In a landmark legal battle over the future of homemade firearms, a California judge has dealt a serious blow to a Texas company’s effort to put gun manufacturing machines into the hands of everyday consumers.
On March 28, 2025, Judge Loren Freestone ruled that Defense Distributed must halt the sale and promotion of machines capable of producing 3D printable guns to California residents while the state’s lawsuit against the software organization continues apace.
Founded in 2012, Defense Distributed manufactures computer numerical control (CNC) milling machines that help create 3D printable firearms. California filed suit against Defense Distributed in 2024.
According to the California state government, these machines enable users to create ghost guns — unserialized, homemade firearms that lack official purchase records, making them difficult for law enforcement to track.
The lawsuit also names Coast Runner Industries and Ghost Gunner, which California claims function as fronts for Defense Distributed. Authorities allege that company founder Cody Wilson deliberately markets the Coast Runner brand to Californians as a way to bypass the state’s strict gun control regulations.
During a March 28 hearing at San Diego Superior Court, Coast Runner’s attorney, Chad Flores, argued that the milling machines in question are versatile devices capable of producing a wide array of items such as screws.
Flores contended that the machines are not solely designed to produce firearms and that Coast Runner’s constitutional rights were in jeopardy. He also alluded to the 2022 NYSRPA v. Bruen Supreme Court decision that established new standards for evaluating gun control regulations.
However, California countered that even under the framework established by the Bruen decision, companies are not entitled to unrestricted sales of equipment specifically used to make ghost guns.
An attorney representing the state government said the company itself does not constitute a weapon and that the Second Amendment does not safeguard the right to privately manufacture firearms.
In a tentative decision issued the day before the hearing, Judge Loren Freestone largely sided with the state.
Freestone stated that there is no historical basis for an unrestricted right to personally manufacture firearms and that history supports government regulation of gun production and serialization, which aligns with the standards set by the Supreme Court’s decision.
He further underscored that the Second Amendment only protects against substantial limitations on the right to obtain firearms. However, the issue at hand was California’s challenge to the unauthorized distribution of machines capable of manufacturing them. Freestone also noted that the state had shown evidence suggesting the defendants attempted to circumvent legal restrictions by rebranding the Ghost Gunner machine under the Coast Runner name. The injunction he issued applies to any similar rebranding efforts and any CNC milling machines that share notable similarities.
Back in 2022, Defense Distributed sued the state of California in federal court, attempting to block a law that heavily regulated ghost gun manufacturing equipment. In July 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a contentious gun control measure modeled directly after Texas’ abortion law, drawing a legal connection between two otherwise unrelated policy domains.
Known as Senate Bill 1327, the California law grants private citizens the power to file lawsuits against individuals who distribute illegal assault weapons, parts used to assemble firearms, unserialized guns, or .50 caliber rifles. If successful, plaintiffs are entitled to a minimum of $10,000 in civil damages per weapon, in addition to attorneys’ fees. This law mirrors Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), which allows private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion performed after roughly six weeks of pregnancy.
Defense Distributed later withdrew its lawsuit, but California alleges the company continued breaking the law by selling virtually the same machine under a new name.
In its legal filings, California claimed the company merely replaced the term “Ghost Gunner” with “Coast Runner” in product documentation, while failing to remove all references, including the abbreviation “GG,” from the user manual.
The state is asking the court to issue a permanent order barring further violations, in addition to financial penalties and damages.
Per state officials, machines that produce ghost guns are particularly dangerous because they enable the production of untraceable firearms. In 2022 alone, California recovered 12,894 ghost guns allegedly linked to criminal activity.
As the lawsuit moves forward, the outcome could shape how aggressively states can regulate not only firearms but also the tools that make them.
About José Niño
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. You can contact him via Facebook and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
