Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and several other parties have moved for a preliminary injunction in their First Amendment lawsuit against New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal which challenges a new law in the state that prohibits any kind of publication or distribution of information relating to 3D printing of firearms components.
SAF is joined by Defense Distributed, the Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., Firearms Policy Foundation, the Calguns Foundation, California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees, Inc., and an individual citizen, Brandon Combs. These plaintiffs will support their motion with an amended complaint and brief.
This case involves passage in New Jersey last November of legislation that criminalizes constitutionally protected speech. Attorney General Grewal has promised to jail anyone who violates this new statute by publishing or otherwise making available “digital instructions” that “may be used” to “produce a firearm” with a “three-dimensional printer,” the lawsuit says.
Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Chad Flores, Daniel Hammond and Hanna Roblyer of Beck Redden LLP in Houston; Daniel Schmutter at Hartman & Winnicki, P.C. in Ridgewood, N.J., and Josh Blackman in Houston.
“Essentially,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “we’re being censored and our First Amendment rights are being violated. If this law isn’t challenged, it will have a chilling effect on any kind of firearms-related speech by anyone in New Jersey or who communicates to anyone living in the state.”
SAF’s attorneys have set March 20 as the date when they will move for the preliminary injunction.
“This case isn’t about guns,” Gottlieb said, “it’s about speech and the First Amendment, not the Second. When this law was passed, it appears that New Jersey lawmakers in their zeal forgot that speech is a protected right as well.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research,
publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.