-made suppressor meeting the K.S.A. 50-1204 description, which became unnecessary once the suppressor ban itself was gone. In its place the act added sentencing enhancements: new K.S.A. 21-6804(h)(2) and 21-6805(g)(2) raise a nonperson (or drug) felony 'one severity level above the appropriate level for such offense' where the trier of fact finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the firearm used was 'equipped with a device designed to suppress the report of the firearm' or was 'a shotgun equipped with a forend and having a barrel less than 18 inches in length'. So suppressors and short-barrelled shotguns are no longer contraband under Kansas law, but using one to commit a felony now costs you a severity level. CRITICAL FEDERAL CAVEAT - UNCHANGED AND DECISIVE: repealing the Kansas bans does nothing to federal law. Suppressors, short-barrelled shotguns and machine guns remain National Firearms Act items requiring federal registration, and making one without prior ATF approval is a federal felony regardless of what Kansas says. The SAPA's declaration that intrastate-made firearms escape federal law has been rejected by the courts: in United States v. Cox, 906 F.3d 1170 (10th Cir. 2018), the Tenth Circuit held K.S.A. 50-1206/50-1207 do not bar enforcement of the NFA, and the district court held SAPA does not render the NFA unconstitutional (235 F. Supp. 3d 1221 (D. Kan. 2017)) and that reliance on Kansas officials' assurances is no entrapment-by-estoppel defense (187 F. Supp. 3d 1282 (D. Kan. 2016)). Federal law, including ATF's frame-and-receiver rule upheld in Garland v. VanDerStok (2025), governs independently of Kansas law. Do not treat 'Made in Kansas', or the 2026 repeal, as a federal safe harbour. |
| Kentucky | Allowed | No | Kentucky law contains NO prohibition on building a firearm for personal use, and NO state requirement to serialize or register a self-made firearm. A full review of KRS Chapter 527 (the criminal weapons chapter), repeated on 2026-09-15 against an index marked "Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session" and last updated 09/15/2026, shows its offenses are: definitions (.010), carrying concealed (.020), defacing a firearm (.030), possession by a convicted felon (.040), possession of a defaced firearm (.050), forfeiture (.060), weapon on school property (.070), restricted ammunition (.080), fraudulent firearm transaction (.090), possession of a handgun by a minor (.100), providing a handgun to a juvenile (.110), and weapons of mass destruction (.200-.210). There is no section on manufacture, homemade or 3D-printed firearms, or unfinished frames/receivers. KRS 527.030 makes it a Class A misdemeanor to intentionally deface a firearm, and KRS 527.010 defines "deface" as to remove, deface, cover, alter, or destroy the MANUFACTURER'S serial number or other distinguishing mark — that prohibits erasing a serial number that already exists; it does not require a privately made firearm to bear one in the first place. KRS 65.870(1) bars every city, county, urban-county, consolidated/unified local government, special district, and local agency from occupying "any part of the field of regulation of the manufacture, sale, purchase, taxation, transfer, ownership, possession, carrying, storage, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, components of firearms, components of ammunition, firearms accessories," declares any such local ordinance null and void, strips sovereign immunity, and awards attorney and expert fees to a prevailing challenger — so no Kentucky city or county may impose a local ghost-gun or serialization ordinance. KRS 237.152 separately bars government lists or registries of privately owned firearms or their owners. A 2019 bill (HB 77) that would have criminalized additively manufactured/3D-printed firearms was introduced but never became law. CAVEAT: this conclusion rests on the ABSENCE of a state prohibition, not on an affirmative authorizing statute, and federal law still governs independently — the National Firearms Act, the Undetectable Firearms Act, the federal bar on manufacturing for sale or distribution without an FFL, ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F on frames/receivers, and the prohibition on a prohibited person making or possessing any firearm all continue to apply. |
| Louisiana | Allowed | No | Louisiana has no state statute prohibiting an individual from building a firearm for personal use, and no state law requiring a serial number or state registration on a self-made firearm. Amendment check 2026-09-15: the amendment-history lines of R.S. 14:95.7 (last amended Acts 2012), R.S. 40:1781 (last amended Acts 2023), R.S. 40:1785 (last amended Acts 2013) and R.S. 40:1796 (last amended Acts 2024) show no change since the baseline, and no 2026 act touched them. Primary-source basis: (1) R.S. 14:95.7(A) makes it a felony to receive, possess, carry, conceal, buy, sell, or transport a firearm 'from which the serial number or mark of identification has been obliterated' — but subsection (B) expressly provides that the section 'shall not apply to any firearm ... which was originally manufactured without such a number.' A never-serialized homemade firearm therefore falls outside the offense; obliterating an existing serial does not. (2) Louisiana's only firearm registration scheme, R.S. 40:1781 et seq., is an NFA-mirror: the defined 'firearm' covers short-barreled shotguns/rifles, weapons modified under 26 inches overall, machine guns, grenade/rocket launchers, bazookas, gas grenades, silencers/mufflers, and any concealable pistol/revolver/shotgun with an OBLITERATED serial number. R.S. 40:1781(3) then states that 'Pistols and revolvers and those rifles and shotguns which have not previously been defined in this Paragraph as firearms from which serial numbers or marks of identification have not been obliterated are specifically exempt from this definition.' An ordinary homemade pistol or rifle with no serial number is thus outside the registration Part. LSP's own FAQ confirms: 'Per LRS 40:1781(3), Louisiana law does not require registration of a concealable weapon unless the serial number is obliterated.' (3) R.S. 40:1785 prohibits possessing a Part-II 'firearm' not registered or transferred in accordance with 18 U.S.C. or 26 U.S.C. — so a homemade NFA-class item (suppressor, SBR, SBS, machine gun) still requires federal registration and is a state crime if unregistered federally. (4) R.S. 40:1796 preempts political subdivisions from regulating the manufacture, registration, or possession of firearms more restrictively than state law, so no parish or city may impose a serialization or registration requirement. CAVEATS: state permissiveness does not displace federal law. Manufacturing for sale or distribution requires a federal manufacturer's license; ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F treats certain unfinished frames/receivers as 'firearms' requiring serialization when transferred through a licensee; the Undetectable Firearms Act (18 U.S.C. 922(p)) bans firearms that cannot be detected by a walk-through metal detector; and anyone federally prohibited may not make or possess a firearm at all (R.S. 14:95.1, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)). I found no Louisiana act through the 2026 Regular Session imposing a serialization or registration requirement on privately made firearms. |
| Maine | Allowed | Yes | THIS FIELD HAS CHANGED SINCE THE BASELINE AND CHANGES AGAIN ON JANUARY 1, 2027. Maine no longer lacks a serialization law. P.L. 2025, ch. 537 (LD 1126 / HP 745, 'An Act Requiring Serial Numbers on Firearms and Prohibiting Undetectable Firearms') became law WITHOUT the Governor's signature on January 11, 2026, and I read the chaptered text in full. It enacts a new 25 M.R.S. ch. 253-A ('Firearms Without Serial Numbers'). New section 2037(1) makes it unlawful to intentionally or knowingly possess, import into Maine, transfer or offer to transfer either an unfinished frame or receiver (paragraphs A and B) or any firearm, frame or receiver (paragraphs D and E) that is not imprinted with a serial number by a federal firearms licensee under federal law or new section 2039, and to purchase a serialized frame or receiver without a background check (paragraphs C and F). New section 2039(5) covers self-manufacture squarely: 'A person who manufactures a frame or receiver, including by a 3-dimensional printer or computer numerical control milling machine, shall cause the frame or receiver to be imprinted with a serial number by a federal firearms licensee pursuant to federal law and this section.' Section 2039(3) prescribes the serial format - the licensee's abbreviated federal firearms license number, a hyphen, then a unique identification number, marked at the minimum size and depth required by 27 C.F.R. 478.92 and not susceptible to being readily obliterated - and 2039(4) makes returning the marked item a transfer requiring a background check of the transferee. Exceptions in 2037(2) include a federal firearms licensee acting within the scope of its license, law enforcement, a transfer made for the purpose of having the item serialized, a person who has held the item unserialized for no more than 48 hours AND has an appointment with an FFL to have it serialized, antique firearms, curios and relics, permanently inoperable firearms, and any firearm manufactured before 1968. TIMING IS THE CRITICAL POINT: new section 2038 provides that 'Beginning January 1, 2027, the following provisions apply to violations of this chapter', and then sets the penalties - unlawful possession is a civil violation with a fine of not more than $50 for a first offense, a Class D crime for a second, and a Class C crime for a third or subsequent offense; unlawful importation, transfer, offer to transfer or purchase is a Class D crime for a first offense and a Class C crime thereafter; and using a firearm without a serial number while committing a Class A or Class B crime, or while committing reckless conduct under 17-A M.R.S. 211, is a Class C crime. So the prohibitions are enacted and the Act is already generally effective, but NO penalty attaches to a ch. 253-A violation before January 1, 2027. serialRequired is recorded as true because the statutory duty now exists and because a firearm built now and still unserialized on January 1, 2027 would then be a violation - anyone building a firearm in Maine today should plan on having an FFL serialize it. SEPARATELY, AND ALREADY PUNISHABLE: the same act enacted 17-A M.R.S. 1060, which bans manufacturing, causing to be manufactured, importing, offering or exposing for sale, selling or transferring an 'undetectable firearm' (Class C) and knowingly possessing one (Class D); that section carries NO deferred date and is enforceable now. The act also amended 25 M.R.S. 2016 so that the 72-hour waiting period's definition of 'firearm' now includes an unfinished frame or receiver. Maine still has no firearm registry: 25 M.R.S. 2014 bars any state agency or political subdivision from keeping a comprehensive registry of privately owned firearms and their owners, and 25 M.R.S. 2011 preempts municipal firearm regulation. FEDERAL LAW ALSO STILL APPLIES: a prohibited person may not manufacture or possess any firearm; manufacturing for sale or distribution requires an FFL (18 U.S.C. 922(a)(1)(A)); NFA items require ATF approval; the Undetectable Firearms Act and 18 U.S.C. 922(r) apply; and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F treats certain readily completable commercially sold frames and receivers as firearms requiring serialization by the licensee. Self-manufacture for personal use remains lawful in Maine, but from January 1, 2027 it is lawful only if the product is serialized by a federal firearms licensee. |
| Maryland | Allowed | Yes | VERIFIED 15 September 2026 against the § 5-703 statute text and against the enrolled text of the amending act. Maryland does not flatly ban making a firearm for personal use - there is no prohibition on the act of manufacture for one's own use, and § 5-703(b)(1)(iii) expressly contemplates a person who "made or manufactured" an unfinished frame or receiver - but it has closed the unserialized-homebuilt route. Under § 5-703(a)(1) a person may not purchase, receive, sell, offer to sell, or transfer an unfinished frame or receiver unless federal law requires it to be, and it has been, imprinted with a serial number by a federally licensed firearms manufacturer or importer, so 80-percent kits and blank receivers cannot lawfully be acquired in Maryland unless already serialized; § 5-703(a)(2) separately bars selling, offering to sell or transferring any firearm that is not serialized as described in subsection (b). Under § 5-703(b)(2), on or after 1 March 2023 a person may not possess a firearm unless it either (i) bears a serial number imprinted by a federally licensed firearms manufacturer, importer, or other federal licensee authorized to provide marking services, or (ii) has been imprinted by a federally licensed firearms dealer, federal firearms manufacturer, or other federal licensee authorized to provide marking services with the current owner's or maker's zip code, that person's initials, and a number not duplicating one used on another of that person's firearms, AND has been registered with the Secretary of State Police. Section 5-704 directs the Secretary to maintain that registration system, keeps the registration data closed to public inspection, and requires the Governor to budget at least $150,000 a year for it. Two narrow 30-day windows exist in § 5-703(b)(1): for a firearm received by inheritance, and for an unfinished frame or receiver the possessor personally made "without the use of any prefabricated parts" - a grace period in which to get the item marked and registered, not a permanent exemption. PENALTIES HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE 2022 ACT: 2025 Md. Laws ch. 136 (H.B. 413), a controlled-dangerous-substances bill whose short title carries no firearm word, raised a § 5-703(a) violation from a misdemeanor to a FELONY carrying imprisonment up to 5 years and/or a $10,000 fine, effective 1 October 2025; a § 5-703(b) violation remains a misdemeanor carrying up to 2 years and/or $10,000, and each violation is a separate crime. Practical result: a self-made or 3D-printed firearm must be taken to a federal licensee authorized to provide marking services for the statutory imprint and then registered with MDSP, and keeping an unserialized, unregistered homebuilt firearm past the 30-day window is a crime. Note also Md. Public Safety § 5-406, whose penalties the same 2025 act raised to felony level, but it reaches only manufacture of an off-roster handgun FOR DISTRIBUTION OR SALE, not manufacture for personal use. |
| Massachusetts | Allowed | Yes | Building a firearm for personal use is legal in Massachusetts ONLY if it is serialized and registered in advance/immediately, and the maker is properly licensed to possess that firearm (LTC for a handgun). M.G.L. c.140 §121C(c), read in full today: "No person shall manufacture or assemble a privately made firearm without: (i) obtaining a unique serial number from the department of criminal justice information services PRIOR to manufacture or assembly; (ii) serializing the firearm with the obtained serial number DURING manufacture or assembly; and (iii) registering the firearm with the department of criminal justice information services in accordance with section 121B within 7 days of the firearm's manufacture or assembly." §121C(b) separately bans knowingly possessing, manufacturing, assembling, purchasing, offering for sale, selling, transferring or importing an untraceable firearm; new residents and estate heirs/devisees get 60 days to serialize, licensed dealers/gunsmiths/distributors/manufacturers 7 days. §121C(a) sets marking specs: conspicuously engraved, cast or permanently embedded on the frame or receiver, not susceptible of being readily obliterated, altered or removed, at least .003 inches deep and 1/16 inch print size; non-metallic frames/receivers require a permanently embedded metal plate. §121C(d) requires privately made firearms to comply with all relevant state and federal safety regulations. §121C(g) exempts firearms delivered to law enforcement solely for destruction, in common-carrier transport, in transit in the care and custody of a non-resident owner and stored per §§131C and 131L, property of the U.S. government, produced by federally licensed manufacturers not for sale in the Commonwealth, and manufactured before October 22, 1968. PENALTIES (this was an open question in the prior record and is now resolved): M.G.L. c.269 §11C punishes whoever knowingly manufactures, assembles, imports, sells or transfers ownership of an untraceable firearm, participates in doing so, or purchases or receives a firearm knowing it is untraceable, by imprisonment for not less than 12 months and not more than 2.5 years — and possession or control of an untraceable firearm is prima facie evidence of a violation, rebuttable by evidence of no knowledge; on conviction the firearm is forwarded to the Colonel for destruction. M.G.L. c.269 §11B adds imprisonment for not less than 2.5 years for possessing or controlling an untraceable firearm while committing or attempting a felony. M.G.L. c.140 §128B requires a resident (or a non-resident receiving a firearm in the Commonwealth) who obtains a firearm other than from a §122 licensee or §128A-authorized seller to register it and report the information required by §§121B and 121C, and punishes a violation by a fine of $500 to $1,000 for a first offense and imprisonment in state prison for not more than 10 years for any subsequent offense. COMPLIANCE DATE: serial numbers are requested and firearms registered through the DCJIS MIRCS Unified Gun Portal (https://gunportal.mass.gov/mircsUnifiedPortal/), which is already live, but individuals are not required to comply with the §§121B and 121C registration and serialization requirements until OCTOBER 28, 2026 (DCJIS FAQ: "When do I have to start using the MIRCS Unified Gun Portal to register and serialize my firearms? A: October 28, 2026"; EOPSS Guidance #4 Q35, citing Chapter 135 §157). Guidance #4 also confirms a firearm that already bears a serial number need not be given a MIRCS number (Q25), and that a frame or receiver already registered must be re-registered once built into a firearm (Q27). EOPSS has promulgated both 501 CMR 19.00 (registration) and 501 CMR 20.00 (serialization), each dated 09/26/2025 on mass.gov. So: home-built firearms are NOT prohibited outright, but an unserialized/unregistered self-made ('ghost') gun is a crime, and Massachusetts's assault-style-firearm and large-capacity-feeding-device restrictions (§§131M, 131N and §131(a)) still limit what may lawfully be built. |
| Michigan | Allowed | No | NO Michigan serialization or self-manufacture requirement is in force as of 2026-09-15, and there is no public act number to cite because no such act has ever been enacted. Verified directly against the Michigan Legislature's section index for 1927 PA 372 (the pistol-licensing and concealed-pistol act), which the site states is 'MCL Complete Through PA 91 of 2026': the act runs 28.421, 28.421a, 28.421b, 28.422, 28.422a, 28.422b, 28.423, 28.424, 28.425 through 28.425o, 28.425v-28.425x, 28.426, 28.426a, 28.427-28.429d, 28.430-28.433, 28.434, 28.434a and 28.435. There is no section 28.434c. That matters because Senate Bill 331 of 2025 - the serialization bill - would have added 'sec. 14c' to 1927 PA 372, i.e. MCL 28.434c, and that section does not exist. SB 331 (with its tie-barred sentencing-guidelines companion SB 332) would have barred manufacturing, assembling, purchasing, selling or transferring any firearm or firearm component lacking a serial number, capped unlicensed manufacture at five firearms a year, required notification to the Michigan State Police within 10 days of producing a firearm, and given existing owners an 18-month window to serialize. Its last recorded action is 6/25/2025: PASSED the Senate (Roll Call #175, yeas 19, nays 17), received in the House, read a first time, and 'referred to Committee on Government Operations'. There has been no further action through 2026-09-15, so it is a PENDING BILL, NOT LAW. Any description of a Michigan serialization requirement as merely 'pending' must therefore not be rendered as an obligation binding anyone today: building a firearm for one's own personal use remains lawful under Michigan law, unserialized, with no state registration of a self-made firearm. Michigan likewise has no 'ghost gun' / untraceable-firearm offense. A full-text search of Firearms Laws of Michigan (Legislative Service Bureau, April 2025 edition, the state's own official compilation of every Michigan firearms statute under MCL 28.425a) returns zero occurrences of 'untraceable', 'unserialized', 'homemade', 'self-manufactured', 'undetectable', 'unfinished frame' or 'ghost', and each of its 14 'serial number' hits concerns disposal notices for seized firearms or restoration of an altered serial, never a duty to serialize. MCL 750.230 reaches only ALTERING a firearm that already bears identifying marks: a person who 'wilfully alter[s], remove[s], or obliterate[s] the name of the maker, model, manufacturer's number, or other mark of identity of a pistol or other firearm' commits a felony (up to 2 years / $1,000). That section's presumption from mere possession was held unconstitutional in People v Moore, 402 Mich 538 (1978), and the section has not been amended since 1976 PA 32. MCL 28.421 defines 'pistol' but contains no definition of 'unfinished frame or receiver' or of 'firearm component'. Independent limits still apply: Michigan bans machine guns, silencers, short-barreled rifles/shotguns and similar items (MCL 750.224, 750.224b) regardless of who made them, and federal law separately prohibits undetectable firearms (18 USC 922(p)) and manufacturing for sale or distribution without a federal license. IMPORTANT CAVEAT: MCL 28.422(1)(a) states that, except as otherwise provided, 'a person shall not... [p]urchase, carry, possess, or transport a pistol in this state without first having obtained a license for the pistol as prescribed in this section.' On its face that possession-license requirement is not limited to purchased pistols, but the entire licensing and pistol entry database mechanism in MCL 28.422 and 28.422a is transaction-based (the seller fills out and returns the license/record copy), neither statute provides any procedure for a pistol with no seller, and the text of MCL 28.422 mentions no manufacturing, making, assembling or serial numbers at all. Michigan CPL holders and federally licensed dealers are exempt from the section 2 license requirement entirely under MCL 28.422a(1). No MSP guidance on self-manufactured pistols was located - see uncertainties. |
| Minnesota | Allowed | Yes | Building a firearm for personal use is not itself prohibited by Minnesota statute. There is no Minnesota law criminalizing self-manufacture, no state manufacturing license for personal (non-transfer) making, no statute on 'unfinished frames or receivers,' 3D-printed firearms, or 'untraceable firearms,' and no state firearm registration system. Re-confirmed on 15 Sept 2026 against the full section list of Minn. Stat. ch. 624 (dangerous weapons) — no such section exists — and the definitions in § 624.712, which define no such terms. BUT THE SERIAL-NUMBER RULE IS THE TRAP, AND IT IS A FELONY-LEVEL OFFENSE. Minn. Stat. § 609.667 ('FIREARMS; REMOVAL OR ALTERATION OF SERIAL NUMBER') provides in full: 'Whoever commits any of the following acts may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both: (1) obliterates, removes, changes, or alters the serial number or other identification of a firearm; (2) receives or possesses a firearm, the serial number or other identification of which has been obliterated, removed, changed, or altered; or (3) receives or possesses a firearm that is not identified by a serial number.' Clause (3) means mere POSSESSION of an unserialized firearm — including one you built yourself — is punishable by up to five years. So while Minnesota permits you to build a firearm, the finished firearm must bear a serial number. The section adds: 'As used in this section, "serial number or other identification" means the serial number and other information required under United States Code, title 26, section 5842, for the identification of firearms.' § 609.667 is UNCHANGED: its entire amendment history is still the single entry '1994 c 636 art 3 s 22', so clause (3) is not a recent addition and nothing in the 2025 or 2026 sessions touched it. Because Minnesota provides no state mechanism for assigning a serial number, a private maker must self-mark the firearm. DO NOT CONFUSE § 609.667 WITH § 609.67: the 2026 binary-trigger litigation concerned § 609.67 (machine guns, trigger activators and machine gun conversion kits), a different section that says nothing about serial numbers or self-manufacture, so it leaves this analysis untouched. For completeness on that neighbouring section: in Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus v. Walz, No. A25-1507 (Minn. Ct. App. May 26, 2026) (nonprecedential), the court of appeals affirmed a Ramsey County judgment (File No. 62-CV-25-1083) holding that 2024 Minn. Laws ch. 127, art. 36, § 2 violated the Single-Subject Clause of the Minnesota Constitution, severing that provision and leaving the state 'enjoin[ed] ... from enforcing the binary-trigger ban.' The severed provision is § 609.67, subd. 1(d)(3) — 'a device that allows a firearm to shoot one shot on the pull of the trigger and a second shot on the release of the trigger without requiring a subsequent pull of the trigger' — i.e. the binary trigger. Clause (d)(2), added earlier by 2023 c 52 art 4 s 15 and reaching 'a device that allows a semiautomatic firearm to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger or by harnessing the recoil of energy of the semiautomatic firearm to which it is affixed so that the trigger resets and continues firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger' — the language that reaches forced-reset triggers — was not challenged and remains in force, as does (d)(1). Possession of a trigger activator still carries up to 20 years and a $35,000 fine under subd. 2(a). The Revisor still prints clause (d)(3) with no editorial note about the injunction, so the statute site alone will mislead you here. Two honest caveats on the serial-number question, both flagged in uncertainties: (a) the cross-reference to 26 U.S.C. § 5842 is the National Firearms Act identification provision, and I found no official Minnesota guidance or published construction resolving how clause (3) applies to privately made NON-NFA firearms; (b) the antiques/ornaments exemption at Minn. Stat. § 624.715 sits in chapter 624 and does not on its face reach § 609.667. Anyone contemplating this should get Minnesota-licensed legal advice rather than rely on a summary. |
| Mississippi | Allowed | No | Mississippi has no state licensing, registration, or permit requirement for building a firearm for one's own personal use, and no state serialization requirement. The clearest primary-source statement is Miss. Code Ann. § 45-9-101(18), re-read today in the current enrolled text: 'Nothing in this section shall be construed to require or allow the registration, documentation or providing of serial numbers with regard to any stun gun or firearm.' Mississippi maintains no firearm registry. Miss. Const. art. 3, § 12 guarantees the right to keep and bear arms while reserving to the Legislature only the power to 'regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons.' The Legislature's posture on in-state manufacture is illustrated by 2023 H.B. 912, which declares a firearm suppressor manufactured in Mississippi from basic materials and remaining in the state to be outside federal regulation and repeals the § 97-37-31 misdemeanor for making or possessing a muffling device — BUT H.B. 912's Section 7, read verbatim today, gives it a CONTINGENT effective date: it takes effect only 'from and after the date that the United States Supreme Court rules in favor of the Texas Attorney General and the State of Texas and its passage and implementation of Texas House Bill 957, 2021 Regular Session, in any appeal related to that certain case pending in the United States District Court for the North[ern] District of Texas and styled Paxton et al v. Richardson (4:22-cv-00143), or after ten (10) days following the date of publication by the Attorney General of Mississippi in the administrative bulletin published by the Secretary of State... that the Attorney General of Mississippi has determined that the United States Supreme Court has rendered binding precedent that it is reasonably probable that this act would be upheld.' I could not confirm from any primary source that either trigger has occurred. Do not rely on H.B. 912 as being in force; § 97-37-1(1) still lists 'any muffler or silencer for any firearm' among the weapons whose concealed carry is an offense. FEDERAL LAW STILL CONTROLS AND IS THE REAL RISK: an unlicensed person may make a firearm for personal use only if it is not an NFA item (no machine gun under 18 U.S.C. § 922(o), and any short-barreled rifle/shotgun, suppressor or destructive device requires an approved ATF Form 1 and $200 tax before manufacture); the maker must not be a prohibited person; manufacturing with intent to sell requires a federal license; and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F treats certain partially complete frames/receivers and parts kits as 'firearms' requiring licensed-dealer serialization and a background check. A self-made firearm that is not serialized generally cannot lawfully be transferred to another person without first being marked. Building a machine gun, or an unregistered short-barreled weapon or suppressor, is a federal felony regardless of Mississippi law. Note also 2024 H.B. 903 (approved 30 April 2024) created a state crime for converting a firearm into a machine gun. |
| Missouri | Allowed | No | Missouri law is silent on building a firearm for personal use, and silence means it is permitted. RSMo 571.020 - the only Missouri statute restricting the manufacture of weapons - reaches only specific categories: explosive weapons, gas guns, armor-piercing and exploding projectiles, knuckles, and items regulated under the National Firearms Act (machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, silencers, switchblades). It contains nothing about ordinary handguns or rifles built for personal use. There is NO Missouri statute requiring a serial number on a self-made firearm, no state registration of firearms of any kind, and no state regulation of unfinished frames or receivers or of so-called 'ghost guns'. RSMo 571.045 (defacing a firearm, a class A misdemeanor) and RSMo 571.050 (possessing a defaced firearm) prohibit only altering or destroying identifying marks on a firearm that already has them - they do not impose an affirmative duty to serialize a firearm that never had a serial number. This is now confirmed from the definition itself: RSMo 571.010(5) defines 'deface' as 'to alter or destroy the manufacturer's or importer's serial number or any other distinguishing number or identification mark', which presupposes a mark that already exists. Missouri also broadly preempts local firearm ordinances, so cities and counties cannot impose their own serialization rules. SEPARATE FEDERAL LAW STILL APPLIES: a non-licensee may generally make a firearm for personal use without a serial number under federal law, but may not manufacture for sale or distribution without an FFL, may not make an NFA item without ATF approval, and may not make a firearm that is undetectable or otherwise prohibited. ATF's 2022 frame-and-receiver rule means commercially sold 'buy-build-shoot' kits and readily convertible frames/receivers are themselves firearms that must be serialized by the seller. |
| Montana | Allowed | No | Montana law permits building a firearm for personal use. There is no Montana statute prohibiting private manufacture, and no Montana statute requiring a serial number, state registration, or a background check for a self-made firearm. MCA 30-20-104, verified verbatim 2026-09-15, expressly contemplates 'A personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in Montana and that remains within the borders of Montana,' and declares such an item 'is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce.' The Act reaches only items 'manufactured in Montana from basic materials' that 'can be manufactured without the inclusion of any significant parts imported from another state,' and declares that 'basic materials, such as unmachined steel and unshaped wood,' are not firearms. MCA 30-20-105 carves out (1) a firearm that cannot be carried and used by one person, (2) a firearm with a bore diameter greater than 1 1/2 inches using smokeless rather than black powder, (3) ammunition with a projectile that explodes by chemical energy after leaving the firearm, and (4) a firearm that discharges two or more projectiles with one activation of the trigger. MCA 30-20-106 imposes the Act's only marking requirement - and it is a marking, not a serial number: 'A firearm manufactured or sold in Montana under this part must have the words "Made in Montana" clearly stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame.' A full review of MCA Title 45, ch. 8, part 3 found no provision criminalizing an unserialized or self-manufactured firearm. Montana's separate weapon crimes remain applicable regardless of who made the gun: MCA 45-8-313 (possession of firearm by convicted person), 45-8-334 (destructive device), 45-8-336/337 (silencers), and 45-8-340 (sawed-off firearm). CRITICAL FEDERAL CAVEAT - NOW VERIFIED FROM THE COURT'S OWN OPINION: the Montana Firearms Freedom Act has been held preempted and invalid. In Montana Shooting Sports Association v. Holder, No. 10-36094 (9th Cir., filed August 23, 2013), the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of the MFFA challenge for failure to state a claim. The published opinion (Clifton, J.; Bea, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) holds that although plaintiff Gary Marbut had standing on account of economic injury, the complaint 'failed to state a claim in light of Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005), and United States v. Stewart, 451 F.3d 1071 (9th Cir. 2006), and that Congress could rationally conclude that unlicensed firearms made in Montana would make their way into the interstate market. The panel held that the MFFA was necessarily preempted and invalid.' The conclusion reads: 'Though we conclude that plaintiff Gary Marbut has standing, we affirm the dismissal of the action for failure to state a claim. AFFIRMED.' Federal law governs privately made firearms independently of the MFFA - the National Firearms Act, the federal prohibition on manufacturing for sale without a license, the federal undetectable-firearms statute (18 U.S.C. 922(p)), and ATF marking and 'firearm frame or receiver' rules. DO NOT treat MCA 30-20-104 as a shield against federal prosecution; a federal court of appeals has squarely held that it is not. |
| Nebraska | Allowed | No | Nebraska has NO STATE statute prohibiting or regulating the manufacture of a firearm for personal use, no state 'ghost gun' or unfinished-frame/receiver law, no state serialization mandate, and no firearm registry. A section-by-section review of Chapter 28, Article 12 (Firearms and Weapons), sections 28-1201 through 28-1225, found no provision addressing self-manufacture, undetectable firearms, unfinished frames or receivers, or registration. This is lawful by ABSENCE of prohibition rather than by an affirmative statutory grant — a weaker basis than a citation. LOCAL EXCEPTION, IMPORTANT: the City of Omaha enacted an ordinance banning 'ghost gun' parts used to assemble firearms (and one banning bump stocks) after LB 77, and in February 2026 a Douglas County District Court judge upheld both, finding neither was preempted by LB 77's statewide preemption in Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-330. So the statement 'Nebraska has no ghost gun law' is true of state law but NOT of Omaha city law as currently enforced. What Nebraska DOES criminalize statewide: knowingly possessing, receiving, selling or leasing, other than by delivery to law enforcement officials, any firearm from which the manufacturer's identification mark or serial number has been removed, defaced, altered or destroyed — possession of a defaced firearm, Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1207, a Class III felony; and intentionally removing, defacing, covering, altering or destroying the manufacturer's identification mark or serial number or other distinguishing numbers on any firearm — defacing a firearm, Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-1208, also a Class III felony. (The baseline had these two section numbers possibly transposed; they are now confirmed from the statute catchlines: 28-1207 is possession, 28-1208 is the act of defacing.) By their terms both reach a firearm that HAD a serial number which was removed, not one that never bore a number; that reading is textual and was not confirmed against Nebraska case law. Federal law applies independently: a prohibited person may not manufacture or possess any firearm; NFA items require ATF approval; a self-made firearm may not be manufactured for sale without a license; and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F governs commercially sold frames, receivers and kits. |
| Nevada | Prohibited | Yes | Nevada effectively PROHIBITS building a firearm for personal use, and the litigation over these provisions is now resolved in the State's favor. NRS 202.3635(1): 'A person shall not manufacture or cause to be manufactured or assemble or cause to be assembled a firearm that is not imprinted with a serial number issued by a firearms importer or manufacturer in accordance with federal law and any regulations adopted thereunder' unless the firearm (a) has been rendered permanently inoperable, (b) is an antique firearm, or (c) has been determined to be a collector's item under 26 U.S.C. Chapter 53 or a curio or relic under 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44. 'Assemble' means 'to fit together component parts'; 'manufacture' means 'to fabricate, make, form, produce or construct by manual labor or machinery.' Because a private individual is not a federally licensed importer or manufacturer and cannot issue such a serial number, an unlicensed person cannot lawfully build a firearm in Nevada. Penalty: gross misdemeanor for a first offense; CATEGORY D FELONY for a second or subsequent offense (NRS 193.130). Supporting provisions: NRS 202.363(1) bars possessing, purchasing, transporting or receiving an unfinished frame or receiver unless the person is a firearms importer or manufacturer or the unfinished frame/receiver is federally required to be, and has been, imprinted with a serial number -- so acquiring an '80% receiver' is itself unlawful. NRS 202.3625(1) bars selling, offering to sell or transferring an unfinished frame or receiver on parallel terms. NRS 202.364(1) bars possessing, selling, offering to sell, transferring, purchasing, transporting or receiving any firearm without a serial number, except by a law enforcement agency or a firearms importer/manufacturer, or where the firearm has been rendered permanently inoperable, was manufactured before 1969, is an antique firearm, or is a collector's item/curio or relic. Each carries the same gross-misdemeanor-then-category-D-felony penalty. NRS 202.3645 created a one-time wind-down allowing sale of unfinished frames/receivers or unserialized firearms to importers, manufacturers or licensed dealers before January 1, 2022; that window has closed. LITIGATION RESOLVED: a Lyon County district court had declared NRS 202.253(9), 202.3625 and 202.363(1) unconstitutionally vague and permanently enjoined their enforcement. The Nevada Supreme Court, en banc, REVERSED in Sisolak v. Polymer80, Inc., 140 Nev., Advance Opinion 30, 546 P.3d 819 (No. 83999, decided April 18, 2024), holding that 'the terms used to define unfinished frame or receiver have ordinary meanings that provide sufficient notice of what the statutes proscribe, such that it cannot be said that vagueness pervades their texts,' that the statutes are general intent statutes that do not lack a scienter requirement, and that they 'do not pose a risk of arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement.' The injunction is therefore gone and these provisions are enforceable. Note that NRS 202.3635 -- the provision that actually bars building a firearm -- was not among the enjoined sections, so the home-manufacture prohibition was never suspended. SERIALIZATION vs REGISTRATION: these statutes require a federally issued serial number on the firearm; they do not create a state firearm registry, and nothing in NRS 202.3625-202.3645 provides a mechanism for a private individual to apply to Nevada for a serial number on a self-made firearm. The pre-1969 exception in NRS 202.364(1)(b)(2) applies to POSSESSION of an unserialized firearm, not to newly manufacturing one. |
| New Hampshire | Allowed | No | New Hampshire law is SILENT on the personal manufacture of firearms, so it is lawful by default for a person not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm. I verified this by pulling the complete section list of RSA chapter 159 and the chapter list of Title XII: there is no section anywhere addressing firearm manufacture, home-built or 'ghost' guns, unfinished frames or receivers, or a serialization/registration mandate. Title XII's firearm chapters are 159 (Pistols and Revolvers), 159-A (Purchase of Shotguns and Rifles), 159-B (Shooting Ranges), 159-C (Sale of Handguns; Criminal Record Check), 159-D (Criminal Background Checks), 159-E (Presidential Executive Orders and Statutory Law Relating to the Right to Keep and Bear Arms), and 159-F (Firearm Purchaser's Privacy) -- none regulates manufacture. NO STATE SERIAL NUMBER OR REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED on a self-made firearm; New Hampshire operates no firearm registry at all. Note carefully what RSA 159:13 (Changing Marks) does and does not do: it prohibits changing, altering, removing or obliterating 'the name of the maker, model, manufacturer's number or other mark of identification on any pistol or revolver' (misdemeanor, with possession of such a firearm being presumptive evidence the possessor did it). That is a defacement offense applying to marks that already exist on a manufactured firearm -- it does not impose an affirmative duty to serialize a firearm you build yourself, which by definition never bore a manufacturer's mark. RSA 159:26 preempts political subdivisions from regulating firearms, firearms components, or firearms supplies, so no NH city or town may impose its own home-manufacture or serialization rule. FEDERAL LAW STILL GOVERNS INDEPENDENTLY and is the real constraint: personal manufacture for one's own use by a non-prohibited person is federally permitted without a license or serial number, but the Undetectable Firearms Act, the National Firearms Act (short-barreled and automatic weapons), and the prohibition on manufacturing for sale/distribution without an FFL all continue to apply, as does ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F where a commercial transaction is involved. NEGATIVE FINDING NOW SEARCHED, NOT JUST INFERRED (2026-09-15): the baseline could not reach the General Court's full-text search. It is reachable today and I ran it against the entire New Hampshire RSA corpus, with positive controls to prove the harness worked ('serial number' returns 22 sections, 'pistol' returns 33). Results: 'unfinished frame' 0 hits, 'frame or receiver' 0 hits, 'receiver blank' 0 hits, 'ghost gun' 0 hits, 'untraceable' 0 hits, '3d printed' 0 hits, 'firearm manufacture' 0 hits, 'manufacture of firearms' 0 hits. The broad term 'manufacture' returns 197 sections, of which the only Title XII hits are RSA 153:14 (fire safety), 158:23 (explosives), 162-B:2 and 162-H:2 -- none in chapter 159 or 159-A through 159-F. Of the 22 'serial number' hits the only firearm-adjacent one is RSA 637:7-a, which I then read in full: it is a defacement-and-possession offense covering property whose 'identifying number or numbers or any other identifying mark ... have been removed, defaced, altered, changed, destroyed, obliterated or mutilated', and it expressly does not reach property 'which does not have identifying numbers or marks'. It therefore imposes no duty to serialise a firearm you build yourself, which never bore a mark to remove. So New Hampshire's silence on personal firearm manufacture is now an audited negative rather than an assumed one. |
| New Jersey | Prohibited | Yes | New Jersey effectively prohibits building a firearm for personal use. Four independent bars, all from the official statute text: (1) 2C:39-9(d) — any person who manufactures or causes to be manufactured a firearm 'if he is not licensed or registered to do so as provided in chapter 58 of Title 2C' is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. There is no personal-use exception. (2) 2C:39-9(k) — 'Purchasing firearm parts to manufacture a firearm without a serial number': a person who, with purpose to manufacture or assemble a firearm and without being registered or licensed to do so, obtains (separately or as a kit) a frame or receiver not imprinted with a serial number registered with a federally licensed manufacturer, or any combination of parts from which an unserialized firearm may readily be assembled, is guilty of a crime of the SECOND degree, and that conviction does not merge with any other offense. 'Firearm frame or receiver' expressly includes unfinished blanks 'which may readily be made into a firearm frame or receiver through milling or other means' (80% receivers). (3) 2C:39-9(l) — using a 3D printer or similar device to manufacture a firearm, receiver, magazine or component without being a licensed manufacturer is a second-degree crime, as is distributing CAD files or digital instructions for doing so to an unlicensed person in New Jersey. (4) 2C:39-9(n) — transporting, shipping, selling or disposing of a firearm assembled from such an unserialized frame/receiver is a second-degree crime. Note the penalty escalation: subsections k, l, m and n were third-degree crimes as enacted by P.L.2018, c.138 and are second-degree crimes in the current statute (amendment history: 2018, c.138; 2019, c.165; 2022, c.53; 2025, c.363). Separately, 2C:39-9(e) makes defacing a firearm (removing/altering the serial number) a third-degree crime. There is no state registry or serialization procedure by which a private individual can lawfully serialize and register a self-made firearm — the lawful path requires becoming a licensed/registered manufacturer under N.J.S.A. 2C:58-1 et seq. |
| New Mexico | Allowed | No | New Mexico has no state law prohibiting a non-prohibited person from building a firearm for personal use, no state serialization mandate for a self-made firearm, and no state firearm registry of any kind. This is a finding of the ABSENCE of state law, not an affirmative state authorization - federal law fully controls. Under federal law an unlicensed person may make a firearm for personal use (not for sale or distribution) without marking it with a serial number, but it must not be a National Firearms Act item (machine gun, short-barreled rifle/shotgun, suppressor, destructive device) absent ATF approval, must comply with the Undetectable Firearms Act (18 U.S.C. Sec. 922(p)), and the maker must not be prohibited under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 922(g). ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F (effective Aug. 24, 2022, upheld in Garland v. VanDerStok, 2025) also treats many partially complete frames/receivers and weapon parts kits as 'firearms' subject to federal licensing, serialization and background-check requirements when sold commercially - a federal constraint on kits, not a New Mexico rule. Related New Mexico provisions that apply to acquiring rather than making a firearm: NMSA 30-7-7.1 (unlawful sale of a firearm without a background check) and NMSA 30-7-7.3, the Waiting Period Act (seven calendar days between a sale and transfer, effective May 15, 2024; New Mexico concealed handgun license holders are exempt). WAITING-PERIOD LITIGATION, status as of 15 September 2026: in Ortega v. Grisham, No. 24-2121 (10th Cir. Aug. 19, 2025) (published; Tymkovich, J., joined by Eid, J., with Matheson, J., dissenting), the Tenth Circuit held 'Cooling-off periods infringe on the Second Amendment by preventing the lawful acquisition of firearms. Cooling-off periods do not fit into any historically grounded exceptions to the right to keep and bear arms, and burden conduct within the Second Amendment's scope,' concluded that Sec. 30-7-7.3 is 'likely an unconstitutional burden on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens,' and 'reverse[d] and remand[ed] to the district court, with instructions to enter injunctive relief consistent with this opinion'; rehearing en banc was denied 22 December 2025. On remand the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico (No. 1:24-cv-00471-JB-SCY) entered final judgment on 27 August 2026. NMDPS's own 7-Day Waiting Period page states: 'On August 27, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico issued a final order enjoining the enforcement of the waiting period against the two named plaintiffs only. The waiting period remains in effect for all other firearm purchasers until further notice.' So the statute is on the books and the State says it is still enforcing it against everyone except the two plaintiffs, even though the controlling appellate precedent in the Tenth Circuit holds such a waiting period unconstitutional. None of this affects concealed-carry licensing, and license holders are exempt from the waiting period in any event. NMSA 30-7-3.1, added by Laws 2025, makes knowing possession of an unlawfully obtained 'weapon conversion device' (e.g. an auto sear or 'switch') a third-degree felony - relevant if a home build involves such a device. |
| New York | Prohibited | Yes | New York effectively prohibits building a firearm for personal use. The amended § 265.10 that took effect 25 August 2026 is now the operative version and was read directly on 2026-09-15; the prohibition is unchanged and the amendment added rapid-fire modification devices as a separate class E felony. Penal Law § 265.10(1) now reads: 'Any person who manufactures or causes to be manufactured any machine-gun, ghost gun, unfinished frame or receiver, firearm silencer, major component of a firearm, assault weapon, large capacity ammunition feeding device or disguised gun is guilty of a class D felony. Any person who manufactures or causes to be manufactured any rapid-fire modification device is guilty of a class E felony.' The subdivision contains no exemption for personal or non-commercial manufacture; Article 265's exemptions run to licensed gunsmiths and dealers. A 'ghost gun' is defined in § 265.00 as 'a firearm, rifle or shotgun that does not comply with the provisions of section 265.07 of this article and is not serialized,' and an 'unfinished frame or receiver' is 'any unserialized material that does not constitute the frame or receiver of a firearm ... but that has been shaped or formed in any way for the purpose of becoming the frame or receiver ... and which may readily be made into a functional frame or receiver through milling, drilling or other means.' Mere POSSESSION is also criminal: § 265.01(9-B) (possession of a ghost gun) and § 265.01(10) (possession of an unserialized frame or receiver) are class A misdemeanors for anyone who is not a licensed gunsmith or dealer. Selling escalates sharply — §§ 265.60/265.61 (ghost guns) and §§ 265.63/265.64 (frames/receivers) are class E and class D felonies. Serialization is mandatory and CANNOT be done by the builder: § 265.07 requires a unique serial number be engraved, cast or stamped on the item, and authorizes only 'any person licensed as a gunsmith, or required to be, or a dealer in firearms pursuant to section 400.00' to do it; violation is a class E felony. Separately, any handgun a New Yorker lawfully possesses must be listed on their § 400.00 pistol license via amendment, so even a hypothetically serialized self-built handgun could not be lawfully possessed without adding it to the license. Bottom line: home-building a firearm in New York is a felony, not a regulated-but-legal activity — do not rely on federal 'personal use' manufacture allowances here. |
| North Carolina | Allowed | No | North Carolina has NO state statute prohibiting an otherwise non-prohibited adult from building a firearm for personal use, and NO state statute requiring a serial number, state registration, or marking on a self-made firearm. NC has not enacted a 'ghost gun' / unserialized-firearm law. The two nearby statutes do not change this: (1) G.S. 14-409 makes it unlawful to 'manufacture, sell, give away, dispose of, use or possess machine guns, submachine guns' and similar automatic weapons, subject to exceptions for lawful possession under 26 U.S.C. Chapter 53 with a sheriff permit, for scientific/experimental purposes, and for pre-existing historical relics - so building a machine gun is barred, but ordinary semiautomatic and manually operated firearms are untouched. (2) G.S. 14-160.2 only prohibits altering, defacing, destroying or removing a permanent serial number or other identification mark with intent to conceal identity, and possessing a firearm whose mark has been so altered; it presupposes a mark already exists and does not mandate that one be applied in the first instance. Article 53 of Chapter 14 (G.S. 14-409.1 through 14-409.9) was repealed in its entirety by S.L. 1995, c. 487, s. 4 and contains nothing on the subject. FEDERAL LAW STILL CONTROLS AND IS THE BINDING CONSTRAINT: a person may build a firearm for personal use without a license, but may not manufacture for sale or distribution without an FFL, may not build an NFA item without prior ATF approval, may not build an undetectable firearm (18 U.S.C. 922(p)), and may not build one at all if prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). ATF's 2022 frame-or-receiver rule (2021R-05F) governs commercially sold kits. Verify current federal requirements independently; this field describes NORTH CAROLINA law only. |
| North Dakota | Allowed | No | North Dakota has no state law against building a firearm for one's own personal use, and no state statute requires serialization, marking, or registration of a self-manufactured firearm. This conclusion was re-verified on 2026-09-15 by re-downloading all five chapters of Title 62.1 from ndlegis.gov (62.1-06 again returns HTTP 404) and text-searching every one for 'manufactur', 'serial', 'assembl', 'homemade', 'personal use', 'untraceable' and 'undetectable'. The only hits were incidental or definitional: 'disassembled or disabled as to be rendered incapable of firing' and a reference to federally licensed 'firearms collectors, dealers, importers, or manufacturers' in ch. 62.1-01; antique-firearm definitions ('manufactured before 1899', ammunition 'no longer manufactured') and explosive-materials provisions in ch. 62.1-02; and in ch. 62.1-03 an exemption for 'an individual engaged in manufacturing, repairing, or dealing in handguns' plus the 'manufacturer's number' language of § 62.1-03-05. Chapters 62.1-04 and 62.1-05 contained no hits at all. It remains an assertion of a negative rather than an affirmative authorization: no ND statute expressly grants a right to self-manufacture either. Two important limits do apply. (1) N.D.C.C. § 62.1-03-05 makes it an offense to 'change, alter, remove, or obliterate any mark of identification on a firearm, including the name of the maker, model, or manufacturer's number' or to knowingly possess a firearm so altered; possession of such a firearm 'creates a rebuttable presumption that the possessor made the alterations.' Violation is a class A misdemeanor (§ 62.1-03-06). This restricts defacing an existing serial number but does not impose a marking duty on a firearm built without one. (2) Federal law is unaffected — the National Firearms Act, the Undetectable Firearms Act, the prohibition on manufacturing for sale or distribution without an FFL, and ATF's 2022 frame-and-receiver rule (27 C.F.R. pts. 447, 478, 479) all continue to apply independently of state law. N.D.C.C. § 62.1-01-03 preempts political subdivisions from enacting firearms ordinances more restrictive than state law, so no ND city or county may impose its own self-manufacture or serialization requirement. |
| Ohio | Allowed | No | Ohio law affirmatively protects private manufacture and imposes no state serialization or registration requirement on a self-made firearm. ORC 9.68 was amended by SB 58 of the 135th G.A. effective April 9, 2025 (re-read in full on 2026-09-15); the amendment broadened the section — it added knives to its scope and added bans on requiring firearm liability insurance or a possession fee — and the manufacturing protection survives intact. ORC 9.68(A) now provides that, except as specifically provided by the U.S. or Ohio Constitution or state or federal law, "a person, without further license, permission, restriction, delay, or process, including by any ordinance, rule, regulation, resolution, practice, or other action or any threat of citation, prosecution, or other legal process, may own, possess, purchase, acquire, transport, store, carry, sell, transfer, MANUFACTURE, or keep any firearm, part of a firearm, its components, and its ammunition, and any knife," and the same section preempts, supersedes and declares null and void any local ordinance, rule or resolution to the contrary. There is no Ohio statute requiring a serial number on, or registration of, a privately made firearm. Ohio's serial-number statute, ORC 2923.201 (possessing a defaced firearm; still the September 28, 2006 version, its only version), only punishes changing, altering, removing, or obliterating a manufacturer's identification mark, and possessing a firearm known to be so defaced; it expressly provides that division (A) "does not apply to any firearm on which no manufacturer's serial number was inscribed at the time of its manufacture" — so a never-serialized homemade gun is not a defaced firearm. TWO REAL LIMITS. (1) ZIP-GUN / DANGEROUS ORDNANCE, A FELONY: ORC 2923.11(G)(1) defines a "zip-gun" to include "any firearm of crude and extemporized manufacture," and also any non-firearm device (e.g., a starter's pistol) specially adapted for use as a firearm, and any industrial/signalling/safety tool capable of use as a firearm when possessed, carried, or used as one. ORC 2923.11(K)(1) classifies a zip-gun as "dangerous ordnance," and ORC 2923.17(A) makes it an offense to knowingly acquire, have, carry, or use dangerous ordnance — unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance is a felony of the fifth degree. A cleanly built firearm made from a commercial receiver blank or from quality parts is generally not "of crude and extemporized manufacture," but the line is fact-specific and prosecutors have charged crude builds. A homemade suppressor is separately dangerous ordnance under ORC 2923.11(K)(5). Note also that a concealed handgun that is a "restricted firearm" (i.e., dangerous ordnance) may never be carried under ORC 2923.111. (2) FEDERAL LAW STILL APPLIES: ORC 9.68 is expressly subject to federal law. Under federal law a non-prohibited person may build a firearm for personal use without a license, but may not manufacture for sale or distribution without an FFL, may not build an NFA item without prior ATF approval, and — under ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F (effective Aug. 24, 2022) — a privately made firearm must be serialized by a licensee before any transfer, and before a gunsmith/dealer may take it into inventory. |
| Oklahoma | Allowed | No | Oklahoma has no state statute prohibiting a person who may lawfully possess a firearm from building one for personal use, and no state statute requiring a serial number, marking, or state registration on a self-made firearm. The affirmative statutory hook is 21 O.S. § 1290.12(B), read verbatim 2026-09-15: "Nothing contained in any provision of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act shall be construed to require or authorize the registration, documentation or providing of serial numbers with regard to any firearm." Oklahoma maintains no firearm registry. A complete sweep of OSCN's Title 21 section index (all 3,000-plus section headings, downloaded in full 2026-09-15) surfaced no serialization, unfinished-frame/receiver, privately-made-firearm or untraceable-firearm offense. The only serial-number provisions in Title 21 are § 1546 (defacing a trademark or serial number on a machine or electrical device), § 1547 (acquiring such an item for resale), § 1549 (inapplicability to changes made by the original manufacturer), § 1550 (possessing a firearm with a removed or defaced serial number during the commission of a felony) and § 1841 (farm machinery) — none of which requires a self-made firearm to bear a serial number in the first place. State preemption under 21 O.S. § 1289.24 bars municipalities and other political subdivisions from adopting any ordinance concerning "the sale, purchase, purchase delay, transfer, ownership, use, keeping, possession, carrying, bearing, transportation, licensing, permit, registration, taxation ... or other controls on firearms, knives, components, ammunition and supplies," so no Oklahoma city may impose a local serialization or homemade-firearm rule. The Second Amendment Sanctuary State Act (§§ 1289.24d-1289.24e) declares further state preemption of the field. FEDERAL LAW STILL CONTROLS AND IS THE REAL CONSTRAINT: the firearm must be for personal use and not for sale or distribution; the maker must not be a prohibited person; the National Firearms Act still governs short-barreled rifles/shotguns, suppressors and destructive devices (ATF Form 1 approval and marking required BEFORE making); 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) bars making a machine gun; the Undetectable Firearms Act applies; and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F governs frames/receivers, split-receiver kits, and marking of privately made firearms taken into a licensee's inventory. Nothing in Oklahoma law displaces any of that. |
| Oregon | Allowed | Yes | Oregon has no statute that criminalizes the act of building a firearm for personal use as such, but HB 2005 (2023), Or. Laws 2023 ch. 229, made it effectively impossible to build and keep an unserialized one. Text read verbatim on 2026-09-15. ORS 166.266(1): 'A person may not knowingly possess, offer for sale, sell or transfer a firearm unless the firearm has been imprinted with a serial number by a federally licensed firearm manufacturer, importer or dealer, or a gunsmith with a federal firearms license, in accordance with federal law.' Critically, a private builder may NOT self-apply a serial number -- the imprinting must be done by an FFL. Exceptions in ORS 166.266(2): antique firearms; firearms manufactured prior to October 22, 1968; firearms rendered permanently inoperable; sale, offer or transfer to, or possession by, a person licensed as a manufacturer, importer or dealer under 18 U.S.C. 923; and a gunsmith taking possession solely to imprint the serial number. Penalties escalate under ORS 166.266(3): Class B violation for a first offense, Class A misdemeanor with one prior conviction under ORS 166.265, 166.266 or 166.267, and Class B felony with two or more such priors; the firearm is forfeited under ORS 166.266(4). ORS 166.267(1) separately bars importing, offering for sale, selling or transferring an unfinished frame or receiver unless the person is an FFL dealer under 18 U.S.C. 923, the manufacturer's name and an individual serial number are conspicuously placed on it per 18 U.S.C. 923(i) and 27 C.F.R. 478.92, and 18 U.S.C. 923(g) records are kept; penalties are Class B violation, then Class A misdemeanor with one prior, then Class B felony with two or more. ORS 166.267(2) bars knowing POSSESSION of an unserialized unfinished frame or receiver unless the person is a federally licensed gun manufacturer and the part is an unfinished part within a manufacturing process that includes serialization; penalties are Class B violation, Class A misdemeanor with one prior, and Class C felony with two or more -- so the 80% receiver supply chain is closed. ORS 166.265 makes manufacturing, importing, offering for sale, selling or transferring an undetectable firearm a Class B felony and knowing possession a Class A misdemeanor (Class B felony with one or more priors), with forfeiture. Bottom line: you may assemble a firearm for personal use, but to possess it lawfully it must bear a serial number imprinted by an FFL manufacturer, importer, dealer or FFL gunsmith. There is no state firearm registration and no requirement to register a self-made firearm with any Oregon agency -- the requirement is serialization, not registration. |
| Pennsylvania | Allowed | No | Pennsylvania has no statute prohibiting a non-prohibited adult from building a firearm for personal use, and no statute requiring a serial number or state registration on a self-made firearm. Re-verified 2026-09-15 by full-text search of the official Chapter 61 PDF (Uniform Firearms Act): the words "untraceable", "unfinished", "self-manufactured", "personally made" and "ghost" appear nowhere in the chapter, and no serialisation mandate exists. Manufacture is restricted only as to PROHIBITED PERSONS — § 6105 is titled 'persons not to possess, use, manufacture, control, sell or transfer firearms', so a person disqualified under § 6105 may not manufacture one. No registry is permitted: § 6111.4 provides that 'nothing in this chapter shall be construed to allow any government or law enforcement agency or any agent thereof to create, maintain or operate any registry of firearm ownership within this Commonwealth,' expressly including frames and receivers. So there is no state registration of any firearm, homemade or not. IMPORTANT ADJACENT FELONY: § 6110.2 makes it a FELONY OF THE SECOND DEGREE to possess a firearm whose manufacturer's number integral to the frame or receiver 'has had ... altered, changed, removed or obliterated.' By its terms this addresses defacing an existing number rather than a firearm that never bore one, but that distinction as applied to homemade firearms is a matter of Pennsylvania case law that was not confirmed against a primary source here. Do not remove or deface any existing serial number. § 6120 preempts counties and municipalities from regulating lawful firearm ownership, possession, transfer or transportation, which has been the basis for challenges to local ghost-gun ordinances (e.g. Philadelphia). SEPARATELY, FEDERAL LAW STILL APPLIES and is not addressed by any of the above: making a firearm for personal use without a license is generally permissible federally, but ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F treats certain unfinished frames/receivers and parts kits as firearms requiring serialization and a licensed transfer, the Undetectable Firearms Act applies, and building with intent to sell requires an FFL. State silence is not federal permission. |
| Rhode Island | Prohibited | Yes | Rhode Island bans ghost guns outright. § 11-47-8(e): "No person shall manufacture, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, possess, or have under his or her control a ghost gun or an undetectable firearm or any firearm produced by a 3D printing process," punishable by imprisonment up to ten (10) years and/or a fine up to $10,000. The sole exception is for federally licensed manufacturers holding an ATF Type 07 FFL. § 11-47-2(9) (as amended by P.L. 2025, ch. 428) defines "ghost gun" as "a firearm, including a frame or receiver, that lacks a unique serial number engraved or cased in metal alloy on the frame or receiver by a licensed manufacturer, maker, or importer under federal law or markings in accordance with 27 C.F.R. § 479.102. It does not include a firearm that has been rendered permanently inoperable, or a firearm that is not required to have a serial number in accordance with the federal Gun Control Act of 1968." Because the required serial must be applied BY a federally licensed manufacturer, maker, or importer — which a private individual building a gun for personal use is not — there is no practical lawful route for an unlicensed Rhode Islander to build a firearm for personal use; anyone wishing to manufacture must obtain a Type 07 FFL. Separately, Chapter 11-47.2 ("Unlawful Sale of Prohibited Firearms", enacted by P.L. 2025, ch. 281, § 1) took effect on July 1, 2026 and is now in force: § 11-47.2-2(a) provides that "No person shall manufacture, sell, offer to sell, transfer, or purchase a prohibited firearm, except as otherwise authorized under this section," punishable by imprisonment of not more than ten (10) years or a fine up to $10,000, with forfeiture of the firearm. Its § 11-47.2-2(b) exceptions permit a lawful possessor to sell or transfer to a federally licensed dealer or to an out-of-state person who may lawfully possess the weapon, dealer-to-dealer and dealer-to-law-enforcement transfers, and law enforcement acquisitions. That chapter restricts manufacture, sale, transfer and purchase but does not by its terms criminalise continued lawful possession. Rhode Island maintains no firearm registry — § 11-47-41 is titled "Government firearm registration prohibited" — so there is no state registration of a self-made firearm; the serialisation requirement is a criminal prohibition, not a registration scheme. |
| South Carolina | Allowed | No | Building a firearm for one's own use is not prohibited by South Carolina law, and South Carolina imposes no state serialization or registration requirement on a self-made firearm. Two qualifications. First, § 16-23-30(C) is drafted as a removal/obliteration offense — it reaches a handgun that HAD an "original serial number" that was taken off; it does not on its face require a serial on a firearm privately made without one. No South Carolina appellate decision squarely resolving that point could be located, so treat it as an untested reading rather than settled law. Second, state silence is not the whole picture — federal law still governs: a non-licensee may make a firearm for personal use, but not an NFA-regulated firearm without ATF approval, not one violating the Undetectable Firearms Act (18 U.S.C. § 922(p)), and not with intent to sell; ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F treats certain readily-completable frame/receiver kits as firearms requiring a licensed transfer with a serial. South Carolina's own machine gun and sawed-off shotgun/rifle restrictions (§ 16-23-210 et seq.) apply independently. Local governments cannot add rules: § 23-31-510 preempts county, municipal and other political-subdivision ordinances regulating "the transfer, ownership, possession, carrying, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, components of firearms, or any combination of these things." |
| South Dakota | Allowed | No | South Dakota state law does not prohibit an individual from building or assembling a firearm for personal use, and imposes NO state serialization, marking, or registration requirement on a self-made firearm. This conclusion rests on the absence of any prohibition rather than on an affirmative authorizing statute: a full scan of SDCL ch. 22-14 (Unlawful Use of Weapons) and ch. 23-7 (Firearms Control) found no provision addressing privately made, homemade, 3D-printed, or unserialized firearms, and no manufacturing license requirement for personal (non-commercial) making. The only serial-number offense is SDCL 22-14-5: "Any person who possesses any firearm on which the MANUFACTURER'S serial number has been changed, altered, removed, or obliterated is guilty of a Class 6 felony" (exception for a person who has applied for a new number under SDCL 23-7-43, under which the DCI director will engrave or stamp a new serial number on request). By its terms that statute reaches the defacement of an existing manufacturer's serial number, not the absence of a serial number on a firearm that was never commercially manufactured. There is also no state firearms registry - SDCL 23-7-8.6 bars any state agency or political subdivision from keeping "any list, record, or registry of privately owned firearms" or of their owners. Local governments are preempted from restricting the "manufacture" of firearms (SDCL 7-18A-36, 8-5-13, 9-19-20). IMPORTANT LIMITS: (1) Making an NFA-type "controlled weapon" is a Class 6 felony under SDCL 22-14-6 unless the maker "has a federal license issued pursuant to law for the weapon or has registered the weapon with the proper federal authority pursuant to law" - so a home-built machine gun or short shotgun without federal approval (ATF Form 1) is a South Dakota felony. As amended by SL 2026, ch 96, SDCL 22-1-2(8) now defines "controlled weapon" as "a machine gun and short shotgun, but does not include a firearm silencer," so firearm silencers are no longer a controlled weapon under South Dakota law (federal NFA requirements are unaffected). (2) Independent federal law still governs: an unlicensed person may generally make a firearm for personal use but not for sale or distribution, the Undetectable Firearms Act applies, and NFA making requires prior ATF approval. |
| Tennessee | Allowed | No | Tennessee has no statute criminalizing the manufacture or assembly of a firearm for personal use by a non-prohibited person, no state firearm registration, and no general state requirement that a self-made firearm bear a serial number. I found no Tennessee 'ghost gun' / unfinished-frame-or-receiver serialization law. The Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act affirmatively contemplates private manufacture: '[a] personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in Tennessee and that remains within the borders of Tennessee is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration.' 'Manufactured' is defined as 'creating a firearm... from basic materials for functional usefulness, including but not limited to forging, casting, machining, or other processes for working materials.' TWO QUALIFIERS. (1) There IS a marking requirement, but only for firearms claiming the Act's exemption: 'A firearm manufactured or sold in Tennessee under this chapter must have the words "Made in Tennessee" clearly stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame.' That is a state-of-origin stamp, not a serial number. The Act does not apply to a firearm that cannot be carried and used by one person, a firearm with a bore over 1.5 inches using smokeless powder, exploding-projectile ammunition, or a firearm that discharges two or more projectiles with one trigger activation. (2) THE ACT'S CORE CLAIM IS NOT GOOD LAW AGAINST THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Federal courts have rejected identical Firearms Freedom Acts from other states; the Gun Control Act, the National Firearms Act, and current ATF frame-and-receiver rules continue to apply in Tennessee regardless of the Act's declaration. Do not rely on it as a defense to a federal charge. Building a machine gun, short-barreled rifle or shotgun, or suppressor remains governed by federal law and by T.C.A. § 39-17-1302, and manufacturing for sale or transfer can trigger federal manufacturer/dealer licensing and serialization duties. |
| Texas | Allowed | No | Texas has no statute prohibiting an eligible person from building or assembling a firearm for personal use, and no state serial-number, marking, or registration requirement for a self-made firearm. A full-text search of the current Texas Penal Code ch. 46 (Weapons), performed 15 September 2026 on the official chapter text, returns ZERO occurrences of the string "serial," and the chapter contains no unfinished-frame/receiver provision and no state firearms registry provision. The only manufacturing prohibition is § 46.05, which makes it an offense to intentionally or knowingly possess, MANUFACTURE, transport, repair, or sell an explosive weapon, machine gun, short-barrel firearm, armor-piercing ammunition, a chemical dispensing device, a zip gun, a tire deflation device, or an improvised explosive device — unless the item is registered in the federal National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record or is otherwise not subject to that requirement. (H.B. 957, 87th Leg., 2021, repealed the firearm-silencer entry from § 46.05, so suppressors are no longer a Texas prohibited weapon.) Building a machine gun or short-barrel firearm at home therefore remains a Texas felony absent NFA registration. FEDERAL law applies independently regardless of Texas law: the National Firearms Act, 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) (machine guns), § 922(p) (undetectable firearms), § 922(r), the prohibition on manufacturing for sale without an FFL, and ATF's frame/receiver rule. Texas also broadly preempts local firearm regulation (Tex. Local Gov't Code § 229.001), so cities and counties may not impose their own serialization or registration rules. |
| Utah | Allowed | No | Utah has no statute prohibiting an individual from building a firearm for personal use, and no statute requiring a self-made firearm to bear a serial number or be registered with the state. None of §§ 53-5a-105, 402, 403 or 404 was amended in the 2026 General Session; all remain at their 5/7/2025 text. Utah affirmatively legislates in favor of state-made firearms: Title 53, Chapter 5a, Part 4 (Utah State-Made Firearms Protections) declares in § 53-5a-402 that a personal firearm, action, receiver, accessory, or ammunition manufactured in Utah to be used or sold within Utah 'is not subject to federal law or federal regulation,' and § 53-5a-403 applies that Part to firearms made in-state from basic materials without significant imported parts (excluding crew-served firearms, bores over 1-1/2 inches using smokeless powder, firearms discharging two or more projectiles per trigger pull other than shotguns, and chemically-explosive projectiles). Serialization: there is no general mandate. § 53-5a-105(1) provides only that the department 'upon request, may assign' a distinguishing number to a handgun that lacks a manufacturer's number - voluntary, not required. TRAP WORTH FLAGGING: § 53-5a-105(2) makes it a CLASS A MISDEMEANOR for an individual to place or stamp any identification mark or distinguishing number on a handgun other than one assigned by the department (exceptions: department-authorized restoration of an original marking by the owner, a manufacturer marking a new handgun in the ordinary course of business, and antique firearms). So a home builder who wants a number on a self-made handgun should request one from DPS rather than invent and stamp one. Separately, § 53-5a-404 requires that a firearm, action, or receiver 'manufactured or sold in Utah under this part' be stamped 'Made in Utah' or 'Made in UT' on a central metallic part such as the receiver or frame - this marking obligation attaches to firearms made under the Part 4 intrastate regime, not to every home-built gun generally. TWO SERIOUS FEDERAL CAVEATS: (1) Part 4's premise that in-state manufacture escapes federal jurisdiction is a Firearms Freedom Act-style provision; materially identical state laws have been rejected by the federal courts, and federal law (18 U.S.C. ch. 44, including the licensing requirement for manufacturing for sale or distribution, the National Firearms Act, and ATF's 2022 frame-or-receiver rule) continues to apply regardless of what Utah says. Do not treat § 53-5a-402 as a shield against federal prosecution. (2) A prohibited person may not build or possess a firearm under either Utah law (Title 76, Chapter 11, Part 3) or federal law. |
| Vermont | Allowed | Yes | ALLOWED BUT SERIALIZATION IS MANDATORY — and this is recent law that post-dates most published guides. Vermont does not forbid an individual from building a firearm for personal use, but since February 28, 2025 the Vermont Ghost Guns Act makes the finished product unlawful unless it bears a serial number applied by a federal firearms licensee. The operative text, read verbatim from the statute on 15 September 2026, is 13 V.S.A. § 4083(c)(1): 'A person who manufactures a firearm or frame or receiver of a firearm, including by a three-dimensional printer, shall cause the firearm, frame, or receiver to be imprinted with a serial number by a federal firearms licensee pursuant to federal law or section 4084 of this title.' The only exceptions to § 4083(c) are a federally licensed firearms manufacturer acting within the scope of its license and possession or transfer for the purpose of having the item serialized (§ 4083(c)(2)). Three further points matter. First, § 4083(a)(1) separately bars knowingly POSSESSING an unfinished frame or receiver that has not been serialized by an FFL — so the 80% blank is itself regulated before you build anything, with exceptions for an FFL acting within its license, for possession or transfer for the purpose of getting the item serialized, and for law enforcement (§ 4083(a)(3)). Second, § 4083(b)(1) bars knowingly possessing ANY firearm, frame, or receiver not imprinted with an FFL-applied serial number; the exceptions in § 4083(b)(3) are an FFL acting within its license, possession or transfer for the purpose of serialization, an unserialized FRAME OR RECEIVER (not a complete firearm) transferred to or possessed by a law enforcement officer for legitimate law enforcement purposes, an antique firearm as defined in § 4017(d), a firearm rendered permanently inoperable, and a firearm manufactured before 1968. Third, serialization is not a private act: under § 4084(c), returning the serialized item to you 'constitutes a transfer that requires a background check of the transferee,' so the FFL must run a check under § 4019(c) before handing your own build back, and if the check is denied the FFL must deliver the item to a law enforcement agency, which gives the licensee a receipt on agency letterhead. The 72-hour waiting period does NOT apply to that return: 13 V.S.A. § 4019a(f) exempts 'the return of a firearm, frame, or receiver to a person by a licensed dealer after the dealer has serialized it ... if the dealer returns the firearm, frame, or receiver to the same person from whom it was received.' There is NO state registration of self-made firearms — the FFL keeps the record under § 4084(b)(2), including the date, name, age, and residence of the transferee and the serial number, but no filing is made with a Vermont agency, and § 4084(b)(3) provides that a licensee is not deemed a firearms manufacturer solely for serializing. The serial format is prescribed by § 4084(b)(1): the licensee's abbreviated FFL number (first three and last five digits) followed by a hyphen preceding a unique identification number, imprinted at the minimum size and depth required by federal law and not susceptible to being readily obliterated, altered, or removed. Penalties under § 4083(d): possession violations under (a)(1) or (b)(1) are a civil penalty of not more than $50 for a first offense, then up to 2 years / $1,000, then up to 3 years / $2,000; unlawful transfers and manufacturing without serialization ((a)(2), (b)(2), (c)(1)) start at up to 1 year / $500 and escalate to 2 years / $1,000 and 3 years / $2,000; using an unserialized firearm while committing a violent crime or reckless endangerment under § 1025 is up to 5 years / $5,000. Section 4084(d) separately penalizes a LICENSEE who violates the serialization or background-check duties: up to $2,500 for a first offense, then up to 1 year or $2,500, or both. |
| Virginia | Allowed | No | AS OF 2026-09-15: Virginia has no statute of general application prohibiting an individual from manufacturing or assembling a firearm for personal use, and no state law currently requires a serial number or state registration on a self-made firearm (Virginia maintains no firearm registry). Federal law still applies. Two limits exist today: (1) Va. Code § 18.2-308.5 makes it unlawful to 'knowingly manufacture or assemble, cause to be manufactured or assembled, import, purchase, sell, offer for sale, transfer, or possess (i) any plastic firearm or (ii) any firearm that, after removal of all parts other than a major component, is not detectable as a firearm' — a Class 5 FELONY, so undetectable/plastic builds are already illegal; and (2) manufacturing for sale requires a federal firearms license. THIS CHANGES SOON, and the effective dates were re-confirmed on 2026-09-15: Va. Code § 18.2-308.5:2, 'Prohibition on unfinished frames or receivers and unserialized firearms; penalties,' enacted by 2026, c. 532, still carries the header '(Effective January 1, 2027)'. From that date it is unlawful to knowingly import, purchase, sell, offer for sale, or transfer ownership of any completed or unfinished frame or receiver without a valid serial number (subsection B), to manufacture or assemble a firearm that 'is not imprinted with a valid serial number' (subsection D), and for an unlicensed person to sell or transfer a firearm he manufactured or caused to be manufactured (subsection E). Subsection C carries its own delayed header, '(Effective July 1, 2027) It is unlawful to knowingly possess a firearm or any completed or unfinished frame or receiver that is not imprinted with a valid serial number.' 'Unfinished frame or receiver' is defined as 'a forging, casting, printing, extrusion, machined body, or similar item that (i) is designed to or may readily be completed, assembled, or otherwise converted to function as a frame or receiver or (ii) is marketed or sold to the public to become or be used as the frame or receiver of a functional firearm once completed, assembled, or otherwise converted.' A 'valid serial number' is one imprinted by a federal licensee or assigned under state or federal law. Penalty: 'A violation of this section is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. A second or subsequent violation of this section is punishable as a Class 4 felony.' Practical effect: building a firearm for personal use is lawful in Virginia today, but anyone doing so should arrange serialization by a federal licensee before January 1, 2027, and MUST have any home-built firearm serialized by July 1, 2027 to lawfully continue possessing it. Separately, § 18.2-308.5:1 makes manufacturing or possessing an auto sear or trigger activator a Class 6 felony. |
| Washington | Prohibited | Yes | Washington is among the most restrictive states on home firearm manufacture, and for an ordinary resident the practical answer is NO. The controlling text, read verbatim on September 15, 2026, is RCW 9.41.327 (as amended by 2026 c 203 s 7; 2022 c 105 s 5). Subsection (6) is decisive: 'No person may knowingly or recklessly manufacture a frame or receiver or an unfinished frame or receiver by use of a three-dimensional printer, computer numerical control milling machine, or by other means, unless the party manufacturing the frame or receiver or unfinished frame or receiver is a federal firearms manufacturer, or is a federal firearms dealer licensed for the sole purpose of repairing existing firearms.' Subsection (1) bars knowing or reckless possession, transport, or receipt of an unfinished frame or receiver after March 10, 2023 unless the party is a law enforcement agency or a federal firearms importer/manufacturer/dealer, or the unfinished frame or receiver has been imprinted with a serial number issued by a federal firearms importer, manufacturer, or dealer; subsection (2) bars sale, transfer, and purchase on the same terms. Subsections (3) through (5) restrict selling, distributing, possessing with intent to distribute, and possessing with intent to 3D-print or CNC-mill from 'digital firearm manufacturing code' for an unfinished frame or receiver. Penalties under subsection (8) escalate: a first violation is 'a civil infraction and shall be assessed a monetary penalty of $500'; a second is a misdemeanor; a third or later is a gross misdemeanor; possessing, transporting, receiving, selling, transferring, purchasing, or manufacturing three or more frames/receivers at a time is a gross misdemeanor; and a separate violation is committed 'for each and every frame or receiver, or unfinished frame or receiver.' CORRECTION to the prior version of this record: a serialization mechanism does exist. RCW 9.41.328 (2022 c 105 s 6) provides that 'A federal firearms dealer or other federal licensee authorized to provide marking services for firearms may imprint a firearm or unfinished frame or receiver with a serial number,' using the dealer's abbreviated FFL number as a prefix, and RCW 9.41.327(7) exempts such imprinted items from the possession ban. So a private person can lawfully POSSESS an unfinished frame or receiver that an FFL has serialized for them - but RCW 9.41.327(6) still forbids that private person from machining or printing the frame or receiver themselves, so the build itself remains unlawful. Three further provisions stack on top. RCW 9.41.190 makes it a class C felony to manufacture an undetectable firearm, or to manufacture an untraceable firearm with intent to sell it, expressly including manufacture 'by use of a three-dimensional printer, computer numerical control milling machine, or other means.' RCW 9.41.325 (2026 c 203 s 5; 2019 c 243 s 2) makes it a gross misdemeanor, and a class C felony for subsequent knowing violations charged per firearm, to knowingly or recklessly allow, facilitate, aid, or abet the manufacture or assembly of an undetectable or untraceable firearm by a person ineligible to possess firearms or who has filed a valid voluntary waiver of firearm rights. RCW 9.41.390 separately provides that no person in this state may manufacture, import, distribute, sell, or offer for sale any assault weapon as defined by state law. RCW 9.41.010 defines 'untraceable firearm' as a firearm manufactured after July 1, 2019 that is not an antique and cannot be traced by law enforcement by means of a serial number, and 'manufacture' as the fabrication, making, formation, production, or construction of a firearm by manual labor or machinery. This is a summary of statutory text, not legal advice. |
| West Virginia | Allowed | No | West Virginia law does not prohibit building a firearm for personal use, does not require a serial number on a self-made firearm, and has no firearm registration scheme. This is a finding of ABSENCE of law rather than an affirmative authorization. The full section index of Chapter 61, Article 7 was re-read on 2026-09-15 (§61-7-1 Legislative findings through §61-7-17 Construction of article, with §61-7-3 now repealed and §61-7-13 repealed in 1990) and no section addresses self-manufacture, unfinished receivers, "ghost guns," or serialization; §61-7-2 (Definitions) defines fifteen terms and mentions no serial number; and §61-7-10, which some secondary summaries wrongly describe as a serial-number statute, was read in full and deals only with selling, renting, giving or lending weapons to prohibited persons. The WV Attorney General's July 2026 firearms guide is likewise silent on the subject. §8-12-5a reinforces this by voiding municipal ordinances "designed or enforced to effectively restrict or prohibit the sale, purchase, transfer, manufacture, repair, or display of firearms," so no WV city may impose its own rule either. IMPORTANT: federal law still applies independently — a self-made firearm may not be an NFA item without ATF approval, may not be undetectable under 18 U.S.C. §922(p), may not be made by a prohibited person, and may not be manufactured for sale or distribution without a federal manufacturer's license. Because the official code site's full-text search is non-functional (see uncertainties), a relevant provision located outside Chapter 61, Article 7 cannot be completely ruled out. |
| Wisconsin | Allowed | No | Wisconsin has no state law prohibiting a non-prohibited adult from building a firearm for personal use, and no state law requiring a serial number, state registration, or state marking on a self-made firearm. Re-verified 2026-09-15 by re-reading the complete official section index of Wis. Stat. ch. 941 on docs.legis.wisconsin.gov. Subchapter III (Weapons) runs: 941.20 Endangering safety by use of dangerous weapon; 941.21 Disarming an officer; 941.23 Carrying concealed weapon; 941.231 Carrying a concealed knife; 941.235 Carrying firearm in public building; 941.237 Carrying handgun where alcohol beverages may be sold and consumed; 941.25 Manufacturer to register machine guns; 941.26 Machine guns and other weapons; use in certain cases; penalty; 941.28 Possession of short-barreled shotgun or short-barreled rifle; 941.29 Possession of a firearm; 941.2905 Straw purchasing of firearms; 941.291 Possession of body armor; 941.292 Possession of a weaponized drone; 941.295 Possession of electric weapon; 941.296 Use or possession of a handgun and an armor-piercing bullet during crime; 941.2965 Restrictions on use of facsimile firearms; 941.297 Sale or distribution of imitation firearms; 941.298 Firearm silencers; 941.299 Restrictions on the use of laser pointers. None addresses home manufacture, unserialized firearms, 'ghost guns', undetectable firearms, or unfinished frames/receivers. NEAREST WISCONSIN PROVISION: Wis. Stat. § 943.37(3) (Alteration of property identification marks) makes it a Class A misdemeanor, with intent to prevent identification of the property, to alter or remove 'any manufacturer's identification number on personal property' or to possess personal property knowing the number has been altered or removed. A firearm is personal property, so defacing an existing serial number is a Wisconsin crime — but the section creates no obligation to apply a serial number to a firearm that never had one. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: bills to require serialization and to ban undetectable firearms have been introduced repeatedly (e.g. 2021 Assembly Bill 469, which would have made possession of an unserialized frame or receiver a Class I felony) and none has been enacted. IMPORTANT CAVEATS: (1) This remains a conclusion drawn from the absence of a statute — no Wisconsin agency publishes a page saying home manufacture is lawful. (2) FEDERAL law still fully applies: the Undetectable Firearms Act (18 U.S.C. § 922(p)), the National Firearms Act for short-barreled or automatic weapons, the prohibition on manufacturing for sale or distribution without an FFL, and ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F. (3) A person prohibited from possessing a firearm under Wis. Stat. § 941.29 may not build one either. (4) Wisconsin's firearms preemption statute, Wis. Stat. § 66.0409, generally bars local governments from imposing stricter firearm regulation than the state. |
| Wyoming | Allowed | No | Wyoming law permits building a firearm for personal use, and there is NO state serial-number requirement and NO state firearm registration. W.S. 6-8-401(c) preempts the field — the manufacture of firearms is authorized, regulated and prohibited by the state alone, and no state agency, city, town, county, political subdivision or other entity may regulate or prohibit manufacture. The Wyoming Firearms Freedom Act expressly contemplates firearms 'manufactured commercially or privately in Wyoming' (W.S. 6-8-404(a)). ONE STATE MARKING REQUIREMENT IS EASY TO MISS, and it is not a serial number: W.S. 6-8-404(b) provides that a firearm manufactured or sold in Wyoming under that act shall have the words 'made in Wyoming' clearly stamped, inscribed or otherwise marked on a central part of the firearm, such as the receiver or frame. Possession of a firearm covered by the act requires no felony conviction in any U.S. jurisdiction (this bar does not apply to antique firearms), no current adjudication of legal incompetence, and no commitment to a mental institution (W.S. 6-8-404(c)). Purchase requires age 21 for a handgun and 18 for a rifle or shotgun, plus the same three criteria (W.S. 6-8-404(d)). MAJOR CAVEAT — read before relying on the WFFA: the act declares that a firearm made in Wyoming from basic materials and kept exclusively within Wyoming's borders is 'not subject to federal law, federal taxation or federal regulation, including registration,' and W.S. 6-8-405 purports to make federal enforcement against such a firearm a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year and a $2,000 fine. That declaration has not been validated by any court. A materially identical Montana statute was struck down in Montana Shooting Sports Ass'n v. Holder, No. 10-36094 (9th Cir., argued 4 March 2013, filed 23 August 2013) — verified from the Ninth Circuit's published opinion on 15 September 2026, which affirmed dismissal and held that because the Montana Firearms Freedom Act 'purports to say that federal law does not apply' it 'is necessarily preempted and invalid.' Wyoming lies in the TENTH Circuit, so that holding is persuasive rather than binding here, and no court has yet tested Wyoming's act. Federal firearms law — the Gun Control Act, the National Firearms Act, and ATF's rules on privately made firearms — should be assumed to apply in full in Wyoming regardless of the WFFA. Do not treat W.S. 6-8-404 as a shield against federal requirements; anyone building a firearm should independently confirm current federal obligations with ATF. |
Learn gunsmithing
Gunsmithing is a licensed trade with real schools behind it. If you want to do this properly — chamber a barrel, cut a stock, diagnose a headspace problem — this is the route.
Resident programs
Colorado School of Trades
Associate of Occupational Studies
Operating since 1947 in Lakewood, Colorado and accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges. A 14-month program built around customer-provided repair work, so students leave having worked on real guns rather than exercises.
Trinidad State College
Certificate or Associate degree
Public college in Colorado with three gunsmithing tracks. Cheaper than the private schools because it is state-funded, and it runs well-regarded summer NRA short courses.
Pennsylvania Gunsmith School
Diploma
Sixteen-month resident program in Pittsburgh focused on bench work — machining, welding, stockmaking, and repair rather than retail armorer tasks.
Montgomery Community College
Certificate or Associate degree
North Carolina public program with separate tracks for general gunsmithing, firearms engraving, and custom rifle building.
Murray State College
Associate degree
Oklahoma public program combining gunsmithing with machining coursework.
Black River Technical College
Certificate
Arkansas technical college offering a shorter certificate route for people who want the bench skills without a full degree.
Online and distance
Sonoran Desert Institute
Associate degree
Nationally accredited online firearms school founded in 2000. Distance format means you supply your own bench and tools, which suits people already working in the trade.
American Gunsmithing Institute
Course certificates
Video-based course library organized by platform and task. Not accredited as a degree program — treat it as skills training, not a credential.
Tools and parts
Brownells
The default supply house for gunsmithing tools, parts, and build kits. Their instructional library is genuinely good and free.
MidwayUSA
Broad parts and reloading catalog, frequently better priced than Brownells on consumables.
Numrich Gun Parts
Obsolete and hard-to-find parts, including schematics for discontinued firearms. The first stop when restoring something old.
Real Avid
Platform-specific tools and vise blocks aimed at home builders rather than professional benches.
Wheeler Engineering
Torque drivers, scope mounting kits, and headspace gauges — the measuring tools that separate a safe build from a guess.
3D printing and the 3D2A movement
A large open-source community — FOSSCAD, Deterrence Dispensed, the Black Lotus Coalition and others, collectively "3D2A" — designs firearms and components that can be printed at home. Their work has driven most of the last decade's litigation over whether a design file is speech, and whether an unfinished receiver is a firearm.
That fight is live and it is being decided in court. Bondi v. VanDerStok (2025) settled that ATF may regulate readily-convertible kits as firearms. State file-possession bans are the next front — and because a design file is code, and code is speech, those bans face a serious First Amendment problem that the courts have yet to squarely resolve.
The communities
Gun CAD Index
Searchable index of the guncad ecosystem: who designed what, which release is current, and where it lives. The reference desk of the movement.
The Gatalog
Community and publishing platform for open-source firearm technical data packages, run as a nonprofit with community chat and testing standards. Its X account is suspended, so the website is the front door.
Are We Cool Yet? (AWCY?)
Design collective founded in 2020 under the banner that art is not made to be contained. Known for public thousand-round crucible tests of its releases.
Black Lotus Coalition
Development team founded in 2021, focused on uniting guncad teams and setting release and testing standards for new developers.
Defense Distributed v. New Jersey Attorney General → All Second Amendment cases → Organizations fighting these cases →