We’ve been hearing about “ghost guns” or “privately made firearms” for a while now. These are weapons that have been completed, assembled or otherwise produced by a person other than a licensed manufacturer. PMFs are also made without a serial number placed by a licensed manufacturer at the time the firearm was produced.

There have been some high-profile cases and ATF busts recently but no recent case that thrust 3D-printed guns back into the public consciousness quite like the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Luigi Mangione was charged with shooting Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel using a partially 3D-printed Glock-style frame and a 3D-printed silencer.

Nowadays, The Verge points out, almost anyone with a printer, internet access, and enough patience can browse file-sharing sites and attempt to make their own gun. But a new volley of legislation progressing in California and New York aims to shake up that stalemate by moving regulation from the files to the machines themselves, requiring 3D printers to employ blueprint scanning “print blocker” software that, in theory, would detect gun files and stop the print before it starts. It’s essentially taking the long-running debate over online content moderation and translating it to the physical world.

The first rumblings of blocking technology legislation emerged in Washington state earlier this year with HB 2321, which would have required all 3D printers sold in the state to come equipped with “firearm blueprint detection algorithms,” alongside a database of prohibited guns and components maintained by the state’s attorney general. The bill faced immediate pushback from makers and industry experts who argued it would needlessly sweep up legitimate non-firearm parts in its net and drive hobbyists away from 3D printing altogether. It died in committee, but the bill’s skeleton would go on to form the backbone of ongoing efforts in California and New York.

Supporters argue this on-device software is needed to close an enforcement gap that lets those with felony convictions and others access weapons they otherwise couldn’t legally obtain. Laws are already on the books in dozens of states prohibiting the unlicensed manufacturing of 3D-printed guns, but those are nearly impossible to enforce in practice, since the printing occurs in private. And more broadly, makers worry that scanning software could push 3D printing away from its open-source roots and toward the kind of closed, tightly controlled walled gardens that have come to define smartphones and social media

The U.S. pounded sites along Iran’s coast with airstrikes and blocked its ability to sell oil legally on Tuesday in a fierce response to Tehran’s recent attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with counterattacks, according multiple reports, threatening to unravel an interim peace that took weeks to negotiate and drive up oil prices.

The intense exchange came as President Donald Trump was in neighboring Turkey for a summit of NATO, the U.S.-led military alliance. Iran, meanwhile, was holding a mass, dayslong funeral for its slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Restoring maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global trade route, has been at the heart of ongoing disputes between Washington and Tehran. Iran has argued that it has a right to charge fees for ships passing through the strait.

U.S. Central Command, which is overseeing the war, said the U.S. completed the strikes after hitting more than 80 targets, including air-defense systems, command and control networks, antiship missile sites and more than 60 Iranian small boats near the waterway. The attacks were four to five times more extensive than other strikes launched since the agreement to end the war was signed last month, the senior official said. But the U.S. still considers the ceasefire in effect.

Where are all the Gen X people? Experts have found that this demographic, people aged 45 to 65, has been shrinking. That’s a problem because it will likely leave fewer experienced adults to run institutions, mentor younger workers and care for the fast-growing population behind them.

According to Axios, this change also overlaps with the “sandwich generation” years, when many adults are juggling children, aging parents, careers and their own retirement worries. This population (the age group includes most of Generation X, plus younger baby boomers) fell by 2.68 million from April 1, 2020, to July 1, 2025, according to new Census Bureau population estimates.

And this decline is happening as the country gets older overall. The U.S. median age rose to 39.4 in July 2025, up from 38.6 in April 2020 and the senior (65+) population grew 16.2% nationally while the under-18 population fell 2.4% during the same period.