Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has opened a civil inquiry into Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram over whether those companies unlawfully suppressed legal speech and sales involving guns and ammunition. The Civil Investigative Demand seeks records and other material he says the firms hold that could show they misled users about how their services work, which Missouri law forbids.

Bailey, who took office in 2023, framed the probe as a bid to uncover any misconduct and to make the platforms more open and evenhanded. In January he spoke at the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s second annual state attorneys general gathering during SHOT Show in Las Vegas, outlining an originalist reading of the Constitution akin to that of Justices Alito and Thomas when defending Missourians’ right to keep and bear arms.