Gun Rights Group Asks Supreme Court To Review New Jersey 3D-Printed Firearm Code Ban

The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in Defense Distributed v. Attorney General of New Jersey, challenging a state statute that prohibits the publication of digital files used to 3D-print firearms.

Originally filed in 2018, the lawsuit contends that New Jersey’s ban on publishing digital firearm information violates the First Amendment. While other federal courts have ruled that computer code is protected speech under the First Amendment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled otherwise, creating a split among federal circuit courts.

The Third Circuit denied a motion for rehearing in March, prompting the foundation to seek review from the nation’s highest court.

In its petition to the Supreme Court, the foundation noted that “…the Third Circuit denied computer code’s First Amendment coverage by expressly rejecting a Sixth Circuit rule that would have supplied it. Both splits warrant review via the clean vehicle of this case.”

Representatives from the Second Amendment Foundation argued that digital instructional files fall under constitutional free speech protections.

“The files at issue in this case are speech, and their publication is as protected as a book about gunsmithing,” said Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation. “As is typical in states like New Jersey, all basic principles of law and civil rights get thrown out the window when it’s related to guns. New Jersey hates the Second Amendment so much that it’s willing to infringe on other rights as collateral damage. Speech about making guns is no different from any other protected speech, and computer files that provide that instruction are no less protected than a textbook full of diagrams and measurements.”

The organization’s leadership also pointed to the length of the ongoing legal battle in requesting high court intervention.

“This case has carried on way longer than it should have,” said Alan M. Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation. “We’ve been seeking a resolution in this lawsuit for almost a decade now, and it’s high time for a final decision, hence the request to the Supreme Court. The merits of the case are simple – computer files are most certainly covered under the First Amendment, and we think this is a great vehicle for the Court to affirm those protections.”

The Supreme Court will determine whether to grant the petition and review the Third Circuit’s ruling.