Beckwith v. Frey

── Beckwith v. Frey ── Case No.: 25-1160 Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Date: April 03, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 25-1160 ANDREA BECKWITH; EAST COAST SCHOOL OF SAFETY; NANCY COSHOW; JAMES WHITE; J. WHITE GUNSMITHING; ADAM HENDSBEE; THOMAS COLE; TLC GUNSMITHING AND ARMORY; A&G SHOOTING, Plaintiffs, Appellees, v. AARON M. FREY, in their personal capacity and in their official capacity as Attorney General of Maine, Defendant, Appellant. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE [Hon. Lance E. Walker, U.S. District Judge] Before Montecalvo, Thompson, and Aframe, Circuit Judges. Christopher C. Taub, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Maine Attorney General, with whom Aaron M. Frey, Attorney General, Thomas A. Knowlton, Deputy Attorney General, Chief, Litigation Division, and Paul Suitter, Assistant Attorney General, were on brief, for appellant. Caroline S. Van Zile, Solicitor General, Brian L. Schwalb, Attorney General, Ashwin P. Phatak, Principal Deputy Solicitor General, Anne A. Deng, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California, Philip Weiser, Attorney General of Colorado, William Tong, Attorney General of Connecticut, Kathleen Jennings, Attorney General of Delaware, Anne E. Lopez, Attorney General of Hawaii, Kwame Raoul, Attorney General of Illinois, Anthony G. Brown, Attorney General of Maryland, Andrea J. Campbell, Attorney General of Massachusetts, Dana Nessel, Attorney General of Michigan, Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota, Aaron D. Ford, Attorney General of Nevada, Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General of New Jersey, Raúl Torrez, Attorney General of New Mexico, Letitia James, Attorney General of New York, Dan Rayfield, Attorney General of Oregon, Peter F. Neronha, Attorney General of Rhode Island, Charity R. Clark, Attorney General of Vermont, and Nicholas W. Brown, Attorney General of Washington, on brief as amici curiae supporting appellant. Julia B. MacDonald, Pierce Atwood LLP, Douglas N. Letter, Shira Lauren Feldman, Tess M. Fardon, and Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Esther Sanchez-Gomez, William T. Clark, and Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence on brief for Maine Gun Safety Coalition, Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians, Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, as amici curiae supporting appellant. Erik P. Fredericksen, Janet Carter, William J. Taylor, Jr., and Everytown Law, on brief for Everytown for Gun Safety, as amicus curiae supporting appellant. Erin E. Murphy, with whom Paul D. Clement, Matthew D. Rowen, Kevin Wynosky, and Clement & Murphy, PLLC, were on brief, for appellees. Erin M. Erhardt and Joseph G.S. Greenlee, on brief for the National Rifle Association of America - Institute for Legislative Action, as amicus curiae supporting appellees. Christian B. Corrigan, Solicitor General, Peter M. Torstensen, Jr., Deputy Solicitor General, Montana Department of Justice, Austin Knudsen, Montana Attorney General, Counsel for the State of Montana, Steve Marshall, Attorney General of Alabama, Treg Taylor, Attorney General of Alaska, Tim Griffin, Attorney General of Arkansas, James Uthmeier, Attorney General of Florida, Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General of Georgia, Raúl R. Labrador, Attorney General of Idaho, Theodore E. Rokita, Attorney General of Indiana, Brenna Bird, Attorney General of Iowa, Kris Kobach, Attorney General of Kansas, Russell Coleman, Attorney General of Kentucky, Liz Murrill, Attorney General of Louisiana, Andrew Bailey, Attorney General of Missouri, Lynn Fitch, Attorney General of Mississippi, Attorney General of Misso