Cody Wilson, creator of the first 3D-printed gun, says he has built a tool to defeat new software designed to stop 3D printers from producing firearms. Dubbed "Hochulization" in reference to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who this year signed the first US law requiring gun-detection software on new 3D printers, the tool marks an early skirmish in what looks set to become an ongoing struggle between regulators and those seeking to circumvent firearm-printing restrictions.

Detection systems typically work by scanning for known "hashes" – unique digital fingerprints – of gun-design files. Wilson's tool alters these hashes by adding extra bytes to each file without changing how the printed object functions, making it far harder to maintain a complete blacklist. Wilson runs DEFCAD, which he says hosts over 200,000 gun-related files, and intends to apply the technique across the site by default as well as release it as open source. The wider context is a rise in 3D-printed firearms, with New York police confiscating just one such weapon in 2021 compared with 109 in 2024, and more advanced designs like the FGC-9 already turning up with extremist groups and militias abroad, though such weapons still make up a small share of overall gun seizures.