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.
Kopel is “the Zechariah Chafee of the Second Amendment." Duke Law Professor Joseph Blocher, May 2024.
I. Carrying handguns. Subtopics: Law reviews. Briefs. Interstate carry. Armed pilots. Parks and Churches. Schools and colleges. Other articles.
II. Prohibitions of arms. Subtopics: Inexpensive guns. Self-loading guns. All guns. Handguns. "Plastic guns". Fifty caliber Guns. Machine guns. Ammunition. Knives. Magazines. Other arms and accouterments.
III. Youth, Children, Schools. Subtopics: Schools and Colleges. Censorship at schools. Zero tolerance. Columbine. Gun Safety/Consumer Products/Storage/Lock Laws/"Smart" Guns/Accidents. Federal Legislation. Denver Laws.
IV. Particular gun controls. Subtopics: State and local gun laws. "Buybacks". Gun rationing/"One gun a month". Gun shows. National Instant Check System. Red Flag laws/gun confiscation orders. Registration of guns and gun owners. Waiting Periods.
V. Other Gun Issues. Subtopics: Book reviews. Ballistic "Fingerprinting." BATFE and Gun Traces. Burglary. Culture and sociology. Public health/Medicine/Psychology. Women. General/miscellaneous.
VI. Gun companies, gun sports, and lawsuits against them. Firearms business. Lawsuits. Censorship of firearms advertising and advocacy.
VII. Media violence and bias.
I. Supreme Court. Subtopics: McDonald v. Chicago. District of Columbia v. Heller. Other Supreme Court cases. Supreme Court Justices, and other judges.
II. Other Courts. Subtopics: Lower federal courts. Emerson case. State Constitutions and cases.
III. History and Philosophy. Subtopics: Legal History. Early America. Founding Era. Madison. 19th century. Civil War and Civil Rights. Bellesiles fraud. Philosophy
IV. Politics and Elections. Subtopics: The Age of Obama. 2008 Election. 2006 Election. 2003-04 Elections. 2002 Election and Politics. 2000 Election. Earlier Elections.
V. Activism. Anti-gun groups and individuals. Pro-gun groups and individuals. Other topics.
Page on 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.
Page on Religion. Includes issues of the morality of armed self-defense.
Archives for Kopel's Second Amendment Project e-mail newsletter, 1998-2011.
The First Installment of Our Legal Scholar Series: Dave Kopel. NRA. July 15, 2024. Interview re Kopel article How the British Gun Control Program Precipitated the American Revolution, 6 Charleston Law Review 283 (2012). 35 minutes.
2A Scholar David Kopel Reacts to Major Supreme Court Ruling. Kopel discusses Rahimi with Stephen Gutowski. The Reload. June 23, 2024. 46 minutes.
United States v. Rahimi. No. 22-915 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Oct. 4, 2023). Amicus brief. This brief, alone among the all the briefs filed, distinguished the two subparts of 18 U.S.Code 922(g)(C). The (C)(i) restriction arms rights of individuals whom a court has found to be "a credible threat" to intimate partners does not infringe the Second Amendment. The (C)(ii) restriction is based on no findings at all, and is an infringement. The Supreme Court's June 21, 2024, decision upheld (C)(i) (the subsection under which Rahimi had been convicted) and pointedly stated that the Court was not deciding that (C)(ii) is constitutional. The brief was filed on behalf of professors Randy Barnett, Robert Cottrol, Lee Francis, Donald Kilmer, Joyce Malcolm, George Mocsary, Joseph Muha, Joseph Olson, Glenn Reynolds, and Gregory Wallace; the Second Amendment Law Center; and the Independence Institute.
Garland v. Cargill, No. 22-976 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Jan. 26, 2023). Amicus brief. The Court's June 14, 2024, decision agreed with the position argued in the amicus brief that the federal statutory definition of "machinegun" as a gun that "automatically" fires more than one bullet by "a single function of the trigger" can not be redefined by ATF to mean "a single pull." The brief was filed on behalf of Senators Cynthia M. Lummis (Wyoming), Mike Lee (Utah), Kevin Cramer (North Dakota), John Barrasso (Wyoming), Pete Ricketts (Nebraska), Steve Daines (Montana), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma); Professors Royce de R. Barondes (Missouri, emeritus), F. Lee Francis (Mississippi College School of Law), Nicholas J. Johnson (Fordham), Donald E.J. Kilmer, Jr. (Lincoln Law School), Joyce Malcolm (George Mason, emerita), Joseph V. Muha (Akron), Joseph E. Olson (Mitchell-Hamline, emeritus), David A. Raney (Hillsdale), Glenn H. Reynolds (Tennessee), E. Gregory Wallace (Campbell); and the Independence Institute.
Preview of Supreme Court Bump Stock Case. In Cargill v. Garland, the Court should apply the National Firearms Act text that Congress did enact, and not the text that gun control advocates wish had been enacted. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Feb. 27, 2024.
NRA v. Vullo, No. 22-842 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Jan. 16, 2023). Amicus brief. The Court's decision of May 30, 2024, agreed with the brief that the threats of NY Governor and his financial regulatory agency against banks and insurances companies that do business with the NRA violated the First Amendment. The brief was filed on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation, John Locke Foundation, and Independence Institute.
Smith & Wesson v. Mexico, No. 23-1141 (U.S. Sup. Ct., May 22, 2024). Amicus brief for National Rifle Association and Independence Institute in suppport of cert. petition. Mexico is copying the malicious tactics of the American gun prohibition lobby in previous decades, with meritless litigation designed to destroy the firearms industry through litigation expenses. Mexico's crime problem is self-inflicted by its corrupt government and its nullification of the Mexican Constitution right to arms. Claims that a large percentage of Mexican crime guns are American, or recently acquired in America, are provably false.
Devil's Advocate with Jon Caldara. April 12, 2024. Discussion of anti-gun bills in the Colorado legislature. One hour.
Written testimony against House Bill 24-1310. Bill against armed, trained teachers and staff in K-12 would endanger students and protect school shooters.
Written testimony against House Bill 24-1270. Mandatory insurance for gun owners is based on Jim Crow principles, and is full of poison pills.
Written testimony against Colorado HB24-1242. "Assault weapons" bill is based on plainly false "findings." Further, the bill attempts to outlaw features that enhance accuracy, because the sponsors oppose "ease of use" of firearms by "non-experts." PDF.
Written testimony against Colorado SB24-131. Safe zones for"mass shooters and other violent criminals. Bill to declare vast areas off-limits for licensed carry will endanger public safety. Licensed carry permitees are vastly more law-abiding than the general population.
Written testimony on Colorado bill to mandate separate Merchant Category Codes (MCC) for stores that sell firearms. SB24-066 Colorado Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee. Feb. 8, 2024.
Subtopics: Law reviews. Briefs. Interstate carry. Armed pilots. Parks and Churches. Schools and colleges. Other articles.
Restoring the right to bear arms: New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. In 2021-22 Cato Supreme Court Review (Trevor Burrus ed., Sept. 16, 2022).
Restoring the right to bear arms, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. Summary of above article for Cato Supreme Court Review. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Aug. 8, 2022.
Errors of Omission: Words Missing from the Ninth Circuit's Young v. State of Hawaii. 2021 University of Illinois Law Review Online 172 (May 13, 2021). With George A. Mocsary.
Licensed Handgun Carry for Young Adults Serving in the Armed Forces. Independence Institute, Issue Paper no. 1-2016.
Pretend "Gun-free" School Zones: A Deadly Legal Fiction. 42 Connecticut Law Review 515 (2009). Cited in Students for Concealed Carry on Campus v. Regents of University of Colorado (Colo. App. 2010).
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).
Concealed Handgun Permits. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder on the basics of creating a concealed handgun permit system. Jan. 14, 1999.
"Shall Issue": The New Wave of Concealed Handgun Permit Laws. 63 Tennessee Law Review 679 (1995). With Clayton Cramer.
Clarence Thomas's Long Victory. Washington Examiner. July 7, 2022.
In New York State Rifle and Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen, the U.S. Supreme Court cites Kopel's article The “Sensitive Places” Doctrine: Locational Limits on the Right to Bear Arms, 13 Charleston Law Review 205 (2018). (Page 27 of the slip opinion).
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. No. 20-843. Amicus brief of Professors of Second Amendment Law, Weld County, Colorado, Weld Sheriff Steve Reams, Independence Institute, and Firearms Policy Foundation. July 14, 2021.
TTAG’s All-Star Supreme Court Argument After-Action Legal Analysis. The Truth About Guns. Nov. 3, 2021. Post-oral argument discussion of Supreme Court oral argument in NYSRPA v. Bruen. David Kopel, Eugene Volokh, Joseph Greenlee, Cody Wisniewski.
First gun control case in more than a decade reaches Supreme Court. How it could affect Californians. KCRW radio, Los Angeles, with Madeleine Brand. Nov. 03, 2021.
Surprising support for the right to bear arms. Reading the cited sources from Everytown's amicus brief. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Nov. 3, 2021.
Social science on the right to bear arms. Doomsday warnings don't hold up. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Nov. 2, 2021.
Bearing Arms in "Sensitive Places." Some legal history and doctrinal suggestions. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Nov. 2, 2021.
Dred Scott and the Second Amendment. Kopel's Law and Liberty News, on Independence Institute Television (IITV). The upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case on the right to bear arms involves some of the same fundamental rights that were at issue in 1856 in Dred Scott v. Sanford.
Amnesty International brief against right to bear arms. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Oct. 13, 2021.
Second Amendment professors brief in Supreme Court right to bear arms case. American and English historical precedents show a robust individual right. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Oct. 6, 2021.
Dred Scott and the Second Amendment. Kopel's Law and Liberty News, on Independence Institute Television (IITV). The upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case on the right to bear arms involves some of the same fundamental rights that were at issue in 1856 in Dred Scott v. Sanford.
The Right to "Bear" Arms. Short Circuit Podcast, Institute for Justice. New Supreme Court case on right to bear arms; 9th Circuit Young decision against the right. May 21, 2021. 41 minutes.
New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. New York City. No. 28-280. May 14, 2019. Amicus brief for Professors of Second Amendment law, Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Millennial Policy Center, and Independence Institute. Appendix of professor biographies. The Second Circuit upheld New York City's ban on licensed handgun owners taking their handguns out of the City. The ban is contrary to good practices for safety training. The doctrinal errors found in the Second Circuit decision are prevalent in other circuits, demonstrating the need for further guidance from the Supreme Court.
Written testimony against Colorado SB24-131. Safe zones for"mass shooters and other violent criminals. Bill to declare vast areas off-limits for licensed carry will endanger public safety. Licensed carry permitees are vastly more law-abiding than the general population.
Boulder County’s new gun law imperils public. The Gazette (Denver). Aug. 8, 2022.
Open letter to Denver City Council on licensed concealed carry. Apr. 21, 2022. In Colorado, a person with a concealed carry permit is about 39 times less likely to be arrested than a person without a permit. Bans on licensed carry in public parks are probably unconstitutional.
Kopel amicus brief for the County Sheriffs of Colorado in Students for Concealed Carry on Campus v. Regents of the University of Colorado (Colo. Sup. Ct.).
Bonidy v. United States: The Second Amendment at the post office. Analysis of challenge to gun ban in post offices and parking lots. Washington Post. Oct. 2, 2014.
Amicus brief in People v. Aguilar, before the Supreme Court of Illinois. Professors Michael O'Shea, Nicholas Johnson, and Kopel argue that Illinois's complete prohibition of defensive carry in public places violates the Second Amendment.
Moore v. Madigan, key points. Volokh.com. Dec. 11, 2012. Kopel's The Second Amendment in the Nineteenth Century cited by the majority. Kopel's article Right to Arms in the Living Constitution cited by the dissent.
Right to carry victory in Maryland: Woollard v. Sheridan. Volokh.com. March 5, 2012.
Cert. Petition in Right to Carry Case. Volokh.com. April 22, 2011.
Ninth Circuit holds there is no right to bear arms outside the home. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Apr. 1, 2021. With George Mocsary.
Briefs
Young v. Hawaii, No. 12-17808 (9th Cir. en banc 2020). Amicus brief for Professors of Second Amendment Law, Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, Cato Institute, Madison Society Foundation, California Gun Rights Foundation, Second Amendment Foundation, and Independence Institute. Hawaii ban on licensed open carry.
Peruta v. San Diego. April 30, 2015. En banc rehearing before the 9th Circuit. Amicus brief for the International Law Enforcement Educators & Trainers Association. Explains the empirical evidence showing that licensed handgun carry strengthens public safety.
Peruta v. San Diego, 742 F.3d 1144 (9th Cir. 2014). Amicus brief of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, and the Independence Institute. Details why the carrying of an unloaded handgun--which can only be loaded under "imminent" threat--is insufficient to effectuate the constitutional right of armed self-defense. Also details police interests in encouraging concealed carry rather than open carry. Includes numerous short videos to illustrate the brief's descriptions of how guns are loaded, and how they are deployed in an emergency. Same case in the District Court, 758 F.Supp.3d 1106 (S.D. Cal. 2010): amicus brief for Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, Law Enforcement Alliance of America, and Independence Institute. Heller and McDonald recognize the right to bear arms.
Law review articles
Errors of Omission: Words Missing from the Ninth Circuit's Young v. State of Hawaii. Mar. 31, 2021. With George A. Mocsary.
Short articles
Ninth Circuit strikes Hawaii law that only security guards may get handgun carry permits. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. July 23, 2018.
Peruta v. San Diego, analyzed. Washington Post. June 11, 2016.
Ninth Circuit strikes California's restrictive rule against licensed carry of handguns. The Ninth Circuit's decision in Peruta v. San Diego affirms the right of law-abiding citizens to carry handguns for lawful protection in public. Washington Post. Feb. 13, 2014.
A Fault Line in California. One of the biggest Second Amendment court victories ever was recently won in California, and the National Rifle Association was there every step of the way. America's 1st Freedom. May 2014.
The Battle for a Free California Rages On. America's 1st Freedom. Dec. 2013.
How to Pick a Fight. The NRA's strategy in Peruta v. California, challenging the San Diego sheriff's refusal to issue CCW permits. America's 1st Freedom. Jan. 2011.
TV and media
NRATV. Dana Loesch Relentless. Oct. 3, 2018. Gun Control Groups Pile on to Overturn Open Carry Win. Ninth Circuit en banc petition against right to bear arms in Hawaii.
NRA News. Cam & Company. July 23, 2018. 9th Circuit Rules There is Right to Open Carry.
Is Carrying an Unloaded Handgun an Effective Means of Self-Defense? Discusses Kopel's recent amicus brief in the 9th Circuit. NRA News. June 6, 2011. 7 minute video.
D.C. Circuit upholds right to bear arms for D.C. residents. Washington Post. July 25, 2017.
English legal history and the right to carry arms. Washington Post. Oct. 31, 2015. English law in the 17th and 18th centuries allowed the peaceable carry of arms, and forbade carry in a deliberately terrifying manner.
Wrenn v. District of Columbia (D.C. Circuit). Amicus brief of legal historians explains that peaceable carrying of arms was lawful in the American colonies, in the Early Republic, and in the vast majority of the United States through 1900.
Amicus brief on history of right to carry. In Wrenn v. DC. In D.C. Circuit case, legal historians' amicus brief explains that peaceable arms carrying was legal and common in Early America and in the 19th century. Washington Post. Oct. 9, 2015.
Licensed handgun carry now legal in District of Columbia: Palmer v. DC. Effects of federal court decision allowing licensed handgun carry in D.C. Washington Post. July 28, 2014.
Fed. Dist. Ct. enjoins South Dakota ban on concealed carry permits for legal resident aliens. Volokh.com. February 11, 2011.
Wisconsin Sup. Ct. upholds ban on gun carrying in cars; dissent cites Kopel. Volokh.com. May 17, 2006.
Congress should use constitutional power to force states to honor gun rights. Why national right to carry reciprocity is a proper exercise of congressional power. The Hill. Dec. 31, 2017. With Joseph Greenlee.
NRA News. Cam & Company. Dec. 12, 2017. Pelosi fails Washington Post fact check on national carry reciprocity.
How to regulate (not ban) bump stocks. Interstate carry reciprocity. Cato Daily Podcast. Dec. 8, 2017.
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Dec. 6, 2017. Written testimony on: Bill to ban bump stocks and some gunsmithing. S 1916; Fix NICS Act, S. 2135; Bill to allow indefinite delays in background checks, S. 1923; interstate carry reciprocity, S. 446.
Kopel testimony before the U.S. House subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, regarding H.R. 822. September 13, 2011. The bill would set up a national system of interstate reciprocity for concealed handgun carry permits. Kopel's 24-page written testimony. Cato Institute podcast with Kopel on the issue.
Hiding Behind State's Rights. Anti-gunners are hiding behind the false claim that right-to-carry reciprocity violates states' rights. America's 1st Freedom. Mar. 2012.
Poof! Obama administration aims to gut the armed pilots program. America's 1st Freedom. July 2012.
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.
Poll shows public dissatisfied with Norman Mineta's Dept. of Transportation policies on airplane security. Volokh.com. May 21, 2002.
Why stun guns and air marshals are insufficient. Volokh.com. March 11, 2002.
Second Amendment may be restored on Army Corps of Engineers land. Washington Post. Mar. 10, 2017.
Does CHL Ban in Churches Violate the First Amendment? The Volokh Conspiracy. Sept. 29, 2009.
Guns in National Parks. Kopel interviewed by Amy Oliver on KFKA radio. June 10, 2009. 20 minutes. MP3.
Guns in Parks: The Hoplophobes' Travel Guide to the United States. The New Ledger. May 29, 2009.
Respecting States' Wishes. Short essay on the new law allowing guns in National Parks. New York Times, "Room for Debate". May 22, 2009.
Senate votes to allow licensed handgun carry in national parks. Volokh.com. May 13, 2009.
See the section on schools below.
Growth chart of right to carry. The chart shows how Shall Issue laws for the licensed carrying of firearms for self-defense have become the American norm. Washington Post. Feb. 17, 2014.
The Long Hard Road to Freedom. How a new "shall issue" law in Illinois illustrates the long hard road to freedom. America's 1st Freedom. September 2013.
Nebraska is 40th state to enact Shall Issue licenses for defensive handgun carrying. Also discusses spread of Stand Your Ground laws. Volokh.com. April 1, 2006.
Licensed Carry Wins in Kansas. Plus analysis of other states. Volokh.com. March 24, 2006.
Want to stop mass shootings? Let's get more guns in the right hands. Especially, FASTER training for teachers. The Hill. June 18, 2017. With Joseph G.S. Greenlee.
Good guys with guns: Former Interpol chief Ron Noble on the Westgate Mall mass shooting. Washington Post. May 16, 2016.
Hickenlooper's shots at law-abiding gun owners don't help. Concealed carries licensees save lives; Jeanne Assam saved a hundred at the New Life Church in 2007. (Colorado Springs) Gazette. Dec. 10, 2015. With Ari Armstrong.
President Obama signs three constructive gun measures. Prohibiting ban on lead ammunition; first step to right-to-carry for military personnel; sell surplus military handguns to the public. Washington Post. Dec. 10, 2015.
Planned Parenthood's Right to Bear Arms. Real Clear Policy. Dec. 3, 2015.
Guns in America: Arming the right people can save lives. Good guys with guns have managed to keep a list of shooters from carrying out the kinds of attacks that get far more publicity. LA Times. Jan. 15, 2013.
A Chance to Fight Back. Does gun carrying thwart assassins and mass killers? Theodore & Eleanor Roosevelt thought so. New York Times, "Room for Debate." Jan. 11, 2011.
Bad police training may have killed Philando Castile. Washington Post. June 22, 2017.
The Second Amendment versus anti-Catholicism. Washington Post. Nov. 20, 2015. James Madison expressly rejected anti-Catholic gun control laws; yet modern anti-gun advocates claim that these bigoted laws laws should be imposed on everyone.
Will D.C. Carry? America's 1st Freedom. Oct. 2014. Discussion of Palmer v. D.C.
Bloomberg's X-ray. NYC develops gun detectors to conduct secret warrantless searches. America's 1st Freedom. May 2012.
Unraveling Heller. Though District of Columbia v. Heller is part of the fabric of our Constitution, some lower court judges are finding ways to pick it apart. America's 1st Freedom, June 2011.
Could President Perry carry a gun? Definitely yes, since D.C.'s gun laws allowing carrying by any federal employee who is authorized to do so. Volokh Conspiracy. Aug 19, 2011.
Family Research Council vs. the Second Amendment. Volokh.com. June 23, 2010. Update.
Free Plaxico Burress. New York City's gun law is unconstitutional. Wall Street Journal. Dec. 4, 2008.
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.
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. Sept. 15, 1999. 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.
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.
Damn Lies -- Or Statistics. Review of "More Guns, Less Crime." Chronicles. Dec. 1999.
Gun Prohibitionists Miss Their Mark. Aug. 27, 1997. With Chris Little.
More Permits Means Less Crime. Los Angeles Times. Feb. 19, 1996.
Get More Guns into Law-abiding Pockets. The American Enterprise, May/June 1995.
Subtopics: Inexpensive guns. Self-loading guns. All guns. Handguns. "Plastic Guns". Fifty Caliber Guns. Machine Guns. Ammunition. Knives. Other arms.
The History of Bans on Types of Arms Before 1900. Including handguns, Bowie knives, daggers, slungshots, brass knuckles, cannons and more. 50 Journal of Legislation (Notre Dame, forthcoming 2024). With Joseph G.S. Greenlee.
The history of arms bans before 1900. Gun Rights Policy Conference. Sept. 23, 2023. Covers handguns, Bowie knives, slungshots, and metal knuckles. 14 minutes audio.
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.
Bianchi v. Brown, No. 23-863 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Mar. 13, 2024). Petition for certiorari before judgment. Amicus brief of International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, John Locke Foundation, and Independence Institute. So-called "assault" rifles fire at the same rate as common handguns, are less powerful than most other rifles, and in mass shootings are less deadly than handguns. Law enforcement officers choose the rifles because they are superb for lawful defense of self and others.
Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association v. Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Nos. No. 23-1633, 23-1634, 23-1641 (3d Cir. July 10, 2023). Amicus brief of International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, National Association of Chiefs of Police, Professors of Second Amendment Law, and Independence Institute. Assertions about the supposedly "exceptional" wounding power and dangers of so-called "assault weapons" are false. The arms are well-suited for law-defense of self and others, and are frequently chosen for that purpose by law enforcement officers and citizens. Claims that ordinary law enforcement officers routinely use extremely dangerous super-powerful weapons are defamatory to law enforcement.
Bianchi v. Frosh. No. 21-902. Cert. petition amicus brief for Professors of Second Amendment Law, Cato Institute, John Locke Foundation, Center to Keep and Bear Arms, and Independence Institute. Maryland's ban on semiautomatic rifles violates the Second Amendment, and lower court cases upholding rifle bans are illogical. Feb. 11, 2022.
Related: Law profs urge SCOTUS to overturn "assault weapons" ban. BearingArms.com, video interview of Kopel by Cam Edwards. Feb. 24, 2022.
Rupp v. Becerra. No. 19-56004. 9th Circuit. Feb. 3, 2020. Amicus brief of Firearms Policy Coalition/Foundation, Second Amendment Foundation, Madison Society Foundation, California Gun Rights Foundation, and Independence Institute. By any standard, the semiautomatic firearms banned by California are in "common use," and therefore they may not be prohibited.
Worman v. Healey. Aug. 29, 2018. Amicus brief for 11 law professors specializing in the Second Amendment, Cato Institute, Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Jews for the Preservation Ownership, Independence Institute, and Millennial Policy Center. Massachusetts ban on common firearms and standard magazines violates Supreme Court precedent. Such arms have been traditional American arms since the 19th century. Cato Institute summary.
Kolbe v. Hogan. Amicus brief in support of cert. petition, in challenge to Maryland ban on common firearms and magazines. Amici are the National Sheriffs' Association, Cato Institute, Second Amendment Foundation, and Independence Institute. Attorneys are David Kopel, Randy Barnett, Joseph Greenlee, Ilya Shapiro. Aug. 21, 2017.
Colorado Attorney General reply brief in Robertson v. Denver. 1991 (Denver District Court).
The History of Bans on Types of Arms Before 1900. Including handguns, Bowie knives, daggers, slungshots, brass knuckles, cannons and more. 165 pages. With Joseph G.S. Greenlee.
Defining "Assault Weapons." The Regulatory Review (Univ. of Pennsylvania). Nov. 14, 2018.
The Costs and Consequences of Gun Control. Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 784 (Dec. 1, 2015).
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).
Written testimony against Colorado HB24-1242. "Assault weapons" bill is based on plainly false "findings." Further, the bill attempts to outlaw features that enhance accuracy, because the sponsors oppose "ease of use" of firearms by "non-experts." PDF.
Written testimony on HB23-1230, bans on common firearms. Colorado House of Representatives, Judiciary Committee. Apr. 19, 2023.
"Assault weapons" testimony. U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Aug. 3, 1993. C-Span, Kopel at 198:54, and in Q&A with Senator Feinstein at end of panel. C-Span.
Law Enforcement Trainers File Scotus Amicus Brief against Maryland Rifle Ban. Citizens should be able to choose the same high-quality defensive arms that peace officers choose. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Mar. 18, 2024.
AR rifle ammunition is less powerful than most other rifle ammunition. Bullet speed matters, but so does bullet weight. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Apr. 11, 2023. With Greg Wallace.
How powerful are AR rifles? About the same as other rifles. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Feb. 27, 2023. With Greg Wallace.
'Assault weapon' still a bogeyman for Colorado pols. Denver Gazette. Jan. 9, 2023.
The Theoretical Lethality Index is useful for military history but not for gun control policy. Professors Miller and Tucker miss the mark, while Saul Cornell disdains accuracy. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Nov. 1, 2022.
Maryland Rifle Ban in the Supreme Court: Professors' and think tanks' amicus brief urges Court to grant certiorari. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Feb. 11, 2022.
What arms are "common"? Amicus brief challenging California rifle ban. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Feb. 12, 2020.
Worman v. Healey. Cato Institute. Oct. 24, 2019. With Joseph G.S. Greenlee and Ilya Shapiro.
The Ever-Shifting Definition of "Assault Weapons." The phrase has been used to promote bans on almost every type of gun. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Jan. 2, 2019.
Sneak Attack on Washington State. America's 1st Freedom. Sept. 2018.
Deerfield, Illinois, gun confiscation law is blocked by state court. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. June 13, 2018.
Gun Control Won't Stop Crime. America's 1st Freedom. May 2018. Why NRA is rightly opposes gun bans, the destruction of the civil rights of young adults, and universal gun registration.
The First "Assault Weapon": Banning Guns Based on "Style" Rather than Function. Reason.com. Mar. 5, 2018.
The History of the 'Assault Weapon' Hoax. Part 1: The Crime that Started it All. A 1989 shooting at a Cal. schoolyard began the national "assault weapon" issue. It was a consequence of law enforcement failure. Reason.com. Mar. 2, 2018.
Kolbe v. Hogan: 4th Circuit requires strict scrutiny for Maryland ban on magazines and semiautomatics. Washington Post. Feb. 4, 2016.
The 2nd Circuit's second-class Second Amendment intermediate scrutiny. Washington Post. Oct. 23, 2015.
2nd Circuit upholds N.Y. and Conn. arms bans; contradicts Heller and McDonald. Washington Post. Oct. 21, 2015.
New Anti-Gun Strategies. National Review Online. Sept. 16, 2014. "Assault weapon" bans have proved very unpopular — but the anti-gun lobbies aren't giving up entirely.
Do You Really Think That Feinstein Will Stop At ARs? America's 1st Freedom. March 2013.
Ronald Reagan's AR-15. Volokh.com. Jan. 15, 2013.
The AR-15 And The Second Amendment: No Respect. It's the best-selling type of rifle in America today, yet the gun prohibition lobbies want to make it a crime for you to own one. America's 1st Freedom. April 2012.
Obama import ban on rifles confirmed. Volokh.com. September 1, 2010.
Obama bans over 100,000 rifles. Volokh.com. August 18, 2010.
The Mark of "C". While Anti-Gunners in Congress Hail Him as the New Zorro, President Calderón Takes a Swipe at American Gun Rights. America's 1st Freedom. August 2010.
What Next for D.C.'s Gun Laws. Congress should intervene to protect the Second Amendment. Wall Street Journal. August 8, 2008. With Robert A. Levy.
"Large Capacity Clips" and Officer Safety. Volokh.com. May 12, 2005.
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. Sept./Oct. 1997.
Assault Ban Chicanery. Washington Times. May 5, 1994.
"Assault Weapon" Ban Wouldn't Have Stopped Texas Massacre. The 1991 Killeen, Texas, murders. 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. Colorado Springs Gazette. 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.
Dhimmitude and Disarmament. 18 George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal305 (2008).
Communitarians, Neorepublicans, and Guns: Assessing the Case for Firearms Prohibition. 56 Maryland Law Review 438 (1997). With Chris Little. Reply to the Communitarian Network's proposal to confiscate all firearms. Cited in Kasler v. Lockyer, 23 Cal.4th 472, 510, 97 Cal.Rptr.2d 334, 360 (Cal. 2000) (concurring opinion by Justice Janice Rogers Brown).
Guns, Germs, and Science. Critique of the medical case for gun prohibition. Delivered at the University of Oklahoma School of Public Health. Oct. 1994.
Plenty of red flags in Colorado’s 'extreme risk' protection order bill. Complete Colorado. Feb. 19, 2019. With Joseph Greenlee.
Krista Kafer Show. KHOW 630 am radio. Dangerous and extreme "red flag" bill in Colorado. Feb. 19, 2019.
Gun ban for young adults would be wholly unconstitutional. The Hill. Mar. 13, 2018. with Joseph Greenlee.
Brown v. EMA casts doubt on the "weapons effect" justification for gun control. Supreme Court not impressed with research claiming that video games or guns make people violent. Volokh Conspiracy. June 27, 2011.
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.
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.
Will You Be Safer if Guns are Banned? Short piece for the International Society for Individual Liberty. Polski/Polish.
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.
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.
Pena v. Horan. Cert. petition. No. 18-843. Feb. 1, 2019. Amicus brief for Second Amendment law professors, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Mountain States Legal Foundation, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Independence Institute, and Millennial Policy Center. California's "microstamping" mandate creates a de facto ban on all new models of semiautomatic pistols. The Ninth Circuit opinion uphold the ban was based on speculation and refusal to consider the plaintiffs' evidence.
Peril or Protection? The Risks and Benefits of Handgun Prohibition. 12 St. Louis University Public Law Review344 (1993). Excerpt reprinted in Jerry Cederblom & David W. Paulson, Critical Reasoning (Wadsworth, 2001).
NRA News. Cam & Company. Aug. 7, 2018. Ninth Circuit upholds ban on new handgun models.
Against All Odds. The defeat of the handgun confiscation initiative in Massachusetts in 1976. America's 1st Freedom. Feb. 2012.
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.
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.
The Long and the Short of the Handgun Debate. Sen. John Chafee's proposed handgun confiscation law. Washington Post. June 27, 1992
NRA News. Cam & Company. Aug. 13, 2018. The 1986 plastic gun panic.
The 1986 Plastic Gun Panic. How the gun control lobbies nearly tricked Congress into banning millions of ordinary guns. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Aug. 7, 2018.
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.
Garland v. Cargill, No. 22-976 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Jan. 26, 2023). Amicus brief. The Court's June 14, 2024, decision agreed with the position argued in the amicus brief that the federal statutory definition of "machinegun" as a gun that "automatically" fires more than one bullet by "a single function of the trigger" can not be redefined by ATF to mean "a single pull." The brief was filed on behalf of Senators Cynthia M. Lummis (Wyoming), Mike Lee (Utah), Kevin Cramer (North Dakota), John Barrasso (Wyoming), Pete Ricketts (Nebraska), Steve Daines (Montana), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma); Professors Royce de R. Barondes (Missouri, emeritus), F. Lee Francis (Mississippi College School of Law), Nicholas J. Johnson (Fordham), Donald E.J. Kilmer, Jr. (Lincoln Law School), Joyce Malcolm (George Mason, emerita), Joseph V. Muha (Akron), Joseph E. Olson (Mitchell-Hamline, emeritus), David A. Raney (Hillsdale), Glenn H. Reynolds (Tennessee), E. Gregory Wallace (Campbell); and the Independence Institute.
Preview of Supreme Court Bump Stock Case. In Cargill v. Garland, the Court should apply the National Firearms Act text that Congress did enact, and not the text that gun control advocates wish had been enacted. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Feb. 27, 2024.
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.
Other Federal Appellate Judges on Machine Guns, 11/1/05.
Biden’s Ammunition Ban Is Part Of The Left’s Plot To Disarm Americans. The gun prohibition lobbies have discovered that even if they can’t ban guns, choking off ammunition is an effective way to prevent people from using them. The Federalist. Sept. 7, 2021.
President Obama signs three constructive gun measures. Prohibiting ban on lead ammunition; first step to right-to-carry for military personnel; sell surplus military handguns to the public. Washington Post. Dec. 10, 2015.
The Plan to Get the Lead Out. Interest groups are now targeting lead ammunition through the federal court system. America's 1st Freedom. Feb. 2011.
The once-fired brass debate. The Obama Department of Defense abruptly announced that it would stop selling once-fired brass to ammunition manufacturers--a move which threatened to substantially worsen the current shortage of ammunition for citizens. But the story has a happy ending, thanks to quick action by Second Amendment supporters. Unfortunately, this week it was also revealed that the Obama administration has moved to destroy the armed pilots program. Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Podcast. Mar. 20, 2009. MP3.
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.
Knives and the Second Amendment. 47 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 175 (2013). With Clayton Cramer and Joseph Olson.
The legal history of bans on firearms and Bowie knives before 1900. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Nov. 20., 2022.
Bowie knife statutes 1837-1899. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Nov. 20, 2022.
Knife Ban and Vagueness Case at Supreme Court Conference. New York City continues to prosecute people for ordinary folding knives. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. June 10, 2019.
Britain’s Failed Weapons-Control Laws Show Why the Second Amendment Matters. National Review Online. August 28, 2018. With Vincent Harinam.
Vagueness challenge in Manhattan DA's use of gravity knives. New York District Attorney asserts that common folding knives are illegal "gravity knives." Washington Post. May 20, 2014.
Huge win for Knife Rights. Volokh.com. October 20, 2009.
Obama Does Not Like Knives (or Guns). The administration moves to a regulatory ban on 80% of folding knives. June 25, 2009. 9 minutes. MP3
The dangers of knife bans. The BP disaster. Volokh.com. June 24, 2010.
Obama administration moves to ban 80% of folding knives. Volokh.com. June 15, 2009.
The History of Firearms Magazines and of Magazine Prohibition. 88 Albany Law Review 849 (2015).
Gates v. Polis, No. 22-cv-1866-GPG-SKC (D. Colo., Nov. 30, 2023). Amicus brief of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, the Colorado Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association, the Western States Sheriffs Association, Sheriffs John Feyen (Larimer County), Gene Lillard (Montrose), Brett Powell (Logan), Todd Rowell (Mesa), Steve Reams (Weld), Aaron Shiplett (Baca), Lou Vallario (Garfield), Sam Zordel (Prowers), and the Independence Institute. Colorado ban on magazines over 15 rounds endangers public safety. Motion for Leave to File Amicus Brief. Article about the brief: Law Enforcement Officers Are Part of "the People," Not Above Them. Law enforcement amicus brief against Colorado magazine ban. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Dec. 11, 2023.
Duncan v. Bonta. No. 21-1194. U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in support of cert. petition. Lower federal courts have refused to apply the Supreme Court's "common use" test for protected arms, and have invented substitute tests to uphold arms bans. Mar. 31, 2022.
Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Inc. v. Attorney General of New Jersey. No. 19-3142 (3d Cir. Sept. 22, 2020). Amicus brief of law professors, Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, Madison Society Foundation, California Gun Rights Foundation, and Independence Institute. In support of petition for rehearing en banc, regarding N.J. magazine confiscation statute.
Vermont v. Misch, No. 2019–266 (Apr. 24, 2020). Amicus brief of Cato Institute, Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, and Independence Institute. Vermont magazine ban violates the text, history, tradition, and policy of the Vermont Constitution's right to arms. Statutory addendum.
Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs v. Attorney General or New Jersey. No. 19-3142. 3d Circuit. Feb. 3, 2020. Amicus brief of Professors of Second Amendment Law, Firearms Policy Coalition/Foundation, Madison Society Foundation, California Gun Rights Foundation, and Independence Institute. Repeating firearms predate the Second Amendment by two centuries; by the time of the Second Amendment, repeaters holding more than 10 rounds were well established. Accordingly, New Jersey's confiscation of all such magazines is unconstitutional.
RMGO v. Polis. No. 2018SC817. June 10, 2019. Colorado Supreme Court. Amicus brief of Colorado Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association, 32 County Sheriffs, and the Independence Institute. The ban on magazines over 15 rounds harms public safety and law enforcement. Motion for leave to file amicus brief.
For the Colorado Sheriffs' partially successful fight against the Colorado magazine ban, all case filings are at coloradocuncase.org.
RMGO v. Hickenlooper (Colo. App. 2018). Amicus brief on behalf of Colorado Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association; Sheriffs Chad Day (Yuma County), Steve Reams (Weld), Shannon K. Byerly (Custer), and Sam Zordel (Prowers); and the Independence Institute. Why Colorado's magazine ban endangers public safety.
Duncan v. Becerra. 9th Circuit, Jan. 8, 2017. Amicus brief urges affirmance of district court decision against confiscation of standard capacity magazines. Addresses standard of review, and empirical evidence. On behalf of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, Independence Institute, and Millennial Policy Center.
How Magazine Bans Thwart Self-Defense. Bans on standard magazines benefit criminals and endanger victims. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Dec. 20, 2023.
Law Enforcement Officers Are Part of "the People," Not Above Them. Law enforcement amicus brief against Colorado magazine ban. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Dec. 11, 2023.
Magazine confiscation splits Third and Ninth Circuits: Analysis and history. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Sept. 8, 2020.
Magazines over 10 rounds were well-known to the Founders. Third Circuit case challenges NJ magazine confiscation statute. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Feb. 11, 2020.
District Court Permanently Enjoins California Magazine Confiscation Law. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Mar. 29, 2019.
Ninth Circuit Upholds Preliminary Injunction Against Magazine Confiscation in California. The courts continue to block a California law to confiscate magazines over 10 rounds. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. July 17, 2018.
Federal court enjoins California large-capacity magazine confiscation. Washington Post. June 30, 2017.
David Kopel on amicus brief on behalf of CO sheriffs against magazine ban. Dan Caplis Show. KHOW 630 AM. Denver. June 7, 2019.
NRA News. Kopel discusses NY Governor Cuomo's decision to suspend 7-round limit on magazines. YouTube.com. 7 minutes. Mar. 25, 2013.
NRA News. Kopel discusses the great hypocrisy in the Colorado legislature, whereby some legislators are both smearing certain magazines "designed for mass murder" and begging manufacturer Magpul to stay in Colorado. YouTube.com. 15 minutes. Mar. 13, 2013.
Preview of Supreme Court Bump Stock Case. In Cargill v. Garland, the Court should apply the National Firearms Act text that Congress did enact, and not the text that gun control advocates wish had been enacted. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Feb. 27, 2024.
Garland v. Cargill, No. 22-976 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Jan. 26, 2024). Amicus brief of Senators Cynthia M. Lummis (Wyoming), Mike Lee (Utah), Kevin Cramer (North Dakota), John Barrasso (Wyoming), Pete Ricketts (Nebraska), Steve Daines (Montana), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi), Mike Rounds (South Dakota), Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma); Professors Royce de R. Barondes (Missouri, emeritus), F. Lee Francis (Mississippi College School of Law), Nicholas J. Johnson (Fordham), Donald E.J. Kilmer, Jr. (Lincoln Law School), Joyce Malcolm (George Mason, emerita), Joseph V. Muha (Akron), Joseph E. Olson (Mitchell-Hamline, emeritus), David A. Raney (Hillsdale), Glenn H. Reynolds (Tennessee), E. Gregory Wallace (Campbell); and the Independence Institute. In judicial review of the BATFE's regulation outlawing bump stocks, Chevron deference should not be applied. The rule of lenity does apply, and the standard with the strongest basis in American legal tradition is reasonable doubt. The National Firearms Act does not outlaw all "rapid-fire" guns; to the contrary, BATFE has repeatedly affirmed that Gatling guns are not covered by the NFA. The Court should apply the actual text of the NFA ("single function of the trigger"), and not BATFE's regulatory substitute ("single pull").
The History of Homemade Guns. Apr. 5, 2021. Kopel interviews Mark Tallman, author of Ghost Guns: Hobbyists, Hackers, and the Homemade Weapons Revolution. 3D printing technology is creating a new frontier in homemade weapons. How will these new guns and production methods change government policy, the culture, and self defense in the future? Episode #002 of Kopel's Law and Liberty News, on Independence Institute TV (IITV). 88 minutes.
Devil's Advocate with Jon Caldara. Dec. 22, 2017. Interstate right to carry reciprocity. Why bump stocks should be more stringently regulated.
How to regulate (not ban) bump stocks. Interstate carry reciprocity. Cato Daily Podcast. Dec. 8, 2017.
The Hearing Protection Act and 'silencers'. Washington Post. June 20, 2017.
Stun gun prohibition violates Second Amendment. Volokh.com. April 22, 2011.
What is a zoobow? Volokh.com. May 20, 2010.
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Dec. 6, 2017. Written testimony on: Bill to ban bump stocks and some gunsmithing. S 1916; Fix NICS Act, S. 2135; Bill to allow indefinite delays in background checks, S. 1923; interstate carry reciprocity, S. 446. Video of testimony (Kopel starts at 2:31:28).
See also: Criminal Justice page
Subtopics: Schools and Colleges. Censorship at schools. Zero tolerance. Columbine. Gun Safety/Consumer Products/Storage/Lock Laws/"Smart" Guns/Accidents. Federal Legislation. Denver Laws.
History and Tradition in Modern Circuit Cases on the Second Amendment Rights of Young People. 43 Southern Illinois University Law Journal 199 (2018). With Joseph G.S. Greenlee.
The Second Amendment Rights of Young Adults. 43 Southern Illinois University Law Journal (forthcoming 2019). With Joseph Greenlee.
Guns, Gangs, and Preschools: Moving Beyond Conventional Solutions to Confront Juvenile Violence, 1 Barry Law Review 63 (2000).
Children and Guns: Sensible Solutions. Independence Institute Issue Paper. 1993.
Unfair and Unconstitutional: The New Federal Gun Control and Juvenile Crime Proposals. June 3, 1999. Analyzes U.S. Senate Bill 254 (gun shows, juvenile gun possession, including wiretapping expansion, forfeiture expansion, and other issues).
Written testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Hearings on Criminal Street Gangs. April 23, 1997. Includes material about gun control, RICO, bullet-resistant vests, conspiracy statues, federalization of criminal law, and more.
Second Amendment Rights of Young People: Nineteenth Century Law and Twenty-first Century Cases. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Feb. 26, 2019.
Gun Control Won't Stop Crime. America's 1st Freedom. May 2018. Why NRA is rightly opposes gun bans, the destruction of the civil rights of young adults, and universal gun registration.
Gun ban for young adults would be wholly unconstitutional. The Hill. Mar. 13, 2018. with Joseph Greenlee.
7th Circuit strikes ban on target practice by minors, and near-ban on firing ranges. Washington Post. Jan. 19, 2017.
Handgun bans for persons under 21: A hidden problem in Everytown's ‘universal background checks'. Washington Post. Nov. 5, 2015.
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.
D.C. City Council's False "Findings" of Facts on Firearms. Incorrect claims about accidents involving young males. Volokh.com 7/23/08.
Gun Play: What Kids Don't Know about Guns Can Kill Them. Reason. July 1993. Reprinted in Gun Control: Opposing Viewpoints (Greenhaven Pr., 1997).
Scary Tales About Kids and Guns. Fatal firearms accidents among children are at an all-time low, even as the per-capita gun supply rises. America's 1st Freedom. Feb. 2012.
Campus Scary. Suppression of pro-Second Amendment speech on campus. America's 1st Freedom. May 2019.
The History of the 'Assault Weapon' Hoax. Part 1: The Crime that Started it All. A 1989 shooting at a Cal. schoolyard began the national "assault weapon" issue. It was a consequence of law enforcement failure. Reason.com. Mar. 2, 2018.
Arming teachers can protect kids. (N.Y.) Daily News. Feb. 28, 2018. with Laura Carno.
Want to stop mass shootings? Let's get more guns in the right hands. Especially, FASTER training for teachers. The Hill. June 18, 2017. With Joseph G.S. Greenlee.
Pretend "Gun-free" School Zones: A Deadly Legal Fiction. 42 Connecticut Law Review 515 (2009).
The Colorado and Ohio model programs that train teachers to defeat active shooters: Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response (FASTER). Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. June 1, 2022.
How FASTER training for teachers will save lives. KFKA Greeley. Gail show. June 21, 2017
Guns in the right hands save lives. FASTER training for teachers. KNUS Denver. Dan Caplis Show. June 21, 2017.
Guns on university campuses: The Colorado experience. Washington Post. April 20, 2015.
Kopel's amicus brief for the County Sheriffs of Colorado in Students for Concealed Carry on Campus v. Regents of the University of Colorado (Colo. Sup. Ct.).
Right to carry victory in Colorado: Students for Concealed Carry on Campus v. Regents. Volokh.com. March 5, 2012.
Licensed carry now allowed at Colorado community colleges. Volokh.com. May 11, 2010.
Colorado State University board rescinds ban on licensed firearms carry. Volokh.com. May 5, 2010.
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.
Testimony on Colorado Senate bill 15-005. Bill to allow armed teachers in schools, if they are trained by Sheriffs' Offices. Colorado Senate State Affairs Committee. Jan. 24, 2017. 3:49.
America's Gun Debate Continues, with Schools in the Crossfire. "To the Point" on KCRW, Public Radio International. With Mark Follman, Mother Jones magazine; Josh Sugarmann, Violence Policy Center; Russ Moore, Shaker Junior High School. March 12, 2015. 33 minutes.
Tennessee State Rep. Eric Watson, Others Discuss Pros And Cons Of Arming Teachers. University of Tennessee public radio, WUTC 90.1. By Michael Edward Miller and Garrett Crowe. 13 minutes. Jan. 16, 2013.
Shooter's Purchase of Handguns Raises Questions About Gun Control Laws. The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. April 19, 2007. Transcript. MP3.
Armed and Educated. Allowing professors to carry licensed arms will enhance campus safety. Chronicle of Higher Education. Oct. 30, 2015.
"Gun-Free Zones." Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2007. The murders at Virginia Tech University.
The Resistance. Teaching common-sense school protection. National Review Online, Oct. 10, 2006.
Make Schools Safe for Kids, not Criminals. Volokh.com. 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.
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.
Case Western gun ban facilitates mass murder at business school. Volokh.com. May 13. 2003.
Armed Israeli teacher stops terrorist attack on high school. National Review Online, The Corner. May 29, 2002.
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.
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.
A Principal and his Gun. How Vice Principal Joel Myrick used his handgun to stop the school shooter in Pearl, Mississippi. By Wayne Laugesen. Boulder Weekly, Oct. 1999.
Amicus brief in Newsom v. Albermarle (4th Circuit Court of Appeals). A middle school threatened to punish a student for wearing an NRA shooting sports camp t-shirt. The Independence Institute amicus brief 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. 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.
Montclair, N.J., school promotes gun prohibition, blocks pro-rights speech. NRO The Corner. May 11, 2002. (The school board later relented.)
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.
Children use "finger guns," then school interrogates them about parental gun ownership. NRO The Corner. May 13, 2002.
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.
School Safety. New York Post. April 20, 2000 (with Linda Gorman). Also in National Review Online, May 8, 2000.
Columbine cover-up. NRO The Corner. March 9, 2002.
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.
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.
The Hill's Hidden Crime Agenda. Post-Columbine legislation. Cato Institute. Washington Times. June 15, 1999.
*Also see our Special Report on the Columbine High School tragedy.
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.
Smart Guns/Foolish Legislators. 34 Connecticut Law Review 157 (2001). With Cynthia Leonardatos and Paul Blackman.
Brady Center lawsuit to use "smart" gun mandate to trigger handgun ban in New Jersey. NJ lawsuit on "smart" guns report would ban handgun sales. Washington Post. May 22, 2014.
Smart Guns. "Smart guns" have almost no appeal to consumers, and New Jersey's smart gun mandate makes the problem worse. Washington Post. May 6, 2014.
"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.
Danger evident in imposing mandatory gun storage laws. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Nov. 8, 2006.
California gun lock law leads directly to murder of Carpenter family children. NRO The Corner. June 2, 2002.
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.
Loaded Guns Can be Good for Kids. Cato Institute. June 3, 1999. With Eugene Volokh. Español. 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.
OSHA Targets Shooting Range. Volokh.com. June 23, 2012.
What Next for D.C.'s Gun Laws. Congress should intervene to protect the Second Amendment. Wall Street Journal. August 8, 2008. With Robert A. Levy.
Guns vs. Teddy Bears. There's no competition when it comes to regulation. National Review Online. Jan. 13, 2004. With Dr. Timothy Wheeler.
Who is Al Gore Kidding? On guns and the National Zoo, Gore is either dishonest or stupid. National Review Online. Apr. 27, 2000.
Taking It to the Streets. Why treating guns like cars might not be such a bad idea. Reason. November 1999.
Mandatory Gun Safety Classes Could Reduce Citizen's Safety. Commerce City Beacon. July 3, 1991.
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.
Subtopics: U.S., Colorado, Other States, and Local Gun Laws. Ballistic "Fingerprinting". "Buybacks". Gun Rationing/"One gun a month". Gun Shows. National Instant Check System. Registration of Guns and Gun Owners. Waiting Periods.
Congressional Second Amendment Caucus of the U.S. House Freedom Caucus. Hearing on Second Amendment issues. Nov. 16, 2021. 63 minutes.
Gun Rights, Emergencies, and Petty Tyrants. Bearing Arms, Cam and Co. April 15, 2020. 29 minutes.
How Governments Seize Guns with "Red Flag Laws." Cato Institute Daily Podcast. Apr. 8, 2019.
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Mar. 26, 2019. Hearing on mental health and gun legislation. Kopel starts at 31:36. Written testimony.
What if there were serious gun controls? The Hill. Nov. 8, 2017. With Joseph Greenlee.
Maryland Shall Issue v. Hogan. No. 21-2017. Fourth Circuit amicus brief. Legal history before 1900 provides no support for licensing or training mandates for keeping an arm at home. Aug. 10, 2022.
Fourth Circuit amicus brief on Maryland handgun licensing law: Legal history before 1900 provides no support for licensing or training mandates for keeping an arm at home. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Aug. 10, 2022.
People v. Vivian Claudine Brown. (Ill. 2019). Amicus brief on behalf of State’s Attorneys Stewart J. Umholtz and Brandon J. Zanotti, Professors Of Second Amendment Law, Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms, Millennial Policy Center, Independence Institute, and Carlisle Moody. Illinois FOID licensing law for firearms possession cannot be applied to peaceable possession of a lawful gun on one's own property by a person who is not prohibited from owning guns.
The Racist Influence on Gun Control Laws. When Ida B. Wells urged blacks to use repeating rifles for defense against lynch mobs, gun control advocates invented a new type of gun licensing. Epoch Times. Feb. 5, 2019.
Sneak Attack on Washington State. America's 1st Freedom. Sept. 2018.
The Virginia Compromise: Wins for gun rights and gun regulation. Washington Post. Feb. 10, 2016.
The Scam Artist. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's newest gun-prohibition group, Everytown for Gun Safety, has gotten off to a rough start. America's 1st Freedom. July 2014.
The Battle for a Free California Rages On. America's 1st Freedom. Dec. 2013.
Should Congress revise our nation's gun laws? No. State gun laws do the job. Denver Post. July 29, 2012.
Puerto Rico law limiting use of shooting ranges. Volokh.com. October 12, 2010.
Poison Pill. When banning guns gets tough, finding ways to ban gun owners can accomplish the same end. Take Nassau County, N.Y., for example. America's 1st Freedom. Dec. 2008.
Newark Airport sued for abuse of person lawfully transporting a firearm, Volokh.com. 2/27/06.
Is it Illegal for David Letterman to Own a Gun? Volokh.com. 12/22/05.
Preempting local anti-gun laws. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder. 1999.
Victory for firearms preemption in New York. Volokh.com. December 31, 2010.
Preemption laws and leases of public property. Utah bans guns at gay rights parade. Volokh.com. May 13, 2009.
Ohio Preempts All Local Gun Controls. Volokh.com. Dec. 12, 2006.
Illinois Limits Gun Ban Enforcement, 11/17/04.
Stand Your Ground had nothing to do with the Dunn verdict in Florida. Stand Your Ground played zero role in the Michael Dunn "loud music" case. Washington Post. Feb. 17, 2014.
Debunking the 'stand your ground' myth. Anti-gun advocates mislead on Trayvon case to erode right to self-defense. Washington Times, Apr. 2, 2012.
Florida's New Self-Defense Law. Volokh.com. May 19, 2005.
Devil's Advocate with Jon Caldara. April 12, 2024. Discussion of anti-gun bills in the Colorado legislature. One hour.
Written testimony against House Bill 24-1310. Bill against armed, trained teachers and staff in K-12 would endanger students and protect school shooters.
Written testimony against House Bill 24-1270. Mandatory insurance for gun owners is based on Jim Crow principles, and is full of poison pills.
Written testimony against Colorado HB24-1242. "Assault weapons" bill is based on plainly false "findings." Further, the bill attempts to outlaw features that enhance accuracy, because the sponsors oppose "ease of use" of firearms by "non-experts." PDF.
Written testimony against Colorado SB24-131. Safe zones for"mass shooters and other violent criminals. Bill to declare vast areas off-limits for licensed carry will endanger public safety. Licensed carry permitees are vastly more law-abiding than the general population.
Written testimony on Colorado bill to mandate separate Merchant Category Codes (MCC) for stores that sell firearms. SB24-066 Colorado Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee. Feb. 8, 2024.
Protecting Law-abiding Firearms Businesses from Abusive Lawsuits. Independence Institute Issue Paper No. 1-2023. Examines bills in Colorado and elsewhere to eliminate firearms stores and manufacturers by junk lawsuits.
Written testimony on HB23-1219, to delay the acquisition of firearms. Colo. House of Reps., State Affairs Committee. Mar. 6, 2023.
Gun control bills in Colorado legislature. George Brauchler Show. KNUS 710 AM. Mar. 1, 2023.
In Lakewood, Colorado, gun ban group plans new assault on law-abiding gun owners. Leland Conway Show. KHOW 630 AM. Nov. 22, 2022.
Red Flag bill guts due process, unnecessarily threatens police and public safety. Complete Colorado. Mar. 12, 2019.
Peter Boyles Show. KNUS 710 AM radio. Red Flag Warnings. Feb. 27, 2019.
Ross Kaminsky Show. KHOW 630 AM radio. Red flag bill ripe for abuse. Kopel is on from 36:10 to 51:05. Feb. 21, 2019.
Dan Caplis Show. KHOW 630 AM radio. Problems with new Colorado "red flag" bill. Feb. 20, 2019.
Plenty of red flags in Colorado’s 'extreme risk' protection order bill. Complete Colorado. Feb. 19, 2019. With Joseph Greenlee.
Krista Kafer Show. KHOW 630 am radio. Dangerous and extreme "red flag" bill in Colorado. Feb. 19, 2019.
Boulder City Council plans to ban guns. Michelle Morin Show. Apr. 14, 2018.
Colorado House of Representatives. State Affairs Committee. Feb. 2, 2015. Testimony in favor of: Civil immunity for businesses that allow licensed carry; Repeal of Colorado magazine ban; Repeal of prohibition on firearm loans that are not routed through FFLs; Enactment of "shall certify" for acquisition of NFA arms. Kopel testifies as the last witness on each bill. MP4.
Testimony on Gun Bills at the Colorado State Capitol. March 4, 2013. Video of the testimony and Q & A are as follows: Universal Background Checks. 13 minutes. Magazine bans. 19 minutes. Fee for background checks. 6 minutes. Liability for manufacturers, sellers. 14 minutes. Concealed carry permit rules. 10 minutes.
Colorado Consensus on Gun Laws. Broadly supported post-Columbine reforms balance gun rights and gun control. National Review Online. July 26, 2012.
How Strict are U.S., Colorado, and Local Gun Control Laws? Independence Institute Issue Paper no. 12-1999. Aug. 1999. The paper examines the 20 weapons law violations perpetrated by the Columbine criminals. The Paper also examines current laws regarding gun shows, and explains that there is no "loophole" in current laws regarding gun shows.
Limited Preemption of Firearms Laws: A Good Step for Civil Rights. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder. Mar. 11, 2003.
Preempting local anti-gun laws. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder. 1999.
Testimony on D.C. Council's proposed revision to the District's gun control laws. Argues against a provision which excessively discriminates against people with visual impairments. The testimony also critiques D.C.'s unusual system of long gun registration. Feb. 13, 2012.
The Montana Firearms Freedom Act. In an interview with Amy Oliver, Kopel explains the new Montana law which attempts to exempt guns which are made and sold intra-state from the application of federal gun laws which were enacted under the federal power over interstate commerce. KFKA radio. Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Podcast. June 4, 2009. 16 minutes. MP3.
Montana Firearms and the Interstate Commerce Clause. Volokh.com. April 15, 2009.
Foreword to Gun Laws of Montana (2003).
Ballistic Imaging: Not Ready for Prime Time. National Center for Policy Analysis. Policy backgrounder. April 30, 2003. With Sterling Burnett.
Not So Fast. Ballistic fingerprinting. National Review Online. Oct. 23, 2002. With Paul H. Blackman.
The Madness of Gun Buybacks. National Review Online, May 15, 2000.
What's that Smell? Nearly everyone has heard of the corruption-plagued organization ACORN. Yet many gun owners are unaware of the organization's strong anti-gun activities and ties. America's 1st Freedom, Dec. 2009.
Eating Away at the Fabric of Freedom. Gun rationing laws lay the foundation for a total firearms ban. America's 1st Freedom, July 2003. PDF.
Newsom v. B and L Productions, No 23-3793 (9th Cir. Feb. 6, 2023). Amicus brief of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the Independence Institute. There is no historical support for the California legislature's ban on all gun shows on government property.
Should Gun Shows Be Outlawed? McCain Bill Does Much More than Impose Background Checks. Independence Institute, Issue Paper no. 1-2002. With Alan Korwin.
What The So-Called Gun Show Loophole Really Looks Like. KCUR. "Guns in America" project. Jan. 29, 2019. by Chris Haxel.
Will Gun Shows Become Extinct? Anti-gun billionaires Michael Bloomberg and George Soros aim to take a huge bite out of the Second Amendment. America's 1st Freedom. July 2010.
Bloomberg's aggressive stance against guns. Denver Post, April 24, 2010. The Bloomberg "gun show" bill is mostly about issues other than background checks at gun shows.
Gun show Gun registration is not the answer. Charleston Gazette. Nov. 10, 2002.
Gun Games. Truth is a casualty of the anti-gun cause. The Americans for Gun Safety radio ads against gun shows. National Review Online. May 21, 2002.
Defending Gun Shows. The groups attack gun shows are out to destroy the Second Amendment. Mar. 15, 2001. National Review Online. With Paul Gallant and Joanne Eisen.
McCain Is a No Show on Guns. The Arizona senator's questionable commitment to Second Amendment rights. National Review Online. Oct. 16, 2000.
The Facts about Gun Shows. Cato Institute. Jan. 10, 2000. (Also in Las-Vegas Review-Journal).
Gun Shows Under Attack. The phony claims against shows put forth by the gun prohibition lobbies. And the plans to outlaw privacy for firearms owners. The American Guardian, January 1999. Featured in an Al Gore television ad during the 2000 Democratic primaries.
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Dec. 6, 2017. Written testimony on: Bill to ban bump stocks and some gunsmithing. S 1916; Fix NICS Act, S. 2135; Bill to allow indefinite delays in background checks, S. 1923; interstate carry reciprocity, S. 446.
The Costs and Consequences of Gun Control. Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 784 (Dec. 1, 2015).
Testimony before the U.S. Senate subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, Nov. 17, 2011, regarding S. 463. Senator Schumer's bill to vastly expand the number of people prohibited from owning or temporarily possessing a firearm. 29-page written testimony. Video of subcommittee hearing. Kopel's 5 minute prepared remarks begin at 72:41. At 103:40, there is a Q&A with Senator Grassley, with leads to follow-up questions with Senator Schumer, in which Kopel explains to Schumer what the Schumer bill actually does. Kopel discusses the bill on NRA News. Media coverage: NPR, ABC, Governing, Albany Times Union.
The New McCarthyism: Restricting Constitutional Rights Based on Mere Suspicion. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder, no. 2005-B. June 2005. Analysis of proposals to use the "no-fly list" or other suspicion-based lists as a basis for prohibiting the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
Preliminary injunction against dysfunctional California ammunition background checks. The law made it impossible for many law-abiding citizens to buy ammunition. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Apr. 24, 2020.
Textual analysis of HR8, bill to "To require a background check for every firearm sale." Bill about gun "sale" turns ordinary gun loans into felonies, bans handguns for young adults, and authorizes unlimited fees. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Jan. 9, 2019.
Gun Control Won't Stop Crime. America's 1st Freedom. May 2018. Why NRA is rightly opposes gun bans, the destruction of the civil rights of young adults, and universal gun registration.
Handgun bans for persons under 21: A hidden problem in Everytown's ‘universal background checks'. Washington Post. Nov. 5, 2015.
Sharing firearms for informal target shooting: Another legitimate activity outlawed by Everytown's ‘universal background checks'. Washington Post. Nov. 4, 2015.
Safe storage of firearms: The harms from Bloomberg's strange background check system. Washington Post. Nov. 3, 2015.
How Everytown's background check law impedes firearms safety training and self-defense. Washington Post. Nov. 2, 2015.
Washing-Con. America's 1st Freedom. Sept. 2014. How Michael Bloomberg is twisting the gun control debate in the Evergreen State.
How can we enact meaningful gun control? The Repartee. Debate with Adam Winkler. Part 1: Background checks. Part 2: Reading the Constitution. Part 3: Natural Rights. 2013-14.
Time For a Real Response. Now that the gun-control circus is over, we can actually address mass violence. National Review Online. Apr. 19, 2013.
The Problem Was With the Legislation. NY Times Room for Debate on the question, "If 90 percent of Americans support background checks but most senators don't, is the system broken?" New York Times. Apr. 18, 2013.
The Problems of Toomey-Manchin. National Review Online. Apr. 17, 2013.
The "Pro-Gun" Provisions of Manchin-Toomey are Actually a Bonanza of Gun Control. Volokh.com. Apr. 15, 2013.
Schumer-Toomey gun bill deserves a committee hearing. The Daily Caller. Apr. 11, 2013.
Turning Gun Owners into Felons. A new bill would make it a crime to "transfer" your gun to a spouse for more than seven days. National Review. Apr. 5, 2013.
No Fly, No Buy. Gun-banners want people whose names appear on secret government no-fly lists to be denied their constitutional right to keep and bear arms. America's 1st Freedom, Oct. 2005.
Erasing a Clinton Legacy. Rolling back antigun regs. National Review Online. Jan. 27, 2004. New law protects privacy rights of law-abiding gun owners.
Terrorism and Guns. Ashcroft's "coddling" of gun owners. National Review Online. December 17, 2001. With Glenn Harlan Reynolds. In italiano.
Instant Check, Permanent Record. National Review Online. Aug. 10, 2000. With Drs. Paul Gallant & Joanne Eisen.
What Goes Around... The Blue Press. 1997. Misdemeanor domestic violence gun ban, and its application to police and the military.
U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution. Hearing on Red Flag laws. Apr. 28, 2021. Written testimony.
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, written testimony on "Red Flag Laws: Examining Guidelines for State Action." Hearing on mental health and gun legislation. Kopel starts at 31:36. March 26, 2019. Supplemental Questions for the Record, from Sen. Grassley.
Plenty of red flags in Colorado’s 'extreme risk' protection order bill. Complete Colorado. Feb. 19, 2019. With Joseph Greenlee.
D.C. gun registration law ruled partly unconstitutional. Federal appeals court declares that much of D.C.'s gun registration law violates the Second Amendment. Washington Post. Sept. 18, 2015.
The Catastrophic Consequences of Gun Registration. America's 1st Freedom. March 2013.
Eating Away at the Fabric of Freedom. Gun rationing laws lay the foundation for a total firearms ban. America's 1st Freedom, July 2003.
Disaster Up North. Gun-control laws run amuck, with a billion dollar cost overrun in the gun registry. National Review Online. Dec. 12, 2002. With Gary Mauser. En français.
Gun show Gun registration is not the answer. Charleston Gazette. Nov. 10, 2002.
The Gore Gun Agenda. Al's ultimate objective would be to abolish all firearms privacy. National Review Online., May 5, 2000. Discussion of the secret report of the White House Working Group.
Civil Disobedience in Canada. National Review Online. Aug. 2, 2000. With Drs. Paul Gallant & Joanne Eisen. En français.
How Firearms Registration Works. It doesn't, in Canada. National Review Online. Dec. 7, 2000. With Gary Mauser. En français.
See also National Instant Check System; BATFE and BATFE Traces.
Written testimony on HB23-1219, to delay the acquisition of firearms. Colo. House of Reps., State Affairs Committee. Mar. 6, 2023.
Maryland Shall Issue v. Hogan. No. 16-cv-3311-ELH (D. Md. Oct. 5, 2018). Amicus brief of International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, 11 law professors, Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms, Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership, Millennial Policy Center, and Independence Institute. Maryland's burdensome handgun licensing system in contrary to original understanding, history, and tradition, and cannot pass heightened scrutiny.
The Brady Bill Comes Due: The Supreme Court Saves Federalism, 9 George Mason Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Journal 189 (1999).
Amicus brief for the States of Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming, in Printz v. United States (U.S. 1997).
Brady Bill anniversary, and Clinton's phony story. Volokh.com. Nov. 30, 2005.
Gun Foes Should Tell the Whole Story. Phony claims that a waiting period would have stopped John Hinckley. Chicago Tribune, March 30, 1991.
Why Wait to Buy a Gun? What's wrong with the Brady Bill. Chicago Tribune. Sept. 12, 1988.
Testimony on the Brady Bill. U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Aug. 2, 1988. Reprinted in History of Issues: Gun Control (Gale, 2006).
Subtopics: Book Reviews. BATFE and Gun Traces. Burglary. Culture and sociology. History. Public Health/Medicine/Psychology. Women. General/miscellaneous.
The Truth About Defensive Firearm Use with David Kopel. America's 1st Freedom. Video interview with Frank Miniter. June 4, 2022. 17:42.
ConcealedCarry dot com. June 1, 2022. Season 6 episode 12. How Often Do Armed Citizens Defend Themselves? And lots of other arms policy discussion. 74 minutes.
Gun Talk Radio. May 16, 2022. How Often Do Armed Citizens Defend Themselves? With Tom Gresham.
How Often Do Armed Citizens Defend Themselves? America's 1st Freedom. May 2022.
911 Response Times Have Gone Up. America's 1st Freedom. Feb. 24, 2002.
Guns: Culture, Control, and Trump. Devil's Advocate with Jon Caldara. July 24, 2020. Examining increases in gun ownership in 2020, and over the last seven decades. The racist history of American gun control. 36 minutes.
Some Topics and Learning Objectives for Second Amendment Courses. Second Thoughts (blog of the Firearms Law Center at Duke University). July 11, 2019.
Childress Says, "The Second Amendment Saved Our Lives." NASCAR great describes the armed invasion of his home last year. America's 1st Freedom. Dec. 2018.
NRA News. Cam & Company. Nov. 27, 2018. "Second Amendment Saved Our Lives." Kopel discusses his new article about the armed invasion of the home of NASCAR great Richard Childress.
How's the Second Amendment Doing? A long-term perspective. Devils' Advocate with Jon Caldara. Colorado Public TV 12. Apr. 23, 2018.
TEDx Mile High. Understanding Guns. Panel with Kimberly Corban, Jay Breitlow, and Coni Sanders. Feb. 21, 2018.
Dave Kopel: Aiming for Liberty. Article about Kopel and his new book. America's 1st Freedom, June 2010.
From Bad To Worse. Book reviews of Lethal Logic: Exploding the Myths that Paralyze American Gun Policy by Dennis A. Henigan & Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea by Joshua Horwitz & Casey Anderson. America's 1st Freedom. October 2009.
Anti-Gun & Angry, Too. Another furious gun-banner jumps on the book publishing bandwagon. And as usual, the truth takes a beating. Book Review of One Nation Under Guns by Arnold Grossman. America's First Freedom. April 2007.
Gun Control Debate with Arnold Grossman. The Denver Press Club hosts a debate on the issue of gun control. Arnold Grossman, author of "One Nation Under Guns - An Essay on An American Epidemic," argues the pro-gun control case while David Kopel, co-editor of "Gun Control and Gun Rights: A Reader and Guide" speaks for the opposing side. The debate is moderated by Cynthia Hessin, executive producer of Rocky Mountain PBS. The debate was broadcast on C-Span's Book TV. C-Span video. In addition, you can read Kopel's Book review of One Nation Under Guns: an Essay on an American Epidemic by Arnie Grossman. (Also note the shorter book review, listed above). Kopel dissects a book riddled with factual and legal errors, and which, unintentionally, reveals why the gun control movement in the United States has become such a failure in recent years.
Stephen Halbrook: Securing Civil Rights. Kopel interviews Halbrook about Halbrook's career, and his new book on the 14th Amendment. America's 1st Freedom, Oct. 2010.
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.
Book review of Target Switzerland. The American Enterprise, Jan./Feb. 1999.
Book review of "This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible." 35 Cato Journal 443 (2015).
Ten on the Second. Ten great books (plus some bonus recommendations) on the right to arms. America's 1st Freedom, March 2007.
Book Reviews: A Nation of Cowards and The Origin of the Second Amendment. Ideas on Liberty, Mar. 2002.
Book review of Armed: New Perspectives on Gun Control. By Gary Kleck & Don Kates. National Review Weekend. Jan. 11, 2001.
$100 Billion Mistake. Loose factoids sink books. Review of Gun Violence: The Real Costs By Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig (Oxford University Press). NRO Weekend, Aug. 25-26, 2001. With Paul Blackman.
Shaky Aim. Book review of Shots in the Dark: The Policy, Politics, and Symbolism of Gun Control, by William J. Vizzard. National Review Online, weekend edition. Nov. 3-4, 2001. With Paul Blackman.
It Isn't About Duck Hunting: The British Origins of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Review of Joyce Malcolm's book To Keep and Bear Arms: The Origins of an Anglo-American Right. 96 Michigan Law Review 1333 (1995).
BATFE's Little Shop of Horrors. BATFE's reprehensible scam to ensnare unsuspecting people exposed. America's 1st Freedom. March 2014.
BATFE Director now needs Senate confirmation. Volokh.com. March 8, 2006.
Olofson case. Suppression hearing transcript. Discovery. Firearms Technology Branch report. Trial transcript: part 1, part 2, part 3.
Erasing a Clinton Legacy. Rolling back antigun regs. National Review Online. Jan. 27, 2004. New law protects privacy rights of law-abiding gun owners.
When Must the Government Disclose Gun Owners' Names and Addresses? Preview of U.S. Supreme Court case Department of the Treasury v. City of Chicago. American Bar Association Preview of Supreme Court Cases, March 2003, pp. 289-93.
Tapped Out. Setting the record straight, and moving on. National Review Online. Feb. 5, 2003. The weblog for "The American Prospect" is willfully oblivious to BATF abuses and to good manners.
Lawmaking at the BATF. How the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms invents new gun law, by abuse of administrative authority. The American Guardian. October 1998.
Why you should be furious about Fast & Furious. A detailed timeline of BATFE's program that supplied over 2,000 guns to Mexican cartels. America's 1st Freedom. Jan. 2012.
Operation "Fast & Furious." Kopel explains the federal government's gunrunning fiasco. Devil's Advocate, CPT 12, July 22, 2011.
Firearms Tracing Data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: An Occasionally Useful Law Enforcement Tool, but a Poor Research Tool, 11 Criminal Justice Policy Review 44 (Mar 2000). With Paul Blackman. Abstract: "The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) sometimes traces the history of firearms used in crime. Typically, the trace reveals the gun's history from its manufacture to its sale by a licensed retail firearms dealer. BATF traces occasionally have been a useful tool for investigating individual crimes. In recent years, however, some persons have attempted to use BATF trace data to study gun violence and evaluate firearms policies. There are severe limitations on the utility of the BATF data for criminological analysis. These limits include the relatively small number of crime guns that BATF traces, BATF's rules about what guns it will not even attempt to trace, and the limited information supplied by gun traces. The authors suggest that BATF trace figures are not a sound foundation for criminological research."
Clueless: The Misuse of BATF Firearms Tracing Data. 1999 Michigan State University Detroit College of Law Review 171. PDF.
Do Federal Gun Traces Accurately Reflect Street Crime? Small Fraction of Guns Selected for National Trace may not be Typical of Ordinary Crime Guns. Independence Institute Issue Paper. 1993.
Comment on Cook & Ludwig, "Guns and Burglary," in Evaluating Gun Policy: Effects on Crime and Violence (Brookings Institution, 2003). Philip J. Cook & Jens Ludwig, editors.
Lawyers, Guns, and Burglars. 43 Arizona Law Review 345 (2001).
The Ideology of Guns and Gun Control in the United States. 18 Quarterly Journal of Ideology 3 (1995). Examining the ideologies (as opposed to the practicalities) behind gun ownership and gun control advocacy in the U.S.
Duke Center for Firearms Law. A Conversation with Dave Kopel. Apr. 28, 2020. Guns in the pandemic.
Campus Scary. Suppression of pro-Second Amendment speech on campus. America's 1st Freedom. May 2019.
Covering the Screen in Blood. Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein attempts to square his anti-gun convictions with his bloody, gun-riddled movies. America's 1st Freedom. April 2014.
Activities for Gun Appreciation Day. Volokh.com. Jan. 14, 2013.
A Divide Widened by Misunderstanding. Responding to the question, "What is it about gun policy that makes it such an emotional topic?" New York Times Room for Debate. Jan. 6, 2013.
C-Span coverage of Independence Institute's 10th annual Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms Party. Opening remarks, then a 17 minute speech by Kopel on Second Amendment issues. Keynote speech by David Martosko (Daily Caller) on nannyism. Aug. 11, 2012. 44 mins.
Political Science. The National Academy of Sciences gears up for an anti-gun study. National Review Online. Aug. 29, 2001. With Glenn Harlan Reynolds.
More Guns, Less Gun Violence, Wall Street Journal, Aug. 4, 2000.
Packing the Peace. Don't Underestimate the Deterrent Effect of an Armed Population. National Review Online, June 14, 2000. With Linda Gorman.
Will gun owners get caught sleeping? Polling data from the past half-century show tremendous progress in public support for Second Amendment rights. But those gains could be reversed if Second Amendment supporters become apathetic. America's 1st Freedom. Dec. 2011.
Media Bias in the Coverage of Gun Control: The Press Evaluates the Popular Culture. Examines biased media coverage in the 1970s of different polls on gun control and gun rights. Chapter in the book The Gun Culture and Its Enemies (William Tonso, ed.).
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.
See also Registration.
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. With Paul Gallant and Joanne D. Eisen.
When Must the Government Disclose Gun Owners' Names and Addresses? Preview of U.S. Supreme Court case Department of the Treasury v. City of Chicago. American Bar Association Preview of Supreme Court Cases, March 2003, pp. 289-93.
You may feel some pressure. America's 1st Freedom. July 2015. Why are doctors asking you if you any guns at home? What will happen if you tell them it's none of their business?
How Your Tax Dollars Demonize Your Guns. Federal funding for a new study purporting to show that gun owners are more likely to be murdered. America's 1st Freedom. Jan. 2010.
Should Health Care Workers be able to Refuse Treatment to Gun Owners? Volokh.com. March 20, 2006.
Doctors and Guns. Virginia considers restricting doctors from forcing and anti-gun political agenda on their patients. Volokh.com. Feb. 28, 2006.
This One's a General. Richard Carmona, hero. National Review Online. Aug. 14, 2002. With Dr. Timothy Wheeler.
Right of Refusal: If your doctor starts pestering you about guns, you have several options. National Review Online. July 5, 2001. With Dr. Timothy Wheeler.
No Choice. "Weapons-effect" paralysis. National Review Online. Apr. 17, 2002. With Paul Gallant & Joanne Eisen.
Anti-Gun, Anti-Science. Firearms factoids from the federal government. National Review Online. Feb. 27, 2001.
The Fallacy of 43 to 1". The all-time favorite statistic of the gun-prohibition lobby. National Review Online. Jan. 31, 2001. In italiano.
Living in Fear. "Community" fear as a basis for gun restrictions. National Review Online. Jan. 17, 2001. With Dr. Paul Gallant and Dr. Joanne Eisen.
Firearms Deaths in Colorado. Issue Backgrounder 2001-D. With Diane Nicholl.
The "Psychic Cost" of Holiday Gift Giving. Do gun owners inflict psychic harm on their neighbors? 1997. With Paul Gallant.
Guns, Germs, and Science. Critique of the medical case for gun prohibition. Delivered at the University of Oklahoma School of Public Health. Oct. 1994.
Why Women Own Guns. The DL with Dana Loesch. Season 1, episode 4. NRA TV. Mar. 2017.
Her Own Bodyguard. Gun-packing First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. National Review Online. Jan. 24, 2002. With Paul Gallant & Joanne Eisen.
Rapists Like Gun Control. National Review Online, Apr. 14, 2000. What if Juanita Broaddrick had been carrying a gun? In italiano.
You Can't Beat an (Armed) Woman. By Paxton Quigley & David Kopel. June 9, 1994. Guns as defensive tools for battered women. In italiano.
Tammy Zywicki and Sarah Brady. Richard Griffiths discusses a woman's right to self-defense.
Free "2023 Supplement" for "Firearms Law and the Second Amendment." Covering the many developments in 2022-23. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Sept. 6, 2023
Cited by Both Sides. University of Wyoming Firearms Research Center. Sept. 13, 2023.
Editorial Board for Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law (ABC/Clio: 2002).
Gun Control & Gun Rights: A Reader & Guide. The first college and graduate textbook on gun law and policy. Published by New York University Press.
Trust the People: The Case Against Gun Control. Cato Institute, July 11, 1988, Policy Analysis no. 109 (monograph). Reprinted in 3 Journal on Firearms and Public Policy 77 (1990). German translation (Deutsche Übersetzung, Vertraue der Bevölkerung: Die Causa gegen Waffenverbote)
Guns and Mass Shootings. Free Thoughts Podcast on Libertarianism.org. 51 minute interview of Kopel by Trevor Burrus. Jan. 5, 2018.
Debate: Has the right to bear arms outlived it usefulness? NPR Intelligence Squared. David Kopel & Eugene Volokh v. Alan Dershowitz & Sanford Levinson. 104 minutes. Nov. 21, 2013.
How Gun Control and Gun Rights Can Be Friends. Kopel describes the history of gun rights and gun control in America. Denver City Club. 68 minutes. Jan. 22, 2013.
Thom Hartmann Show. David Kopel on Thom Hartmann's "The Big Picture" television show, June 8, 2011. Discussing terrorism, gun shows, Mexico, and more. 6:29 video.
"The Edge" from Hillsborough College. Discussion of the Supreme Court rulings, the 2d Amendment, mass murders, and other topics. Jan. 2011. 53 minute audio. MP3.
Cert. grant in Millender v. LA: Qualified immunity for an unconstitutional general warrant to seize firearms? Volokh Conspiracy. July 20, 2011.
Kopel on Independent Thinking. HR 45, guns in national parks, a new Montana law to challenge the limits of the commerce clause, and the fallacy of U.S. guns in Mexico. KBDI television. July 10, 2009. YouTube video.
Podcast on Gun Issues At the Oct. 2007 Gun Rights Policy Conference, Kopel is interviewed for the Gun Rights Advocates Podcast by host Mark Vanderberg. Topics include the implications and background of the D.C. handgun ban case, the politics of the gun issue, the role of activists, and new research about gun bans in Africa. The 36-minute interview is here. It begins with about 5-6 minutes of discussion by the host.
Gun Control: Separating Fact from Myth. Dave Kopel and Gary Kleck speak at the Independent Institute, in Oakland. Nov. 15, 2000. Transcript. Note: The Independent Institute (in Oakland) is totally separate from the Independence Institute (in Colorado) where Dave works.
Getting Guns. Dave Kopel debates Michael Beard (Coalition to Stop Gun Violence) on the National Public Radio program Justice Talking. One hour.
Does Gun Control Work? Transcript of Kopel's appearance on the Ben Wattenberg's "Think Tank" program on PBS.
How Often Do Armed Citizens Defend Themselves? America's 1st Freedom. May 2022.
How can we enact meaningful gun control? The Repartee. Debate with Adam Winkler. Part 1: Background checks. Part 2: Reading the Constitution. Part 3: Natural rights. Fall 2013/Winter 2014.
Obamacare Health bill and gun ownership. Volokh.com. November 24, 2009.
Is Gun Control Back? Did it ever Go Away? On-line debate between Dave Kopel and Christopher Lockwood, the U.S. editor of The Economist. Los Angeles Times, April 21-25, 2007. April 23: the Virginia Tech murders. April 24: the politics of gun control. April 25: international issues. April 26: myths about guns. April 27: Gun solutions. How would you change America's gun laws?
Armed Response to New Orleans Looters. Volokh.com. Sept. 1, 2005.
Day-Dream Believers. What if the government had to obey gun control laws? National Review Online. July 30, 2002.
Empty-Barrel Gun Policies. A legacy of nonsense from Clinton, Blair, and the Left. National Review Online. Jan. 22, 2001.
The 911 Gamble. The Blue Press. October 1998.
To Temper Brady Act, Gun Devotees Should Nationalize, Refine It. Suggestions for Congressional reform of gun laws. News & Record (Greensboro, NC), December 13, 1994
Hold Your Fire: Gun Control Won't Stop Rising Violence. From Policy Review, Winter 1993.
Rowan Case and the Need to Bear Arms. Wall Street Journal. June 24, 1988. Reprinted in "Guns are Necessary for Self-Defense", in William Dudley, ed., Crime and Criminals. Opposing Viewpoints (San Diego: Greenhaven Pr. 1989).
Gun laws after the Tucson shootings. Kopel debates John Donahue, of Stanford. WHYY radio, Philadelphia. Jan. 14th, 2011. 49 minutes. MP3.
Gun Control Legislation Debate after the Tucson shootings. Legal Talk Network. Jan. 21, 2011. 35 minutes. With Adam Winkler.
Subtopics: Firearms business. Lawsuits. Censorship of firearms advertising.
How the NRA Helped to Reopen Massachusetts’s Gun Stores. America's 1st Freedom. May 14, 2020.
Walmart endorses gun control. Drew Mariani Show. Relevant Radio. Sept. 4, 2019.
Interview with David Harsanyi, author of "First Freedom: A Ride Through America's Enduring History with the Gun." Independence Institute. Dec. 12, 2018.
Home manufacture of guns. Drew Mariani Show. Relevant Radio. Aug. 2, 2018.
The Age of the 3D-Printed Gun. NPR On Point. July 25, 2018. With Anthony Brooks (host), Andy Greenberg (Wired magazine), Avery Gardiner (Brady Center).
Does the Second Amendment Protect Firearms Commerce? 127 Harvard Law Review 230 (2014).
Teixeira v. Alameda County. Cert. petition. No. 17-982. U.S. Supreme Court, Feb. 9, 2018. Amicus brief on behalf of Cato Institute, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Owner, Independence Institute, Millennial Policy. Argues that county's ban on all new gun stores violates the Second Amendment. Address circuit court doctrine, and the history of the British arms embargo on the American colonies.
Teixeira v. Alameda County, California. 873 F.3d 670 (9th Cir. 2017) (en banc). Amicus brief on county ban on all new gun stores. Historical evidence from the American Revolution shows that the British bans on firearms commerce led the Americans to take up arms.
Fast Reloading of Guns in the 19th Century. Manufacturing improvements made affordable many types of guns that previously had been available only to the wealthy. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. June 5, 2023.
The Founders were well aware of continuing advances in arms technology. Building on what had come before, the Madison-Monroe research program led the way to the many innovations of the 19th century. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. May 26, 2023.
US government drops prohibition on files for 3D printed arms. State and Defense Departments comply with revised regulations from May 2018. Volokh Conspiracy. July 10, 2018.
Can a county ban all gun stores? 9th Circuit amicus brief suggests not. Washington Post. Feb. 1, 2017.
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act: Facts and policy. Washington Post. May 24, 2016.
9th Circuit opinion on rights of gun stores applies standard, rigorous Second Amendment doctrines. Analysis of Teixeira v. County of Alameda. Washington Post. May 16, 2016.
OSHA Targets Shooting Range. Volokh.com. June 23, 2012.
Rifle Golf: America's newest shooting sport. Volokh Conspiracy. Aug. 5, 2011.
SHOT Show 2011. NRA News. Jan. 17, 2011. YouTube video.
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.
SHOT Show Report. Volokh.com. Jan. 17, 2009.
Frank Brownell Museum of the Southwest A small and superb firearms museum in northern New Mexico. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Aug. 31, 2019.
Daisy Airgun Museum. Wholesome Americana in northwest Arkansas. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. July 23, 2019.
J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum. The world's largest public collection of firearms can be found in a Tulsa suburb. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. June 20, 2019.
Smith & Wesson v. Mexico, No. 23-1141 (U.S. Sup. Ct., May 22, 2024). Amicus brief for National Rifle Association and Independence Institute in suppport of cert. petition. Mexico is copying the malicious tactics of the American gun prohibition lobby in previous decades, with meritless litigation designed to destroy the firearms industry through litigation expenses. Mexico's crime problem is self-inflicted by its corrupt government and its nullification of the Mexican Constitution right to arms. Claims that a large percentage of Mexican crime guns are American, or recently acquired in America, are provably false.
Written testimony on SB23-168, to eliminate firearms businesses via abusive lawsuits. Mar. 22, 2022. Explains what types of suits are and are not allowed. Describes how the bill could easily to adopted by other states to target abortion businesses in Colorado.
Protecting Law-abiding Firearms Businesses from Abusive Lawsuits. Independence Institute Issue Paper No. 1-2023. Examines bills in Colorado and elsewhere to eliminate firearms stores and manufacturers by junk lawsuits.
Remington v. Soto. No. 19-168. Sept. 4, 2019. Amicus brief of Professors of Second Amendment law, Cato Institute, Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, California Gun Rights Foundation, Madison Foundation. and Independence Institute. Appendix of professor biographies.
Amicus brief on lawsuits against gun manufacturers invokes NY Times v. Sullivan. Courts should stop abusive lawsuits against the First and Second Amendments. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Sept. 4, 2019.
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).
Abusive Lawsuits against the Second Amendment. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder. 1999.
Suing gun businesses that obey all the laws. George Brauchler Show. KNUS 710 AM. Mar. 9, 2023. Guest host Jon Caldara.
NRA News. Kopel discusses gun manufacturers and sellers being held liable for "violent acts" in a new gun control bill from Senator John Morse. Includes the wildly bizarre definition of "assault weapon" as well. YouTube.com. 9 minutes. Feb. 27, 2013.
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.
National Public Radio, The Tavis Smiley Show. Kopel interviewed for 4/9/03 program on the NAACP's lawsuit against the firearms industry.
Cities sue the gun industry. Dave Kopel debates Jonathan Lowy from Handgun Control, Inc., regarding the municipal lawsuits. Cato Institute. Feb. 26, 1999. C-Span.
Mexico Comes Knocking. A seemingly ridiculous plan by the Mexican government to sue U.S. gunmakers for drug-cartel violence south of the border could spell doom for America's firearm industry. America's 1st Freedom. Oct. 2011.
Second Circuit reverses Judge Weinstein's order against firearms stores. Concurrence harshly rebukes him. Volokh.com. May 18, 2011.
Mayor Daley and other Mayors: Seek "redress against the gun industry" in the World Court. Volokh.com. April 28, 2010.
Second Circuit rules in favor of firearms dealers on procedural due process. Volokh.com. August 17, 2009.
Congress bans abusive anti-gun lawsuits. Volokh.com. Oct. 20, 2005.
Florida court rejects Grunow suit. Volokh.com. June 2, 2005.
Ban lawsuits that hurt legal gun industry. Philadelphia Inquirer. May 19, 2003.
NAACP lawsuit. NRO The Corner. April 1, 2003.
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.
Boston consent decree dissolved. NRO The Corner. April 16, 2002.
Anti-tobacco activist Mark Pertshcuk offers anti-gun strategy. NRO The Corner. March 16, 2002.
Maryland case rejected. NRO The Corner. March 10, 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.
NRA v. Vullo, No. 22-842 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Jan. 16, 2023). Amicus brief. The Court's decision of May 30, 2024, agreed with the brief that the threats of NY Governor and his financial regulatory agency against banks and insurances companies that do business with the NRA violated the First Amendment. The brief was filed on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation, John Locke Foundation, and Independence Institute.
Remington v. Soto. No. 19-168. Sept. 4, 2019. Amicus brief of Professors of Second Amendment law, Cato Institute, Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, California Gun Rights Foundation, Madison Foundation. and Independence Institute. Appendix of professor biographies.
Amicus brief on lawsuits against gun manufacturers invokes NY Times v. Sullivan. Courts should stop abusive lawsuits against the First and Second Amendments. Reason, Volokh Conspiracy. Sept. 4, 2019.
Anti-Gunners Target Gun Ads, 1st Amendment. The Blue Press, Aug. 2000. In italiano.
See also: Media Analysis and First Amendment page
Covering the Screen in Blood. Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein attempts to square his anti-gun convictions with his bloody, gun-riddled movies. America's 1st Freedom. April 2014.
Big First Amendment win in United States v. Stevens. Federal statute could have been used to ban hunting videos and magazines. Volokh.com. April 20, 2010.
Bowling Truths. Michael Moore's mocking. National Review Online. Apr. 4, 2003. Deconstructing the dishonest documentary Bowling for Columbine.
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.
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.
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.
Don't turn Aurora killer into celebrity. USA Today. July 19, 2012.
Reducing the risk of copycat killers. How papers can avoid glorifying perpetrators. Rocky Mountain News/Denver Post, Dec. 15, 2007.
Airing, publishing killer's photos, rants reckless. Publicity a fresh inducement to mass murderers. Rocky Mountain News/Denver Post, April 21, 2007.
Massaging the Medium: Analyzing and Responding to Media Violence without Harming the First Amendment. 4 Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy 17 (1995).
Gun Rights and the Constitution: Was Heller Insignificant? An examination of a New York Times article which overlooked most of the Second Amendment victories which have flowed from Heller. The New Ledger. March 26, 2009.
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