The First Amendment protects the exchange of ideas. The Second Amendment protects the right of self-defense. Digital gun files sit at the intersection of both, and dismissing either concern weakens the constitutional framework that protects us all.
In a decision with both First and Second Amendment implications, a federal appeals court has upheld the Garden State’s ban on sharing digital gun designs.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the Third Circuit ruled against Texas-based Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation’s challenge to New Jersey’s law. It found that the plaintiffs had failed to make a detailed enough argument for why the 3D-printed gun designs in question should be considered protected speech.
“[W]hile it is certainly true that some computer code falls under the purview of the First Amendment, purely functional code with no actual or intended expressive use does not,” Judge Cheryl Krause wrote for the panel in Defense Distributed v. AGNJ. “Because Appellants failed to plead sufficient factual matter to permit the Court to assess whether Defense Distributed’s code is covered, let alone protected by, the First Amendment, we will affirm the District Court’s dismissal of the complaint with prejudice.”
By Stephen Gutowski
