Right to Arms: USA

Kopel has "single-handedly...changed the gun debate in the United States."

John Fund, Wall Street Journal, speech at the Gun Rights Policy Conference,

Crystal City, Virginia, September 2004.

Topics on this page:

I. Carrying handguns. Subtopics: Law reviews. Briefs. Interstate carry. Armed pilots. Parks and Churches. Schools and colleges. Other articles.
II. Prohibition of arms. Subtopics: Inexpensive guns. Self-loading guns. All guns. Handguns. "Plastic guns". Fifty caliber Guns. Machine guns. Ammunition. Knives. Other arms.
III. Juvenile justice. 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. 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. History. Public health/Medicine/Psychology. Women. General/miscellaneous.
VI. Gun companies, gun sports, and lawsuits against them. Firearms business. Lawsuits. Censorship of firearms advertising.
VII. Media violence and bias.

Firearms Topics on Other Pages:

Page on Second Amendment law, history and politics.

I. The 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.

New on this page and on the other right to arms pages:

Firearms Law and the Second Amendment. Law school textbook. Chapter 3. The Colonies and the Revolution. iVoices.org, May 9, 2012.

Bloomberg's X-ray. NYC develops gun detectors to conduct secret warrantless searches. America's 1st Freedom. May 2012.

Firearms Law and the Second Amendment. Chapter 2. Antecedents of the Second Amendment: From Confucius to the British Whigs. iVoices.org, Apr. 16, 2012.

Calderon misfires on U.S. gun control. Mexican president scatters blame far and wide for ‘Fast and Furious’ mistakes. Washington Times. April 12, 2012.

Canada Abolishes Long Gun Registry. Volokh.com. Apr. 5, 2012.

Firearms Law and the Second Amendment. Chapter 1. First in a podcast series on Kopel's new law school textbook. iVoices.org, Apr. 4, 2012.

Debunking "Stand your ground" myths. NRA News. April 3, 2012.

Florida Self-Defense Laws and the Martin/Zimmerman case. Peter Boyles Show. KHOW radio, Denver. April 3, 2012.

Kopel's new book Firearms Law & the Second Amendment; Regulation, Rights, and Policy has just been published. It is the first law school textbook on the Second Amendment. Buy from Amazon. Publisher webpage for book. Authors' website for book; includes Table of Contents, and Preface.

Debunking the 'stand your ground' myth. Anti-gun advocates mislead on Trayvon case to erode right to self-defense. Washington Times, Apr. 2, 2012.

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.

Venezuelan Government Suspends Gun Imports and Sales for One Year. NRA News. Mar. 12, 2012.

Gun and self-defense law reform after Heller. Kopel presentation at Fordham Law School. Kopel begins at 15:30. Mar. 9, 2012.

Holder Must Go. Attorney General Eric Holder's lies and half-truths in the "Fast and Furious" aftermath are nothing new. A look at the past shows a long history of dishonesty and disdain for the truth and the law. America's 1st Freedom. Mar. 2012.

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.

Testimony on D.C. Council's proposed revision to the District's gun control laws. Kopel 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.

I. Carrying Handguns

Subtopics: Law reviews. Briefs. Interstate carry. Armed pilots. Parks and Churches. Schools and colleges. Other articles.

Law Review articles and research papers

Pretend "Gun-free" School Zones: A Deadly Legal Fiction. 42 Connecticut Law Review 515 (2009). PDF. 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). PDF.

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.

Court briefs

Kopel's amicus brief for the County Sheriffs of Colorado in Students for Concealed Carry on Campus v. Regents of the University of of Colorado (Colo. Sup. Ct.).

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.

Amicus brief for the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, and the Independence Institute, in Peruta v. San Diego (9th Circuit). 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.

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.

Kopel's amicus brief in Peruta v. San Diego. (Southern District, Calif.). Challenging sheriff's policy of denying concealed carry permits to almost everyone.

Interstate Carry

Kopel testified on Sept. 13 before the U.S. House subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, regarding H.R. 822, which would set up a national system of interstate reciprocity for concealed handgun carry permits. Kopel's 24-page written testimony. Video of the subcommittee hearing. 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.

Caplis & Silverman Show. KHOW-Denver. July 22, 2009. MP3. The Senate vote on interstate carry of licensed firearms.

Armed Pilots

Air Neglect. What's wrong with trained pilots having guns? The TSA is strangling the armed pilots program. National Review Online. July 2, 2003. With Captain David Petteys.

blog: Poll shows public dissatisfied with Norman Minetta's Dept. of Transportation policies on airplane security. 5/21/02. Why stun guns and air marshals are insufficient, 3/11/02.

Parks and Churches

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" on-line feature. May 22, 2009.

Senate votes to allow licensed handgun carry in national parks. Volokh.com. May 13, 2009.

Schools and Colleges

See the section on schools below.

II. Arms Prohibition (of various types of arms and ammunition, or all guns)

Subtopics: Inexpensive guns. Self-loading guns. All guns. Handguns. "Plastic Guns". Fifty Caliber Guns. Machine Guns. Ammunition. Knives. Other arms.

Inexpensive guns

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.

Self-loading guns

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.

Attorney General Holder calls for renewal of ban on so-called "assault weapons" in order to help the Mexican government. Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Podcast. Feb. 27, 2009. MP3.

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.

Bait-’n’-Switch. Gun-prohibition lobbyists are after much more than AK-47s. National Review Online. Sept. 13, 2004.

The Silveira Threat. How long will the Second Amendment live? National Review Online. Sept. 23, 2003. Part 2 of a 2-part series on harmful gun rights lawsuits.

Police Show Legitimacy of Semi-automatics. Dave Kopel and Diane Nicholl. July 18, 1998.

Are so-called "Assault Weapons" a Threat to Police Officers? The Law Enforcement Trainer.

Rational Basis of "Assault Weapon" Prohibition. Even putting aside the Second Amendment, "assault weapon" bans are unconstitutional because the guns banned are in no rational way different from other guns. 20 Journal of Contemporary Law 381 (1994).

Colorado Attorney General reply brief in Robertson v. Denver.

Assault Ban Chicanery. Washington Times. May 5, 1994.

"Assault weapons." 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.

"Assault Weapon" Ban Wouldn't Have Stopped Texas Massacre. The 1991 Killeen, Texas mass shooting. Minneapolis Star Tribune. Oct. 29, 1991.

Anti-Gun Laws Failed to Stop Littleton Killer. How gun prohibition advocates exploited of Eugene Thompson's 1989 rampage in Littleton with a stolen automatic M11 pistol. In italiano.

Banning Assault Rifles Won't Work. Colorado Statesman, Mar. 17, 1989.

Stockton Shootings Disprove Case for Gun Control. Rocky Mountain News. Feb. 3, 1989.

blog: "Large Capacity Clips" and Officer Safety, 5/12/05.

All guns

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.

Nannyism and gun control. Kopel speaks at the Nannyism panel held at the Warwick Hotel, Denver, Colorado, as part of the Independence Institute's annual "Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms" celebration. June 19, 2009. 18:46. MySpace video.

Dhimmitude and Disarmament. 18 George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal 305 (2008). PDF.

U.S. House Votes to Ban Gun Confiscation in Disasters. The Volokh Conspiracy. July 26, 2006.

Defenseless on the Bayou. New Orleans gun confiscation is illegal and foolish. Reason.com. Sept. 10, 2005.

Guns vs. Teddy Bears. There's no competition when it comes to regulation. National Review Online. Jan. 13, 2004. With Dr. Timothy Wheeler.

A World Without Guns. Be forewarned: It’s not a pretty picture. National Review Online. Dec. 5, 2001. With Paul Gallant and Joanne Eisen. En français. español. português. italiano.

Prohibition Fever. National Review Online. Jan. 4, 2000. With Dr. Michael Brown. In italiano.

Communitarians, Neorepublicans, and Guns: Assessing the Case for Firearms Prohibition. 56 Maryland Law Review 438 (1997). Reply to the Communitarian Network's proposal to confiscate all firearms.

Why Good People Own Guns. Los Angeles Times. November 26, 1993. Reprinted in Paul A. Winters, ed. Crime and Criminals. Opposing Viewpoints (Greenhaven Pr., 1995). In italiano.

Guns, Germs, and Science. Critique of the medical case for gun prohibition. Delivered at the University of Oklahoma School of Public Health. Oct. 1994.

Will You Be Safer if Guns are Banned? Short piece for the International Society for Individual Liberty. Polski/Polish.

blog: Congress Bans Gun Confiscation in Emergencies, 10/2/06. New Orleans Admits that Gun Confiscations Have No Legal Basis, 9/25/05. New Orleans Guns Should Be Returned Today, 9/13/05. New Orleans Gun Confiscation is Blatantly Illegal, 9/9/05. N.O. follow-up, 9/11/05. N.O. 2d follow-up. 9/11/05.

Handguns

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. In PDF.

Rearming. In a symposium on the Parker case declaring the D.C. handgun and self-defense ban unconstitutional, Kopel examines the future consequences of the decision. National Review Online, March 12, 2006.

Secret Weapon. Some 2nd Amendment lawyers help the gun-ban side. National Review Online. Sept. 22, 2003. Part 1 of a 2-part series on harmful gun rights lawsuits. The history of the Morton Grove cases, and of the NAACP's successful litigation strategy. Follow-up: Responses from Robert Kukla and Victor Quilici provide a different perspective on the case, which I should have included in the original article.

Sticking to Our Guns. Legal Times. Dec. 6, 1993. Reply to an article by Stuart Taylor in favor of handgun prohibition.

Peril or Protection? The Risks and Benefits of Handgun Prohibition. 12 St. Louis University Public Law Review 344 (1993). Excerpt reprinted in Jerry Cederblom & David W. Paulson, Critical Reasoning (Wadsworth, 2001).

The Long and the Short of the Handgun Debate. Sen. John Chafee's proposed handgun confiscation law. Washington Post. June 27, 1992

"Plastic Guns"

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.

Fifty Caliber Guns

Guns and (Character) Assassination. Phony charges about fifty caliber guns. National Review Online. December 21, 2001. With Timothy Wheeler.

Machine Guns

NPR on Alito and Machine Guns: The November 11, 2005, edition of NPR's "All Things Considered" features a segment on Judge Alito's decision in Rybar, in which Alito followed the Supreme Court's Lopez precedent to write that a federal ban on machine gun possession was not a valid exercise of the federal power to regulate interstate commerce. Guests on the program were Eugene Volokh, Kristin Rand of the Violence Policy Center, Erwin Chemerinsky of Duke Law School, and Kopel.

blog: Other Federal Appellate Judges on Machine Guns, 11/1/05.

Ammunition

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

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.

Other Arms

Stun gun prohibition violates Second Amendment. Volokh.com. April 22, 2011.

What is a zoobow? Volokh.com. May 20, 2010.

III. Juvenile Justice, Schools Gun Safety, and other Youth Issues

IV. Particular gun controls

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.

State and local gun laws

Debunking the 'stand your ground' myth. Anti-gun advocates mislead on Trayvon case to erode right to self-defense. Washington Times, Apr. 2, 2012.

Victory for firearms preemption in New York. Volokh.com. December 31, 2010.

Puerto Rico law limiting use of shooting ranges. Volokh.com. October 12, 2010.

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.

Preemption laws and leases of public property. Utah bans guns at gay rights parade. Volokh.com. May 13, 2009.

Montana Firearms and the Interstate Commerce Clause. Volokh.com. April 15, 2009.

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.

Foreword to Gun Laws of Montana (2003).

Limited Preemption of Firearms Laws: A Good Step for Civil Rights." Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder. Mar. 11, 2003.

How Strict are U.S., Colorado, and Local Gun Control Laws? Issue Paper details how pervasive and severe existing gun control laws already are. The paper details the 20 weapons law violations perpetrated by the Columbine murderers, and their gun suppliers. The Paper also examines current laws regarding gun shows, and explains that there is no "loophole" in current laws regarding gun shows.

Preempting local anti-gun laws. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder. 1999.

To Temper Brady Act, Gun Devotees Should Nationalize, Refine It. Human Events. Jan. 1995. Suggestions for Congressional reform of gun laws.

Blog: Ohio Preempts All Local Gun Controls, 12/12/06. Newark Airport sued for abuse of person lawfully transporting a firearm, 2/27/06. Federal year in review, 2005, 1/3/06. Is it Illegal for David Letterman to Own a Gun? 12/22/05. Florida's New Self-Defense Law, 5/19/05. Illinois Limits Gun Ban Enforcement, 11/17/04.

Ballistic "Fingerprinting"

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.

"Buybacks"

The Madness of Gun Buybacks. National Review Online, May 15, 2000.

Gun Rationing/"One gun a month"

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.

Gun Shows

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.

Should Gun Shows Be Outlawed? McCain Bill Does Much More than Impose Background Checks. Independence Institute, Issue Paper no. 1-2002. With Alan Korwin.

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 Control Bill Defeated For Wrong Reasons. By William Ruefle and J. Mitchell Miller. Discusses gun shows.

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.

Junk Legislation. By Linda Gorman.

National Instant Check System/Background Checks

Kopel testified on Nov. 17, 2011, before the U.S. Senate subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism 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.

Should people with handgun carry permits have to go through a repetitive background check when they buy a gun? Kopel discusses a proposed reform law in Colorado. KOA radio, "The Ride Home" with guest hosts Gloria Neal and Jon Caldara. March 27, 2009, 4 p.m. MP3.

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. PDF.

"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.

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.

Complaint filed by attorney Stephen Halbrook in NRA v. Reno, suing the Clinton Department of Justice for using the National Instant Check System to compile gun-owner registration lists. Memorandum in support of the complaint.

Registration of Guns and Gun Owners

The Tara Servatius Show. H.R. 45, Rep. Bobby Rush's gun licensing and registration bill. Guest-hosted by Bill White. WBT-AM, Charlotte, North Carolina. Feb. 16, 2009. MP3.

H.R. 45. United States Rep. Bobby Rush's national gun licensing and registration bill. The Peter Boyles Show. 630-AM KHOW Denver. Feb. 3, 2009. MP3. (This MP3 begins in the middle of the program.)

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.

Waiting Periods

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).

Gun Foes Should Tell the Whole Story. Op-ed discussing the phony claims that a waiting period would have stopped John Hinckley. Cato Institute. 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. PDF. Reprinted in History of Issues: Gun Control (Gale, 2006).

blog: Brady Bill anniversary, and Clinton's phony story, 11/30/05.

V. Other Firearms Topics

Subtopics: Book Reviews. BATFE and Gun Traces. Burglary. Culture and sociology. History. Public Health/Medicine/Psychology. Women. General/miscellaneous.

Book Reviews

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.

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. PDF.

Ten on the Second. Ten great books (plus some bonus recommendations) on the right to arms. America's 1st Freedom, March 2007. PDF.

Gun Control Debate with Arnold Grossman, "One Nation Under Guns" and David Kopel, "Gun Control and Gun Rights". Description: 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 Cnythia Hessin, executive producer of Rocky Mountain PBS. The debate was broadcast on C-Span's Book TV. C-Span video. You can also watch a replay of the debate in Quicktime or in WMV format. The replay is produced by fom the Independence Institute's iVoices.org multimedia center; the on-line replay used the C-Span feed; the iVoices version occasionally pixalates the 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.

Book Reviews: A Nation of Cowards and The Origin of the Second Amendment. Ideas on Liberty, Mar. 2002.

Second Amendment Ammo. Recommended reading. Reason magazine, Dec. 2000. Reviews of More Guns, Less Crime; Guns: Who Should Have Them? and The Matchlock Gun (an award-winning children's book).

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, 242 pages, $25). 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.

Book review of Target Switzerland. The American Enterprise, Jan./Feb. 1999.

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).

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.

BATFE and BATFE Gun Traces

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, with Jon Caldara. CPT 12, July 22, 2011.

Olofson case. Suppression hearing transcript. Discovery. Firearms Technology Branch report. Trial transcript: part 1, part 2, part 3. (All these files are PDF).

Erasing a Clinton Legacy. Rolling back antigun regs. National Review Online. Jan. 27, 2004. New law protects privacy rights of law-abiding gun owners.

Ballistic Imaging: Not Ready for Prime Time. National Center for Policy Analysis. Policy backgrounder. April 30, 2003. With Sterling Burnett.

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.

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. From the Law Review of Michigan State University Detroit College of Law. PDF.

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.

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.

blog: BATFE Director now needs Senate confirmation, 3/8/06.

Burglary

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). Symposium issue.

Culture and Sociology

The International Hunter Education Association. Kopel interviews the International Hunter Education Association's Wayne East, about IHEA's good works in teaching safety and responsibility. 26 minutes. Feb. 16, 2010. MP3.

Humanizing Gun Nuts. An anthropologist shoots down stereotypes about gun enthusiasts. Reason, Feb. 2005. Independence Institute intern Eric Dzinski reviews Abigail A. Kohn's book Shooters: Myths and Realities of America’s Gun Cultures.

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.

Some Frequently Overlooked Facts in Gun Policy Discussions. By Linda Gorman. Short paper showing that guns in the right hands enhance public safety, and gun control fails to disarm gun misusers.

The Ideology of Guns and Gun Control in the United States. 18 Quarterly Journal of Ideology 3 (1995). Article by Kopel examining the ideologies (as opposed to the practicalities) behind gun ownership and gun control advocacy in the U.S.

History

Sergeant York. Great Hero of the Great War. America's 1st Freedom, Feb. 2005. PDF.

Don’t Mess with (Armed) Texans. The real lesson of the Alamo. National Review Online. April 8, 2004.

Gun Bans and "Schindler's List". Independence Institute. Aug. 24, 1994. With William R. Tonso.

D-Day was almost a German Holiday. June 1994. With Dan Gifford.

Public Health/Medicine/Psychology

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.

blog: Should Health Care Workers be able to Refuse Treatment to Gun Owners? 3/20/06.

blog: Doctors and Guns. Virginia considers restricting doctors from forcing and anti-gun political agenda on their patients. 2/28/06.

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.

Women

Her Own Bodyguard. Gun-packing First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. National Review Online. Jan. 24, 2002. With Paul Gallant & Joanne Eisen.

Jennifer Mamich: Book review of Gun Women: Firearms and Feminism in America. National Review Online, Oct. 7-9, 2000.

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.

General/Miscellaneous

Cert. grant in Millender v. LA: Qualified immunity for an unconstitutional general warrant to seize firearms? Volokh Conspiracy. July 20, 2011.

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.

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.

Gun laws after the Tucson shootings. Kopel debates John Donahue, of Stanford. WHYY radio, Philadelphia. Jan. 14th, 2011. 49 minutes. MP3.

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?

Kopel on Independent Thinking. Host Jon Caldara interviews Kopel about 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.

The Glenn and Helen Show: Talking Guns and Politics with Dave Kopel. Instapundit.com, Oct. 23, 2006. "Dave talks with us about violence and nonviolence, whether legalizing marijuana would cut down on gun crime, ways to prevent school shootings, questions of whether the right to keep and bear arms should be part of international law, and the likely impact of gun rights issues on the 2006 elections, and vice versa. Plus, discussion of which Second Amendment writers are 'hotties.' You can listen directly -- no downloading needed -- by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. Or you can download the file directly right here. You can get a lo-fi version for dialup by going here and selecting 'lofi,' and you can subscribe via iTunes by going here."

Editorial Board for Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law (ABC/Clio: 2002).

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.

The State of Your Gun Rights. Podcast interview with Kopel on iVoices. 10 minutes. Discusses concealed carry victories, and more. Play now. Download in MP3.

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. You can listen to the one-hour debate in Real Audio.

Gun Control & Gun Rights: A Reader & Guide. The first college and graduate textbook on gun law and policy. Published by New York University Press.

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.

Does Gun Control Work? Transcript of Kopel's appearance on the Ben Wattenberg's "Think Tank" program on PBS.

Criminal Advantage. By Linda Gorman. Op-ed details how gun crime has risen and fallen, regardless of U.S. gun control laws.

Hold Your Fire: Gun Control Won't Stop Rising Violence. From Policy Review, Winter 1993.

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)

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).

blog: Armed Response to New Orleans Looters, 9/1/05.

VI. Gun Industry and Sports.

Subtopics: Firearms business. Lawsuits. Censorship of firearms advertising.

Firearms Business

Rifle Golf: America’s newest shooting sport. Volokh Conspiracy. Aug. 5, 2011.

SHOT Shot 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.

blog: SHOT Show Report, 1/17/09.

Lawsuits

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.

Debate on Tort Protection for Gun Manufacturers. Oct. 27, 2005. The Legal Talk Network hosted a debate on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Firearms Act. Participants were UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, Josh Horowitz from the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, and Kopel. The debate is available in WMF and MP3.

Ban lawsuits that hurt legal gun industry. Philadelphia Inquirer. May 19, 2003.

National Public Radio, The Tavis Smiley Show. Kopel interviewed for 4/9/03 program on the NAACP's lawsuit against the firearms industry.

Gunned Down. The case for prohibiting abusive lawsuits. The West Palm Beach suit against the wholesaler of a Raven pistol used to murder a teacher. National Review Online. Nov. 15, 2002.

Unintended Consequences. The fruits of hysterical antigun lawsuits. National Review Online. Mar. 6, 2002.

Protecting Makers of Weapons Boosts Democracy, Rights. Analysis of Merrill v. Navegar. Los Angeles Daily Journal, and the San Francisco Daily Journal. Aug. 30, 2001.

Smith and Wesson's Faustian Bargain. National Review Online, Mar. 20 & 21, 2000. [Note: the agreement described in these articles never went into effect. Smith & Wesson is now under American ownership, and has no agreements stemming from the abusive lawsuits.]

Should Gunmakers Pay Damages to Local Governments for Gun-related Violence and Injuries? Feb. 11, 2000. CQ Researcher (Congressional Quarterly).

Strongarm Suits. February 2000, Liberty magazine, pp. 35-36.

Abusive Lawsuits against the Second Amendment. Independence Institute Issue Backgrounder. 1999.

Cities sue the gun industry. Dave Kopel debates Jonathan Lowy from Handgun Control, Inc., regarding the municipal lawsuits. Cato Institute. Feb. 26, 1999. You need the Real Video player to watch the 1 1/2 hour debate. C-Span archive.

The Sullivan Principles: Protecting the Second Amendment from Civil Abuse. Argues that courts should protect the Second Amendment from abusive lawsuits designed to interfere with Second Amendment rights, just as courts currently protect First Amendment rights from improper libel lawsuits. 19 Seton Hall Legislative Journal 737 (1995). With Richard Gardiner.

Blog: Congress bans abusive anti-gun lawsuits, 10/20/05. Florida court rejects Grunow suit, 6/2/05. NAACP lawsuit, 4/1/03. Boston consent decree dissolved, 4/16/02. Maryland case rejected, 3/10/02. Anti-tobacco activist Mark Pertshcuk offers anti-gun strategy, 3/16/02.

Censorship of Firearms Advertising

Anti-Gunners Target Gun Ads, 1st Amendment. The Blue Press, Aug. 2000. In italiano.

VII. Media Violence and Media Bias

Big First Amendment win in United States v. Stevens. Volokh.com. April 20, 2010.

Gun Rights and the Constitution: Was Heller Insignificant? An examination of last week's New York Times article, which overlooked most of the Second Amendment victories which have flowed from Heller. The New Ledger. March 26, 2009.

Did Heller matter? The New York Times says it did not, but Kopel details the Times' numerous omissions. Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Podcast. April 3, 2009. MP3.

Why Reveal Who's Concealed? What possible motive could some arrogant anti-gun newspapers have for publishing the names of Right-to-Carry permit holders? America's 1st Freedom, May 2007. by Paul Gallant, with David B. Kopel and Joanne D. Eisen.

The Influence of Michael Moore. "On Point," hosted by Tom Ashbrook, WBUR radio Boston (nationally syndicated). Kopel and Jim Hightower discuss Michael Moore, beginning at 17:30 into the show. Archived for Real Player.

Gray Gun Stories. The New York Times' dishonest and mean-spirited coverage of the gun issue. National Review Online. June 9, 2003. With Paul Blackman. Important note: The Francis X. Clines item in the above story is incorrect. Correction.

Bowling Truths. Michael Moore’s mocking. National Review Online. Apr. 4, 2003. Deconstructing the dishonest documentary.

Fox 31 misleads on 'sniper' rifles. Despite news segment's claims, it takes more than mouse click to obtain firearms. Rocky Mountain News/Denver Post. October 27, 2002.

Shot Through the Heart. Anti-hunting propaganda on Showtime. Review of "Bang Bang, You're Dead." National Review Online. Oct. 16, 2002. With James Swan.

Dailies shoot from hip, miss. Mischaracterizations of D.C. gun-control group bespeak sloppy reporting, editing at newspapers. Rocky Mountain News/Denver Post. Jan. 27, 2002.

Media Bias in the Coverage of Gun Control: The Press Evaluates the Popular Culture. Chapter in the book The Gun Culture and Its Enemies (William Tonso, ed.) evaluates media bias in the 1970s.

Sorry, Wrong Number: Why Media Polls on Gun Control are so Often Unreliable. 9 Political Communication and Persuasion 69-91 (no. 2, April-June 1992). With Gary A. Mauser.

Polls: Anti-gun Propaganda. Certain pollsters who support repressive gun laws claim to have found increased public support for such laws. Are such polls accurate? Or are they typical of the manipulation of data which has long been the practice of pro-control pollsters? The American Guardian. 1997.

Massaging the Medium: Analyzing and Responding to Media Violence without Harming the First Amendment. 4 Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy 17 (1995).

Round Table Discussion: Violence in the Media. David Kopel, Eleanor Acheson (Asst. U.S. Atty. Genl. for Policy Development), Charles W. Guswelle (Kansas City Star), and others. University of Kansas Law School symposium.

Dead Ringers. When it comes to Olympic shooting sports, TV is in blackout mode. National Review Online Weekend, Sept. 23-24, 2000.