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Latest

Snope v. Brown. No. 24-203. Amicus brief of International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, Professors of Second Amendment Law And History, and Independence Institute. In support of cert. petition in challenge to Maryland ban on common rifles. Sept. 23, 2024.

Firearms Law Textbook 2024 Supplement Now Available: For free -- 566 pages. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Sept. 17, 2024.

Malcolm Gladwell's Invented Facts Make Good Stories: His "Revisionist History" podcast can amount to historical fiction. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Sept. 11, 2024.

How Some Courts are Evading Bruen by Changing its Rules: Lower Courts evading the "plain text" of the Second Amendment. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Sept. 4, 2024.

Short articles and commentary

"El atentado contra Trump hace temer un derramamiento de sangre en la campaña." La Razon (Spain). July 21, 2024. Interview by Jesus Buitrago.

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.

"Shall Not Be Infringed" Is Pretty Clear. Analysis of recent court decisions in Maryland and Oregon, and the NY Times' sloppy coverage thereof. America's 1st Freedom. Jan. 18, 2024.

History Podcasts for the New Year. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Dec. 29, 2023.

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.

Podcasts, Radio & Video

Colorado Inside Out. Aug. 16, 2024. Presidential campaign, fake Google ads by Harris. Denver government a million dollars for each vagrant taken off the streets. Abortion ballot measure would authorize taxpayer funding for abortion, and eliminate parental notification requirement for minors. Elizabeth school district book policy explained. Worst: Another longtime Capitol Hill restaurant closes due to attacks from vagrants. Best: Longmont's Valarie Allman wins Olympic gold in discus.

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.

"End-to-End." American gun law and politics. RTVI. Russian language television for overseas Russians. June 11, 2024. Diana Lesnhicha.

Dave Kopel of Independence Institute on Mexico Suing USA Over Guns. Ross Kaminsky Show. KOA 850. Denver. June 6, 2024.

Colorado Inside Out. May 31, 2024. Proper, full funding for police departments saves lives, especially black ones. Republican U.S. House suicide squad candidates could lose safe Republican seats if they win their primaries. State House primaries in both parties pit extremists versus rational candidates. Colorado Springs housing shortage caused by constriction of building permits. Disgrace: University of Colorado announces 6 scholarships in honor of the "Los Seis" terrorist bombers of the 1970s. Best thing: Patricia Calhoun is the longest-running television character in Denver history, exceeding even the great Blinky the Clown.

Do Americans Have a Constitutional Right to an AR-15? Gun-Rights Groups Ask the Supreme Court Firearms advocates fight state restrictions on the most popular rifle in the U.S. Wall Street Journal. Aug. 26, 2024. Jacob Gershman (paywall).

Fourth Circuit upholds Maryland gun licensing law. Courthouse News. Aug. 23, 2024. Joe Dodson.

Minnesota's 'Draconian' Self-Defense Ruling Exposes Loophole In Wyoming Law. Cowboy State Daily, Aug. 2, 2024. Clair McFarland.

'He is so pitiful': Joe Biden ripped as he botches Thomas Jefferson quote, falsely claims Americans couldn't own cannons during Civil War. MSN.com. June 12, 2024. Conrad Dias.

Biden botches Thomas Jefferson quote and falsely claims Americans couldn’t own cannons during the Civil War in gun control speech. N.Y. Post. June 11, 2024. Victor Nava.

Biden fails to mention son's gun conviction in address on firearms safety. Fox News. June 11, 2024. Louis Casiano.

Wyoming Professor Tells Supreme Court Not To Let Mexico Sue Gun Makers. Cowyboy State Daily. May 29, 2024. Clair McFarland.

Latest Monographs and Journal articles

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 223 (Notre Dame) (2024). With Joseph G.S. Greenlee.

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.

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).

Guns Kill People, and Tyrants with Gun Monopolies Kill the Most. 25 Gonzaga Journal of International Law 20 (2021).

Red Flag Laws: Proceed with Caution. 45 (Alabama) Law & Psychology Review 39 (2021).

Latest Books

Colorado Constitutional Law and History (2d ed. 2022). Treatise and textbook on Colorado's wonderful Constitution--and on how the courts and other branches have nullified much of it. Buy at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, IndieBound (to arrange pickup at a local bookstore), or from Vandeplas Publishing. Any of these vendors will sell you the printed book. If you want the ebook, you must buy from Vandeplas and must have an academic email account to install the reader software.

Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights and Policy (Aspen Publishers, 3d ed. 2022). With Nicholas J. Johnson, George A. Mocsary, E. Gregory Wallace, Donald E. Kilmer. Authors' supplemental website. Free chapter 3, the American colonies.

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.

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.

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.

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.