Gun Scholar David Kopel Explains SCOTUS Oral Arguments in Second Amendment Case. The Reload. Nov. 12, 2023. 39 minutes.

Will Increasing Gun Control Improve Public Safety? Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University. Apr. 3, 2003. Topics include: Biblical issues (Exodus 22, Luke 22, Romans 13), historic (and uncorrelated) trends of increasing gun ownership vs. rises and falls in homicide rates, and historic data on mass murder by government of disarmed victims. 90 minutes. Introduction starts at 9:45..

Latest

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.

The Solicitor General's response to my amicus brief in Rahimi. Only one federal firearms prohibitor does not require any specific finding of fact. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Oct. 31, 2023.

Miller v. Bonta, No. 19-cv-01537 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 19, 2023). Holding California "assault weapon" ban unconstitutional. Slip opinion citations: 27 n.86, 38 n.107, The History of Bans on Types of Arms Before 1900, 50 Journal of Legislation at 45-46, 60 (Notre Dame, forthcoming 2024); 41-42 n.121, 66 n.203, State court standards of review for the right to arms, 50 Santa Clara Law Review 1113, 1145 n.51 (2010); 45 n.133, The “Sensitive Places” Doctrine: Locational Limits on the Right to Bear Arms, 13 Charleston Law Review 205, 240 (2018); 50 n.152 Knives and the Second Amendment, 47 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 167, 168 (2013).

United States v. Rahimi. No. 22-915 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Oct. 4, 2023). Amicus brief 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. Old and discriminatory gun control laws that were repudiated by subsequent constitutinal enactments are not valid precedents to support modern gun controls. Restricting arms rights of individuals whom a court has found to be "a credible threat" to intimate partners does not infringe the Second Amendment; disarming people with no judicial findings at all does infringe the Second Amendment. Thus, 18 U.S.C. sect. 922(g)(8)(C)(i) is not an infringement, and (C)(ii) is an infringement.

Masterful Takedown of Gun Controllers' Ridiculous Arguments. Law of Self Defense, by Andrew Branca. Oct. 19, 2023. Host Andrew Branca reads Kopel's amicus brief in United States v. Rahimi. 52 minutes.

Short articles

The Solicitor General's response to my amicus brief in Rahimi. Only one federal firearms prohibitor does not require any specific finding of fact. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Oct. 31, 2023.

Old gun controls that were constitutionally repealed are not precedents for modern gun control. Amicus brief in Supreme Court's Second Amendment Rahimi case. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Oct. 6, 2023.

Free "2023 Supplement" for "Firearms Law and the Second Amendment." Covering the many developments in 2022-23. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Sept. 6, 2023

"Es evidente que Biden sufre un grave deterioro mental." Interview in La Razon (Spain). Sept. 17, 2023.

Cited by Both Sides. University of Wyoming Firearms Research Center. Sept. 13, 2023.

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.

Preliminary injunction against NJ ban on peaceable carry. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. May 16, 2023.

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.

The Sources Cited by the Supreme Court in Bruen: Guidance for judicial examination of legal history. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Feb. 13, 2023.

In the Media

Only 'Dangerous Individuals' Lose Their Gun Rights Because of Protective Orders, the Government Says. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar falsely claims a federal gun ban "requires individualized findings of dangerousness." Reason. Nov. 8, 2023. Jacob Sullum.

The Supreme Court Considers Gun Rights and Domestic Abusers. The Justices return to the Second Amendment with a case that could bring more clarity to its Bruen precedent. Wall Street Journal. Nov. 5, 2023. Editorial Board. "One idea, raised in an amicus brief signed by professors of Second Amendment law, is that federal disarmament of people under restraining orders might be constitutional if a judge specifically finds a 'credible threat.' Under this view, the judiciary might uphold Mr. Rahimi’s sentence, while throwing out a more sweeping part of the federal law that applies to other restraining orders without an individual finding of dangerousness."

Trump May Have Violated Release Terms With Gun Purchase Spokesperson Said Didn’t Happen, Prosecutors Argue. Daily Caller. Sept. 30, 2023. Katelynn Richardson.

Is Donald Trump Unable To Purchase Firearms Due To His Felony Indictments? CheckYourFact. Sept. 26, 2023. Elias Atienza.

How a Conservative Supreme Court’s Expansion of Gun Rights Could Help Hunter Biden. Wall Street Journal. Sept. 16, 2023. Jacob Gershman.

Tillis email omits key details of Democrat's proposed tax on guns. Politifact. Sept. 8, 2023. Paul Specht.

Television, Radio, Podcasts 

Gun Scholar David Kopel Explains SCOTUS Oral Arguments in Second Amendment Case. The Reload. Nov. 12, 2023.

Colorado Inside Out. Nov. 3, 2023. Judge Sarah Wallace in Colo. Trump insurrection case has prejudged the case and lied about her campaign contributions. Election preview: incompetent Denver School Board incumbents; Aurora mayoral candidate Juan Marcano quits Democratic Socialists of America because of their support for Hamas. At CU, anti-Israel students demonstrate with posters celebrating the mass shooting at a music festival for peace; CU professors, including its Department of Ethnic Cleansing, foster hatred. As Vancouver shows, injection centers are cruel and create misery. Best thing: Jews always defeat the exterminators--Hitler last century, Amalek three millennia ago, Hamas and its allies today. Westword article on the great John Denver honors his sincerity

Masterful Takedown of Gun Controllers' Ridiculous Arguments. Law of Self Defense, by Andrew Branca. Oct. 19, 2023. Host Andrew Branca reads Kopel's amicus brief in United States v. Rahimi. 52 minutes.

Second Amendment Scholar David Kopel on the Supreme Court’s Latest Gun Case. Kopel explains Rahimi amicus brief of Independence Institute, Second Amendment Law Center, and Professors of Second Amendment Law. The Reload. Oct. 25, 2023. 44 minutes.

The history of arms bans before 1900. Gun Rights Policy Conference. Sept. 23, 2023. Covers handguns, Bowie knives, slungshots, and metal knuckles. 14 minute audio.

Colorado Inside Out. Sept. 8, 2023. Lawsuit to keep Trump of ballot is legally plausible. State government hosting meetings on psychedelic healing centers. Excessive state and local regulations are extreme burden on businesses. Hype over CU football. Disgrace: You taxpayer dollars subsidize pro-Hitler dictator Mahmoud Abbas. Best thing: Post-debate: Nikki Haley up, fraudsters Trump & Ramaswamey down.

Will Increasing Gun Control Improve Public Safety? Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University. Apr. 3, 2003. Topics include: Biblical issues (Exodus 22, Luke 22, Romans 13), historic (and unrelated) trends of increasing gun ownership vs. rises and falls in homicide rates, and historic data on mass murder by government of disarmed victims. 90 minutes. Introduction starts at 9:45.

Latest Monographs & 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 (Notre Dame, forthcoming 2024). With Joseph G.S. Greenlee.

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).

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.

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

In the Courts and Congress

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.

Miller v. Bonta, No. 19-cv-01537 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 19, 2023). Holding California "assault weapon" ban unconstitutional. Slip opinion citations: 27 n.86, 38 n.107, The History of Bans on Types of Arms Before 1900, 50 Journal of Legislation at 45-46, 60 (Notre Dame, forthcoming 2024); 41-42 n.121, 66 n.203, State court standards of review for the right to arms, 50 Santa Clara Law Review 1113, 1145 n.51 (2010); 45 n.133, The “Sensitive Places” Doctrine: Locational Limits on the Right to Bear Arms, 13 Charleston Law Review 205, 240 (2018); 50 n.152 Knives and the Second Amendment, 47 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 167, 168 (2013).

United States v. Rahimi. No. 22-915 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Oct. 4, 2023). Amicus brief 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. Old and discriminatory gun control laws that were repudiated by subsequent constitutinal enactments are not valid precedents to support modern gun controls. Restricting arms rights of individuals whom a court has found to be "a credible threat" to intimate partners does not infringe the Second Amendment; disarming people with no judicial findings at all does infringe the Second Amendment. Thus, 18 U.S.C. sect. 922(g)(8)(C)(i) is not an infringement, and (C)(ii) is an infringement.

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.

United States v. Daniels, No. 22-60596 (5th Cir. July 6, 2023). Amicus brief by Scholars of Second Amendment Law (F. Lee Francis, Nicholas J. Johnson, Donald E.J. Kilmer, David B. Kopel, George A. Mocsary Joseph V. Muha, Joseph E. Olson, Glenn H. Reynolds) and Independence Institute. The ban on firearms possession by every "user" of marijuana, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3), is contrary to history and tradition, as shown by historic laws pertaining to alcohol. Shooting or weaing firearms while intoxicated may be prohibited, but not use while sober.

Koons v. Platkin, 2023 WL 3478604, No. CV 22-7463 (D.N.J. May 16, 2023). The “Sensitive Places” Doctrine: Locational Limits on the Right to Bear Arms, 13 Charleston Law Review 205 (2018); Guns in America: Arming the Right People Can Save Lives, L.A. Times (Jan. 15, 2013); Shall Issue: The New Wave of Concealed Handgun Laws, 63 Tennessee Law Review 679 (1995).

National Shooting Sports Foundation v. Platkin. No. 23-1214. May 8, 2023. Third Circuit amicus brief. New Jersey statute to allow lawsuits against law-abiding firearms businesses violates the Second Amendment, and is similar to abusive First Amendment lawsuits from the Jim Crow period.