Defense Distributed v. Attorney General New Jersey
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · No. 19-1729
👎Unfavorable to gun rights
left New Jersey's distribution ban in place and ended the case, though on pleading insufficiency rather than a holding that the statute is valid
GunMapUSA assessment of the outcome's direction, not a statement that the court decided rightly or wrongly.
What the court held
Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation challenged New Jersey's cease-and-desist letter and its 2018 statute criminalizing distribution of 3D-printing firearm files to state residents who are not licensed manufacturers, arguing the measures unconstitutionally burdened the distribution of computer code. The Third Circuit affirmed dismissal of the complaint with prejudice, holding that purely functional code with no actual or intended expressive use is not covered by the First Amendment, and that the complaint neither identified which of the plaintiffs' files the statute actually reaches nor pleaded facts showing the code is expressive. Plaintiffs had declined an opportunity to amend.
Summarized from the court's opinion.
What this case is about
New Jersey enforcement against online distribution of 3D-printed firearm files
GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.
Key Dates
- 2020-08-25 — Decided
Sources
- CourtListener — retrieved 2026-08-08
Summary of public court records. Not legal advice.