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Right to Arms: USA
Kopel has "single-handedly...changed the gun debate in the United States." John Fund, Wall Street Journal, speech at the Gun Rights Policy Conference, Crystal City, Virginia, September 2004.
Topics on this page:
Firearms Topics on Other Pages:
Foreign gun control. Subtopics: Africa. Ancient Greece and Rome. Australia. Canada. Eastern Europe. Germany. Great Britain. Hungary. Israel. Italy. Jamaica. Japan. New Zealand. Poland. Switzerland. United Nations. Sign up for free Second Amendment Project e-mail newsletter. Latest issue, April 15.
New on this page and on the international right to arms page:
Gun Owners for Hillary? Townhall.com, May 9, 2008.
The Democrats and Gun Control. The Clinton and Obama records belie their claims to support the Second Amendment. Wall Street Journal. April 17, 2008.
What are the anti's thinking? Analysis of the anti-Second Amendment amicus briefs in District of Columbia v. Heller. America's 1st Freedom. April 2008. PDF.
Obama's Other Spiritual Mentor: Rev. Michael Pfleger. The man whom Obama described as one of his three spiritual mentors is a Farrakhan devotee who hates the Second Amendment. Volokh Conspiracy weblog. Apr. 8, 2008.
Oral argument in DC v. Heller. The view from the counsel table. Volokh Conspiracy weblog. Mar. 31, 2008.
iVoices.org interview with Kopel, about the oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller. March 27, 2008. MP3. 15:01.
Press conference after the oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller. Mar. 18, 2008. C-Span. The first half of the press conference is Mayor Fenty and other D.C. spokespersons. Kopel appears in the background at about 11:24, and speaks from about 18:20 to 19:33. Real Video. MP3 of the pro-Heller portion.
Kopel telephone interview for Down Range TV, discussing the day's oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller. Mar. 18, 2008. MP3.
American Constitution Society panel on DC v. Heller. Moderated by Dahlia Lithwick of Slate, the panel features a discussion with John Payne (formerly of the D.C. Corporation Counsel's office; attorney of record on the Brady amicus brief, and currently head of the NAACP LDF), Carl Bogus (Prof. of Law at Roger Williams, and lead author on a pro-DC amicus brief of some historians) and Dave Kopel. The debate was held at the National Press Club, in Washington, D.C.; on March 13, 2008. The video and audio are available here.
A (Really) Brief History of the Collective Right to Keep and Bear Arms. All of the Supreme Court's 19th century cases involving the Second Amendment recognize a broad right for all law-abiding citizens, not a "collective" or militia-only right. America's 1st Freedom. Mar. 2008. PDF.
Nelson Lund explains the Second Amendment. Kopel interviews George Mason Law Professor Nelson Lund, author of the Second Amendment Foundation brief in DC v. Heller. Lund explicates the grammar and vocabulary of the Second Amendment. Mar. 4, 2008. MP3.
Gun Rights and Election '08. Kopel analyzes McCain, Clinton, and Obama. Feb. 26, 2008. MP3.
Ready to shoot. The legal availability of handguns makes for a better-prepared police force and a safer citizenry. Baltimore Sun. Feb. 27, 2008. With Ed Nowicki.
Kopel discusses the Independence Institute/Law Enforcement brief in DC v. Heller, on the Amy Oliver Show. Part 1. Part 2. "Is There a Relationship between Guns and Freedom? Comparative Results from 59 Nations." 13 Texas Review of Law & Politics (no. 1, 2008, forthcoming). With Carl Moody & Howard Nemerov. There are 59 nations for which data about per capita gun ownership are available. This Working Paper examines the relationship between gun density and several measures of freedom and prosperity: the Freedom House ratings of political rights and civil liberty, the Transparency International Perceived Corruption Index, the World Bank Purchasing Power Parity ratings, and the Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom. The data suggest that the relationships between gun ownership rates and these other measures are complex. The data show that (although exceptions can be found) the nations with the highest rates of gun ownership tend to have greater political and civil freedom, greater economic freedom and prosperity, and much less corruption than other nations. The relationship only exists in for high-ownership countries. Countries with medium rates of gun density generally scored no better or worse than countries with the lowest levels of gun rates. In conjunction with a broad coalition of law enforcement organizations, the Independence Institute has filed an amicus brief in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court case which will decide whether the DC handgun ban and ban on home defense with any firearm is a violation of the Second Amendment. The brief is available in PDF. "Human Rights and Gun Confiscation." 26 Quinnipiac Law Review 385 (2008). PDF. With Paul Gallant & Joanne D. Eisen. Examines human rights abuses in gun confiscation programs in Kenya and Uganda, and in South Africa's quasi-confiscatory licensing law. Also provides the most complete collection ever presented of international survey data about why people in various countries own guns. "The Human Right of Self-Defense." 22 BYU Journal of Public Law 43 (2008). With Paul Gallant & Joanne D. Eisen. PDF.
Gun Industry/Lawsuits against Gun Companies.
Firearms Business
Learning from Coltsville. The case for this national-park candidate. National Review Online. Sept. 23, 2002. National Park status for Coltsville, the industrial village created by Samuel Colt. With Michael Brotherton.
Terms of Revilement. Book review of Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America (by Tom Diaz). Chronicles, February, pp. 29-30.
Lawsuits
Debate on Tort Protection for Gun Manufacturers. Oct. 27, 2005. The Legal Talk Network hosted a debate on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Firearms Act. Participants were UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, Josh Horowitz from the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, and Kopel. The debate is available in WMF and MP3.
Ban lawsuits that hurt legal gun industry. Philadelphia Inquirer. May 19, 2003.
National Public Radio, The Tavis Smiley Show. Kopel interviewed for 4/9/03 program on the NAACP's lawsuit against the firearms industry.
Gunned Down. The case for prohibiting abusive lawsuits. The West Palm Beach suit against the wholesaler of a Raven pistol used to murder a teacher. National Review Online. Nov. 15, 2002.
Unintended Consequences. The fruits of hysterical antigun lawsuits. National Review Online. Mar. 6, 2002.
Protecting Makers of Weapons Boosts Democracy, Rights. Analysis of Merrill v. Navegar. Los Angeles Daily Journal, and the San Francisco Daily Journal. Aug. 30, 2001.
Smith and Wesson's Faustian Bargain. National Review Online, Mar. 20 & 21, 2000. [Note: the agreement described in these articles never went into effect. Smith & Wesson is now under American ownership, and has no agreements stemming from the abusive lawsuits.]
Should Gunmakers Pay Damages to Local Governments for Gun-related Violence and Injuries? Feb. 11, 2000. CQ Researcher (Congressional Quarterly).
Strongarm Suits. February 2000, Liberty magazine, pp. 35-36.
Abusive Lawsuits against the Second Amendment. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder. 1999.
Dave Kopel debates Jonathan Lowy from Handgun Control, Inc., regarding the municipal lawsuits. You need the Real Video player to watch the 1 1/2 hour debate.
The Sullivan Principles: Protecting the Second Amendment from Civil Abuse. Argues that courts should protect the Second Amendment from abusive lawsuits designed to interfere with Second Amendment rights, just as courts currently protect First Amendment rights from improper libel lawsuits. 19 Seton Hall Legislative Journal 737 (1995). With Richard Gardiner.
Blog: Congress bans abusive anti-gun lawsuits, 10/20/05. Florida court rejects Grunow suit, 6/2/05. NAACP lawsuit, 4/1/03. Boston consent decree dissolved, 4/16/02. Maryland case rejected, 3/10/02. Anti-tobacco activist Mark Pertshcuk offers anti-gun strategy, 3/16/02.
Censorship of Firearms Advertising
Anti-Gunners Target Gun Ads, 1st Amendment. The Blue Press, Aug. 2000. In italiano Carrying Handguns
Armed Pilots
The Bush administration is undermining the armed pilots program. 9/11 anniversary commentary on KGNU Radio. Available in MP3. Kopel commentary begins at 9:15 into the program.
Air Neglect. What's wrong with trained pilots having guns? The TSA is strangling the armed pilots program. National Review Online. July 2, 2003. With Captain David Petteys.
blog: Poll shows public dissatisfied with Norman Minetta's Dept. of Transportation policies on airplane security. 5/21/02. Why stun guns and air marshals are insufficient, 3/11/02.
Law Review articles
The Licensing of Concealed Handguns for Lawful Protection: Support from Five State Supreme Courts. Analyzes recent decisions in New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island. 68 Albany Law Review 305 (2005). PDF.
"Shall Issue": The New Wave of Concealed Handgun Permit Laws. 63 Tennessee Law Review 679 (1995). With Clayton Cramer.
Shorter articles
blog: Wisconsin Sup. Ct. upholds ban on gun carrying in cars; dissent cites Kopel. 5/17/06. Nebraska is 40th state to enact Shall Issue licenses for defensive handgun carrying. Also discusses spread of Stand Your Ground laws, 4/1/06. Licensed Carry Wins in Kansas. Plus analysis of other states. 3/24/06.
Gore’s Privileged Gun Class. Government employees aren’t superior to the governed. National Review Online. Oct. 31, 2000.
Gore's Double Standard on Firearms. Gore believes the federal government should mandate that police carry off-duty in states where they don't live; but the federal government should forbid states to allow law-abiding residents to carry guns. Chronicles. Sept. 2000.
Concealed Handgun Permits. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder on the basics of creating a concealed handgun permit system. Jan. 14, 1999.
Armed Citizens: Gun Permits Amount to Peacemakers. Denver Post. April 20, 1997.
The Untold Triumph of Concealed-Carry Permits. Policy Review magazine. July/Aug. 1996. Reprinted in Tamara L. Roleff, ed. Gun Control. Opposing Viewpoints (Greenhaven Pr., 1997). In italiano.
Get More Guns into Law-abiding Pockets. The American Enterprise, May/June 1995.
More Permits Means Less Crime. Los Angeles Times. Feb. 19, 1996.
John Lott
Damn Lies -- Or Statistics. Review of John Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime." Chronicles. Dec. 1999.
License to Kill? Dallas Morning News. Feb. 8, 1998. by John Lott. Lott refutes a "study" from the Violence Policy Center claiming that Texans with concealed handgun permits are especially likely to perpetrate violent crime. In truth, concealed carry permit holders are much more law-abiding than the Texas population as a whole.
Gun Prohibitionists Miss Their Mark. The attempted character assassination of John Lott, and its implications for concealed handguns policy. Aug. 27, 1997. With Chris Little.
Unarmed Victims
"Gun-Free Zones." Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2007. The murders at Virginia Tech University.
Rapists Like Gun Control. National Review Online, Apr. 14, 2000. What if Juanita Broaddrick had been carrying a gun? In italiano.
Concealed Carry Now. By Ari Armstrong. Op-ed examines the concealed carry debate, in light of the 1999 murder of a woman and two men in a Grand Junction parking lot.
A Fighting Chance. Crime victims left helpless by anti-gun laws, and the gun control mentality. April 21, 1999. By Richard Griffiths.
blog: Case Western gun ban facilitates mass murder at business school, 5/13/03.
Gun Prohibition (of various types of guns and ammunition, or all guns)
Subtopics: Inexpensive guns. Self-loading guns. All guns. Handguns. "Plastic Guns". Fifty Caliber Guns. Machine Guns. Ammunition.
Selective Disarmament: No Guns for the Poor. Bans on so-called "junk guns" are calculated to make self-defense impossible for the poor. American Guardian. Aug. 1997.
Bait-’n’-Switch. Gun-prohibition lobbyists are after much more than AK-47s. National Review Online. Sept. 13, 2004.
The Silveira Threat. How long will the Second Amendment live? National Review Online. Sept. 23, 2003. Part 2 of a 2-part series on harmful gun rights lawsuits.
Police Show Legitimacy of Semi-automatics. Dave Kopel and Diane Nicholl. July 18, 1998.
Are so-called "Assault Weapons" a Threat to Police Officers? The Law Enforcement Trainer.
Rational Basis of "Assault Weapon" Prohibition. Even putting aside the Second Amendment, "assault weapon" bans are unconstitutional because the guns banned are in no rational way different from other guns. 20 Journal of Contemporary Law 381 (1994).
Colorado Attorney General reply brief in Robertson v. Denver.
Assault Ban Chicanery. Washington Times. May 5, 1994.
"Assault Weapon" Ban Wouldn't Have Stopped Texas Massacre. The 1991 Killeen, Texas mass shooting. Minneapolis Star Tribune. Oct. 29, 1991.
Anti-Gun Laws Failed to Stop Littleton Killer. How gun prohibition advocates exploited of Eugene Thompson's 1989 rampage in Littleton with a stolen automatic M11 pistol. In italiano.
Banning Assault Rifles Won't Work. Colorado Statesman, Mar. 17, 1989.
Stockton Shootings Disprove Case for Gun Control. Rocky Mountain News. Feb. 3, 1989.
blog: "Large Capacity Clips" and Officer Safety, 5/12/05.
"Dhimmitude and Disarmament." 18 George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal (forthcoming 2008). PDF.
U.S. House Votes to Ban Gun Confiscation in Disasters. The Volokh Conspiracy. July 26, 2006.
Defenseless on the Bayou. New Orleans gun confiscation is illegal and foolish. Reason.com. Sept. 10, 2005.
Guns vs. Teddy Bears. There's no competition when it comes to regulation. National Review Online. Jan. 13, 2004. With Dr. Timothy Wheeler.
A World Without Guns. Be forewarned: It’s not a pretty picture. National Review Online. Dec. 5, 2001. With Paul Gallant and Joanne Eisen. En français. español. português. italiano.
Prohibition Fever. National Review Online. Jan. 4, 2000. With Dr. Michael Brown. In italiano.
Communitarians, Neorepublicans, and Guns: Assessing the Case for Firearms Prohibition. 56 Maryland Law Review 438 (1997). Reply to the Communitarian Network's proposal to confiscate all firearms.
Why Good People Own Guns. Los Angeles Times. November 26, 1993. Reprinted in Paul A. Winters, ed. Crime and Criminals. Opposing Viewpoints (Greenhaven Pr., 1995). In italiano.
Guns, Germs, and Science. Critique of the medical case for gun prohibition. Delivered at the University of Oklahoma School of Public Health. Oct. 1994.
Will You Be Safer if Guns are Banned? Short piece for the International Society for Individual Liberty. Polski/Polish.
blog: Congress Bans Gun Confiscation in Emergencies, 10/2/06. New Orleans Admits that Gun Confiscations Have No Legal Basis, 9/25/05. New Orleans Guns Should Be Returned Today, 9/13/05. New Orleans Gun Confiscation is Blatantly Illegal, 9/9/05. N.O. follow-up, 9/11/05. N.O. 2d follow-up. 9/11/05.
Ready to shoot. The legal availability of handguns makes for a better-prepared police force and a safer citizenry. Baltimore Sun. Feb. 27, 2008. With Ed Nowicki.
Court, capital and handgun. Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX). Nov. 19, 2007. A look at the DC handgun ban case, showing how unpopular handgun bans are in the U.S., from 1976 to the present.
A Capital Crime. The District of Columbia’s institutionalized history of incompetence, corruption and bigotry is the very reason for its prohibition of Second Amendment rights—and for its status as the murder capital of the United States. America's 1st Freedom. Sept. 2007. In PDF.
Rearming. In a symposium on the Parker case declaring the D.C. handgun and self-defense ban unconstitutional, Kopel examines the future consequences of the decision. National Review Online, March 12, 2006.
Secret Weapon. Some 2nd Amendment lawyers help the gun-ban side. National Review Online. Sept. 22, 2003. Part 1 of a 2-part series on harmful gun rights lawsuits. The history of the Morton Grove cases, and of the NAACP's successful litigation strategy. Follow-up: Responses from Robert Kukla and Victor Quilici provide a different perspective on the case, which I should have included in the original article.
Sticking to Our Guns. Legal Times. Dec. 6, 1993. Reply to an article by Stuart Taylor in favor of handgun prohibition.
Peril or Protection? The Risks and Benefits of Handgun Prohibition. 12 St. Louis University Public Law Review 344 (1993). Excerpt reprinted in Jerry Cederblom & David W. Paulson, Critical Reasoning (Wadsworth, 2001).
The Long and the Short of the Handgun Debate. Sen. John Chafee's proposed handgun confiscation law. Washington Post. June 27, 1992
The Cheney Glock-n-Spiel. Bush's Veep-in-waiting proved he won't be seduced by mindless gun lobbying. National Review Online. July 27, 2000.
Guns and (Character) Assassination. Phony charges about fifty caliber guns. National Review Online. December 21, 2001. With Timothy Wheeler.
NPR on Alito and Machine Guns: The November 11, 2005, edition of NPR's "All Things Considered" features a segment on Judge Alito's decision in Rybar, in which Alito followed the Supreme Court's Lopez precedent to write that a federal ban on machine gun possession was not a valid exercise of the federal power to regulate interstate commerce. Guests on the program were Eugene Volokh, Kristin Rand of the Violence Policy Center, Erwin Chemerinsky of Duke Law School, and Kopel.
blog: Other Federal Appellate Judges on Machine Guns, 11/1/05.
The Return of a Legislative Legend. Debating "cop-killer" ammunition. National Review Online. Mar. 1, 2004.
Cheney's Cop-Killer Rap. If you can't handle the truth, be very afraid of W.'s running mate. National Review Online. July 31, 2000.
Media Violence and Media BiasSee also: Media Analysis page
Why Reveal Who's Concealed? What possible motive could some arrogant anti-gun newspapers have for publishing the names of Right-to-Carry permit holders? America's 1st Freedom, May 2007. by Paul Gallant, with David B. Kopel and Joanne D. Eisen.
The Influence of Michael Moore. "On Point," hosted by Tom Ashbrook, WBUR radio Boston (nationally syndicated). Kopel and Jim Hightower discuss Michael Moore, beginning at 17:30 into the show. Archived for Real Player.
Gray Gun Stories. The New York Times' dishonest and mean-spirited coverage of the gun issue. National Review Online. June 9, 2003. With Paul Blackman. Important note: The Francis X. Clines item in the above story is incorrect. Correction.
Bowling Truths. Michael Moore’s mocking. National Review Online. Apr. 4, 2003. Deconstructing the dishonest documentary.
Fox 31 misleads on 'sniper' rifles. Despite news segment's claims, it takes more than mouse click to obtain firearms. Rocky Mountain News/Denver Post. October 27, 2002.
Shot Through the Heart. Anti-hunting propaganda on Showtime. Review of "Bang Bang, You're Dead." National Review Online. Oct. 16, 2002. With James Swan.
Dailies shoot from hip, miss. Mischaracterizations of D.C. gun-control group bespeak sloppy reporting, editing at newspapers. Rocky Mountain News/Denver Post. Jan. 27, 2002.
Media Bias in the Coverage of Gun Control: The Press Evaluates the Popular Culture. Chapter in the book The Gun Culture and Its Enemies (William Tonso, ed.) evaluates media bias in the 1970s.
Sorry, Wrong Number: Why Media Polls on Gun Control are so Often Unreliable. 9 Political Communication and Persuasion 69-91 (no. 2, April-June 1992). With Gary A. Mauser.
Polls: Anti-gun Propaganda. Certain pollsters who support repressive gun laws claim to have found increased public support for such laws. Are such polls accurate? Or are they typical of the manipulation of data which has long been the practice of pro-control pollsters? The American Guardian. 1997.
Massaging the Medium: Analyzing and Responding to Media Violence without Harming the First Amendment. 4 Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy 17 (1995).
Round Table Discussion: Violence in the Media. David Kopel, Eleanor Acheson (Asst. U.S. Atty. Genl. for Policy Development), Charles W. Guswelle (Kansas City Star), and others. University of Kansas Law School symposium.
Dead Ringers. When it comes to Olympic shooting sports, TV is in blackout mode. National Review Online Weekend, Sept. 23-24, 2000.
Juvenile Justice, Gun Safety, and other Children's IssuesSee also: Criminal Justice page
Subtopics: Schools. Columbine. Gun Safety/Consumer Products/Storage/Lock Laws/"Smart" Guns. Federal Legislation. Denver Laws.
Workshop on Children, Youth and Gun Violence. National Research Council/Institute of Medicine of The National Academies. September 18, 2002. Kopel appears as a discussant on the 11:15 panel. Real audio. Kopel rebuts the claim that Eddie Eagle has proven ineffective in promoting gun safety.
Guns, Gangs, and Preschools: Moving Beyond Conventional Solutions to Confront Juvenile Violence, 1 Barry Law Review 63 (2000).
Crime: The Inner City Crisis. The crime disaster in urban America, and how politicians use gun control to evade the difficulties of addressing the causes of poverty, alienation, and hopelessness.
Gun Play: What Kids Don't Know about Guns Can Kill Them. Reason. July 1993. Reprinted in Gun Control. Opposing Viewpoints (Greenhaven Pr., 1997).
Shooter's Purchase of Handguns Raises Questions About Gun Control Laws. The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. April 19, 2007. Transcript. Streaming Real audio. MP3.
One of the Worst Mass Killings in Modern American History. iVoices podcast interview with Kopel. April 19, 2007. Run time 18:50. MP3.
The Resistance. Teaching common-sense school protection. National Review Online, Oct. 10, 2006.
Only press itself can stop copycats. Killers, suicides thrive on publicity given those who perpetrated earlier crimes. Rocky Mountain News/Denver Post, Sept. 23, 2006.
Sure, Blame the Gun. The Santee murders. National Review Online. Mar. 9, 2001. With Ari Armstrong. Reprinted in School Shootings. At Issue (Greenhaven Press, 2002).
Don't Let Schools off the Hook. The dos and don'ts of preventing juvenile violence. National Review Online. July 12, 2000. With Dr. Helen Smith, forensic psychologist.
Colorado Senate Rejects Gun Legislation. National Review Online, Apr. 12, 2000. Colorado Senate nixes ban on possession of guns by law-abiding adults at universities and schools.
Censorship at Schools In the case of Newsom v. Albermarle, a middle school threatened to punish a student for wearing an NRA shooting sports camp t-shirt. Independence Institute amicus brief for the Fourth Circuit Court of appeals argues that shooting sports are wholesome and promote good character, and that speech promoting shooting sports cannot rationally be censored in a public school. The Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of the student. Newsom Wins One. A First and Second victory. National Review Online. Jan. 8, 2004. Fourth Circuit rules that school cannot prohibit student from wearing NRA Shooting Sports Camp t-shirt. Wisconsin Diversifies. The saga of the Mountaineer. National Review Online. Sept. 5, 2002. University of Wisconsin administrators attempt to prohibit the West Virginia "Mountaineer" mascot from carrying his musket at a football game.
blog: Montclair, N.J., school promotes gun prohibition, blocks pro-rights speech, 5/11/02. (The school board later relented.)
Armed Teachers "Gun-Free Zones." Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2007. The murders at Virginia Tech University. Make Schools Safe for Kids, not Criminals. Arming teachers is the most realistic way to reduce school shootings. iVoices.org podcast. Oct. 5, 2006. MP3. blog: Arming teachers to stop school killers, 10/6/06. Follow the Leader. Israel and Thailand set an example by arming teachers. Russia should follow, to prevent more hostage-taking in schools. National Review Online. Sept. 3, 2004.
When Heroes Are Outlawed: How Joel Myrick Saved Lives by Breaking the Law. By Ari Armstrong. How the Gun Free School Zones law makes schools safe for mass murderers.
blog: Armed Israeli teacher stops terrorist attack on high school, 5/29/02.
Zero Tolerance
Zero Good Sense. Zero tolerance. National Review Online. June 6, 2001. With Paul Gallant and Joanne Eisen. In italiano.
Gunning for the Kiddies. What kind of a “climate” has taken hold of society? National Review Online. Sept. 22, 2000. With Paul Gallant & Joanne Eisen.
blog: Children use "finger guns," then school interrogates them about parental gun ownership, 5/13/02.
Getting Columbine Right. More gun control wouldn't have stopped this tragedy. You're wrong, Al. National Review Online. Oct. 12, 2000.
Who's Responsible For Columbine? National Review Online. May 25, 2000.
What If We Had Taken Columbine Seriously? The political discourse since the killings last year has been foolish, escapist, and cowardly. The Weekly Standard, April 24, 2000. Cover story. Italiano: E se avessimo preso la Columbine seriamente?
The Police Stood Idle. New York Post. April 20, 2000. Columbine.
School Safety. New York Post. April 20, 2000 (with Linda Gorman). (Also in National Review Online, May 8, 2000.)
Gun-Control Won't Stop the Madness. 1999. By Dr. Paul Gallant and Dr. Joanne Eisen.
Clinton Targets Guns Again: President's Politicking Won't Achieve Goal. Rocky Mountain News. May 2, 1999.
The Attack on Civil Liberties. Why the Columbine High murders should not be exploited to attack the First Amendment or the Second Amendment. By Ari Armstrong. April 30, 1999.
Making Schools Safe for Criminals. Gun control laws ensured that the teachers and students at Columbine High School would be defenseless. Denver Post, April 23, 1999. By Linda Gorman.
A Fighting Chance. Crime victims left helpless by anti-gun laws, and the gun control mentality. April 21, 1999. By Richard Griffiths.
blog: Columbine cover-up, 3/9/02.
*Also see our Special Report on the Columbine High School tragedy.
Gun Safety/Consumer Products/Storage/Lock Laws/"Smart" Guns
Danger evident in imposing mandatory gun storage laws. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Nov. 8, 2006.
"Smart Guns": New Jersey's new "smart gun" law proves that a gun ban by any other name still has the same devastating results. America's 1st Freedom, March 2003.
Smart Guns/Foolish Legislators, 34 Connecticut Law Review 157 (2001). With Cynthia Leonardatos and Paul Blackman.
Treating Guns Like Consumer Products. 148 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1701 (2000). Includes a detailed comparison of gun regulation to the regulation of automobiles and alcohol.
Taking It to the Streets. Why treating guns like cars might not be such a bad idea. Reason. November 1999.
Who is Al Gore Kidding? On guns and the National Zoo, Gore is either dishonest or stupid. National Review Online. Apr. 27, 2000.
Are Gun Locks Like Aspirin Caps? National Review Online. Mar. 29, 2000.
Dangers of Mandatory Gun Locks. National Review Online. Mar. 22, 2000. In italiano.
The Hidden Agenda Behind Gun Storage Laws. As demonstrated in Canada and Great Britain, such laws are used to make home defense impossible. The American Guardian. 1997
Loaded Guns Can be Good for Kids. Cato Institute. June 3, 1999. With Eugene Volokh. Español. Italiano.
Safe Storage is Unsafe Regulation (mandatory gun locks). By Linda Gorman.
Mandatory Gun Safety Classes Could Reduce Citizen's Safety. Commerce City Beacon. July 3, 1991.
blog: California gun lock law leads directly to murder of Carpenter family children, 6/2/02.
Guns vs. Teddy Bears. There's no competition when it comes to regulation. National Review Online. Jan. 13, 2004. With Dr. Timothy Wheeler.
Unfair and Unconstitutional: The New Federal Gun Control and Juvenile Crime Proposals. Covers the heavily-discussed issues from Senate Bill 254 (gun shows, juvenile gun possession) and many unknown provisions (including wiretapping expansion, forfeiture expansion, and others). With James Winchester.
The Hill's Hidden Crime Agenda. Cato Institute. Washington Times. June 15, 1999.
Gun Control Bill Defeated For Wrong Reasons. By William Ruefle and J. Mitchell Miller.
Kopel's April 1997 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Criminal Street Gangs. Includes material about gun control, RICO, bullet-resistant vests, conspiracy statues, federalization of criminal law, and more.
What Goes Around... The Blue Press. 1997. Misdemeanor domestic violence gun ban, and its application to police and the military.
Children and Guns: Sensible Solutions. Independence Institute Issue Paper. 1993.
Squirt Gun Bans Won’t Stop Violent Crime: Denver’s "Mr. Wilson laws" are Empty Shells. Analyzes 1993 Denver laws against weapons possession by juveniles. Independence Institute Issue Paper. 1993.
Spot the Crimes. Donald DeKieffer examines Denver's badly-written juvenile gun ordinance.
Second Amendment, Legal History, and PhilosophySubtopics: Emerson case. Heller/Parker case. Supreme Court. Legal History. State Constitutions. American History. Philosophy. Don’t Mess with (Armed) Texans. The real lesson of the Alamo. National Review Online. April 8, 2004.
The Silveira Threat. How long will the Second Amendment live? National Review Online. Sept. 23, 2003. Part 2 of a 2-part series on harmful gun rights lawsuits.
Secret Weapon. Some 2nd Amendment lawyers help the gun-ban side. National Review Online. Sept. 22, 2003. Part 1 of a 2-part series on harmful gun rights lawsuits. The history of the Morton Grove cases, and of the NAACP's successful litigation strategy. Follow-up: Responses from Robert Kukla and Victor Quilici provide a different perspective on the case, which I should have included in the original article.
Lindh’s Rights. Second Amendment does not apply. National Review Online. May 27, 2002.
Book Reviews: A Nation of Cowards and The Origin of the Second Amendment. Ideas on Liberty, Mar. 2002.
Second Amendment Jurisprudence. Sanford Levinson (Professor of law and government at the University of Texas) and Dave Kopel discuss the Second Amendment on WBEZ radio, Chicago. July 13, 2001. One-hour program in RealAudio.
Right to Bear (Some) Arms. National Review Online. June 7, 2001.
An Army of One. (Attorneys General who supported the Second Amendment). National Review Online. May 29, 2001.
Second Amendment: Kopel Defends Individualist View. Coverage of Kopel's debate with Denver University Law Professor Robert Hardaway and Ruchi Bhowmik of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. By Ari Armstrong. Colorado Freedom Report. May 8, 2000
Comprehensive Bibliography of the Second Amendment in Law Reviews. 11 Journal on Firearms and Public Policy 1 (1999). Includes hypertext links to many articles.
Big Brother and the Second Amendment. Bill Tonso discusses the Clinton/Reno theory that the Second Amendment only protects the government.
Emerson Case
A Right of the People: The Meaning of the Emerson Decision. National Review Online. Oct. 25, 2001.
Independence Institute amicus brief in United States v. Emerson. (Second Amendment case before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.)
Heller/Parker Case
What are the anti's thinking? America's 1st Freedom. April 2008. Analysis of the anti-Second Amendment amicus briefs in District of Columbia v. Heller. PDF.
Oral argument in DC v. Heller. The view from the counsel table. Volokh Conspiracy weblog. Mar. 31, 2008.
iVoices.org interview with Kopel, about the oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller. March 27, 2008. MP3. 15:01.
Press conference after the oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller. Mar. 18, 2008. C-Span. The first half of the press conference is Mayor Fenty and other D.C. spokespersons. Kopel appears in the background at about 11:24, and speaks from about 18:20 to 19:33. Real Video. MP3 of the pro-Heller portion.
Kopel telephone interview for Down Range TV, discussing the day's oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller. Mar. 18, 2008. MP3.
American Constitution Society panel on DC v. Heller. Moderated by Dahlia Lithwick of Slate, the panel features a discussion with John Payne (formerly of the D.C. Corporation Counsel's office; attorney of record on the Brady amicus brief, and currently head of the NAACP LDF), Carl Bogus (Prof. of Law at Roger Williams, and lead author on a pro-DC amicus brief of some historians) and Dave Kopel. The debate was held at the National Press Club, in Washington, D.C.; on March 13, 2008. The video and audio are available here.
Nelson Lund explains the Second Amendment. Kopel interviews George Mason Law Professor Nelson Lund, author of the Second Amendment Foundation brief in DC v. Heller. Lund explicates the grammar and vocabulary of the Second Amendment. Mar. 4, 2008. MP3.
Ready to shoot. The legal availability of handguns makes for a better-prepared police force and a safer citizenry. Baltimore Sun. Feb. 27, 2008. With Ed Nowicki.
Academics for the Second Amendment brief in the Supreme Court. Law professor Joe Olson is interviewed by Dave Kopel, regarding the brief that A2A wrote regarding the drafting and original meaning of the Second Amendment. Feb. 21, 2008. 44 minute podcast. MP3.
Kopel discusses the Independence Institute/Law Enforcement brief in DC v. Heller, on the Amy Oliver Show. Part 1. Part 2.
Independence Institute brief in DC v. Heller. iVoices podcast, Feb. 11, 2008.
In conjunction with a broad coalition of law enforcement organizations, the Independence Institute has filed an amicus brief in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court case which will decide whether the DC handgun ban and ban on home defense with any firearm is a violation of the Second Amendment. The brief is available in PDF.
In Liberty's Two Arms. Both clauses of the Second Amendment protect gun rights. Legal Times, Jan. 14, 2008. Applying Justice Stephen Breyer's book "Active Liberty" to the Second Amendment. PDF. HTML.
The Supreme Decision. Analysis of the D.C. v. Heller case. America's 1st Freedom. Jan. 2008. PDF.
DC's Gun Ban, Round 2. Analysis of the D.C. Circuit Court's denial of the city's petition for rehearing en banc. America's First Freedom. July 2007. In PDF.
D.C. gun ban unconstitutional? Dave Kopel discusses the Parker decision, which declared that D.C.'s ban on handguns and ban on self-defense with any gun is unconstitutional. iVoices podcast. Run time 14:40. MP3. April 16, 2007. (Taped on April 13.)
Blog: Larry Tribe's flip-flop in DC v. Heller, 3/4/08. Military Brief (including full text of Maryland Governor Herbert L. O'Conor's 1942 radio address calling for Maryland Minutemen to defend the state), 2/13/08. District Attorneys, the ABA, and precedent in DC v. Heller, 2/13/08. Goldwater vs. the Solicitor General, in DC v. Heller, 2/12/08. State-level Battle of the Attorneys General in DC v. Heller, 2/12/08. Battle of the Attorneys General in DC v. Heller, 2/11/08. Historical briefs in DC v. Heller, 2/11/08. Law Enforcement Brief in DC v. Heller, 2/11/08. Respondent's Brief in DC v. Heller, 2/7/08. NRA brief in DC v. Heller, 2/7/08. Claremont Institute Empirical Brief in DC v. Heller, 2/7/08. DC v. Heller, amicus brief on racial issues, 2/8/08. Congressional Brief in DC v. Heller, 2/8/08. LGBT brief in DC v. Heller, 2/9/08. The English Roots of the Right Arms. DC v. Heller brief, 2/9/08. Women's Rights Brief in DC v. Heller, 2/9/08. Nelson Lund brief in DC v. Heller, 2/10/08. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership brief in DC v. Heller, 2/10/08. The "Failed State" Brief in DC v. Heller, 2/10/08. Amicus Briefs for Petitioner in D.C. v. Heller, 1/14/08.
A (Really) Brief History of the Collective Right to Keep and Bear Arms. All of the Supreme Court's 19th century cases involving the Second Amendment recognize a broad right for all law-abiding citizens, not a "collective" or militia-only right. America's 1st Freedom. Mar. 2008. PDF.
Explaining Eisentrager. The Second Amendment is for individual gun owners. National Review Online. April 20, 2004. Español.
Rights During War. In 1864, the U.S. Army court-martialed an Indiana civilian and sentenced him to death. What does this case teach us about the Second Amendment and the limits of presidential powers? Liberty magazine, April 2004.
Supreme Court Gun Cases: Two Centuries of Rights Revealed. Book by David B. Kopel, Alan Korwin, and Stephen P. Halbrook. Book review in WorldNet Daily.
The Second Amendment Before the Supreme Court. United States v. Miller and all preceding cases. Liberty. Dec. 2003.
The Supreme Court's Thirty-five Other Gun Cases. 18 St. Louis University Public Law Review 99 (1999).
The Sounds of the Supremes: A Reply to Professor Yassky. Part of an exchange sparked by the previous article. 18 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 203 (1999).
Guns in Court. (The Miller case). National Review Online. May 30, 2001.
Warren Burger and the Second Amendment. Kopel responds to ex-Chief Justice Burger's article on the Second Amendment in Parade magazine.
Miller versus Texas: Police Violence, Race Relations, Capital Punishment, and Gun-toting in Texas in the Nineteenth Century—and Today. 9 Journal of Law and Policy 737 (2001). With Cynthia Leonardatos and Stephen P. Halbrook.
Presser v. Illinois. Analysis of the 1886 case.
Dread the Dred Scott Reference. Don’t toss this case around unless you know what you're talking about. National Review Online. Dec. 14, 2000.
Blog: Second Amendment Tea Leaves, 10/29/05 (Corrigan, Luttig, Alito). Miers on the RKBA, 10/3/05. Gun Case in the Supreme Court; Sporting Clays Case in Virginia, 11/4/04.
Malcolm in the Middle. Falling victim to bogus critics. National Review Online. Sept. 16, 2002. Has Joyce Malcolm's research on the history of English gun rights been "discredited"?
The Self-Defense Cases: How the United States Supreme Court Confronted a Hanging Judge in the Nineteenth Century and Taught Some Lessons for Jurisprudence in the Twenty-first. 27 American Journal of Criminal Law 293 (2000).
Check the Footnotes. Skip Bellesiles. Read Halbrook. NRO Weekend, January 13-14, 2001. With Clayton Cramer. Book review of Freedmen, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Right to Bear Arms, 1866-1876, by Stephen P. Halbrook
The Second Amendment in the Nineteenth Century. Except for one judge in Arkansas, every court or scholarly commentator who wrote about the Second Amendment in the 19th century believed that the Amendment guaranteed an individual right. 1998 BYU Law Review 1359
Our Second Amendment: The Original Perspective. St. George Tucker. The American Guardian. July 1998.
Tench Coxe and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in the Early Republic. 7 William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal 347 (1999). With Stephen Halbrook.
Faith of Our Fathers. Garry Wills translates the Second Amendment into Latin, in order to evade its plain meaning in English. National Review Online. Mar. 16, 2001.
blog: DC v. Heller: Nathan Kozuskanich's selective reading of American History, 3/9/08. Albion Tourgee and the Second Amendment, 12/4/06. St. George Tucker vs. Saul Cornell on the Second Amendment, 10/13/06.
Bellesiles Fraud
Disarming Errors. Book review of Michael Bellesiles' "Arming America." National Review, print edition. Oct. 9, 2000. With Clayton Cramer. This was the first printed article to accuse Bellesiles of fraud.
blog: New developments in Bellesiles' record of lies, 4/10/02. The Poulshock fraud in 1966 and the contrasts with the publisher's handling of the fraudulent Bellesiles book, 3/15/02. Bellesiles gets a new grant, 3/5/02 (the grant was later rescinded).
State Constitutions and State Court Cases
What State Constitutions Teach about the Second Amendment, 29 Northern Kentucky Law Review 845 (2002). Cited in Mosby v. Devine, 851 A.2d 1031, 1040 (R.I. 2004), majority opinion by Chief Justice Williams; State v. Hamdan, 264 Wis.2d 433, 467 n. 23, 665 N.W.2d 785, 802 n. 23 (Wisc. 2003), majority opinion by Justice David T. Prosser.
A Tale of Three Cities: The Right to Bear Arms in State Supreme Courts. Examines state court decisions in Colorado, Oregon, Ohio which upheld bans on so-called "assault weapons." 68 Temple Law Review 1177 (1995), with Clayton Cramer and Scott Hattrup.
Guns in the Dock. Liberty. Feb. 2003. Examines Nunn v. State and Salina v. Blaksley, two important 19th century cases involving the Second Amendment.
blog: Indiana Court Vindicates Right to Self-Defense, 6/23/05. W.V. Court Vindicates Self-Defense Right for Employees, 6/11/05.
blog: George Mason, 4/1/06. The Religious Roots of the American Revolution and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, 17 Journal on Firearms and Public Policy 167 (2005). Brothers In Arms. How civil rights flowed from a rifle barrel. Armed black resistance to race riots in the 20th century. Reason.com, Feb. 24, 2005. The Klan's Favorite Law: Gun control in the postwar South. Reason.com, Feb. 15, 2005.
America's Fascination with Firearms. The rigors of the country's frontier led to the proliferation of firearms and a deeply ingrained pro-gun culture. The World & I magazine, Oct. 2003.
A Collaborative Effort. Book review of: The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America’s First Military Victory, by Robert V. Remini. Chronicles magazine, July 2000.
Guns of Our Freedom: Celebrate Independence Day with a few rounds. National Review Online. July 1, 2000. In italiano.
Thomas Jefferson Forever. Chronicles. Celebrates the great Founder, and examines his statements about arms in a free society. In italiano.
Blog: Condoleeza Rice and the Second Amendment, 11/19/04.
(See also the articles on Ancient Greece, Rome, and China.)
Is the Best Defense a Good Book? Refutes the claim of pacifist-aggressives that the New Testament mandates pacifism. America's 1st Freedom, February 2007. PDF.
The Catholic Second Amendment, 29 Hamline Law Review 519 (2006).
The Scottish and English Religious Roots of the American Right to Arms: Buchanan, Rutherford, Locke, Sidney, and the Duty to Overthrow Tyranny, 12 Bridges (nos. 3/4, Fall/Winter 2005).
Second Amendment Symposium, George Mason University School of Law, Sept. 24, 2005. The English religious roots of the Second Amendment right to resist tyranny. Windows Media hi low. QuickTime hi low.
Two Cheers for Violence. Pacifists often claim that violence only begets violence. They are wrong. Liberty. Sept. 2004.
God, Man, and Tyrants. John of Salisbury and the Bestselling Book of the Twelfth Century. Liberty. May 2004.
Self-Defense: Rights and Coerced Risk-acceptance. Philosophy Professor Samuel Wheeler examines the morality of self-defense.
Arms as Insurance. University of Connecticut Professor Samuel Wheeler explores the ethical case for owning firearms as insurance aga |