Cracking the Code: Computer Code as Pure Speech and Its First Amendment Implications on the 3D Printed Firearms Controversy

Abstract

The advent of three-dimensional (3D) printing presents unprecedented challenges to the regulation of digital speech. Whereas previously, ideas constructed solely of computer code remained reliably in cyberspace, 3D printing allows for near unlimited physical realization of previously electronic concepts through relatively rapid prototyping. No controversy better exemplifies these challenges than that of 3D printed firearms. Those promoting the availability of 3D printed firearms have waged a years-long legal battle for the right to participate in the marketplace of ideas, and, at every turn, have raised First Amendment challenges to the regulations preventing them from doing so. However, even decades after the near ubiquitous adoption of the personal computer and internet, the Supreme Court still has not addressed the status of computer code under the First status by viewing lower court precedent through the lens of a detailed understanding of computer science, and by providing originalist support through a historical analog. Then, this comment applies the accurate First Amendment status of computer code to address the 3D printed gun controversy.