Appeals Court Issues Mandate Ending Defense Distributed v. Grewal Appeal

The Third Circuit issued its mandate in Defense Distributed v. Grewal on April 20, 2026, closing the appeal and returning jurisdiction to the district court. That mandate — docket entry 195 in case 21-cv-09867 — ends the appellate chapter and puts the case back in front of the trial court.

Defense Distributed, the Texas-based company that distributes open-source firearm files, sued New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (previously Gurbir Grewal) over New Jersey's efforts to suppress distribution of those files to state residents. The core dispute is whether New Jersey can reach across state lines to punish a Texas company for publishing digital gun files that are legal where the company operates.

The First and Second Amendment claims have been the spine of this litigation since filing. Defense Distributed argues that New Jersey's enforcement actions amount to an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech and an infringement on Second Amendment rights. New Jersey argues it has authority to protect its residents from what it characterizes as instructions for untraceable weapons.

With the mandate now issued, the district court holds the ball. The appellate ruling — whatever it directed — sets the frame for what happens next at the trial level. Until the district court acts on remand, the practical effect on Defense Distributed's ability to distribute files to New Jersey residents remains unresolved.

No judge assignment appears in the current docket record. That gap matters: the pace of any remand proceedings depends on who picks this up and how crowded their docket is.