Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Project is based at the
Independence Institute, a free-market think tank in Golden, Colorado.
http://www.independenceinstitute.org
The Independence Institute publishes several newsletters on other topics, plus a weekly newsletter containing our most recent op-eds and news of our activities. E-mail subscription to any of these newsletters is free.
Delivery of this newsletter comes courtesy of the Second Amendment
Foundation, in Bellevue, Washington.
http://www.saf.org
Please visit Dave Kopel's website, containing articles on the Second
Amendment and other freedom topics.
http://www.davekopel.org
David B. Kopel
Working Paper Series, Social Science Research Network
March 28, 2009
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1369783
Most states issue permits to carry a concealed handgun for lawful protection to an applicant who is over 21 years of age, and who passes a fingerprint-based background check and a safety class. These permits allow the person to carry a concealed defensive handgun almost everywhere in the state. Should professors, school teachers, or adult college and graduate students who have such permits be allowed to carry firearms on campus? In the last two years, many state legislatures have debated the topic. School boards, regents, and administrators are likewise faced with decisions about whether to change campus firearms policies. This Paper is the first to provide a thorough analysis of the empirical evidence and policy arguments regarding licensed campus carry. Whether a reader agrees or disagrees with the Paper's policy recommendations, the Paper can lay the foundation for a better-informed debate, and a more realistic analysis of the issue.
David Kopel
The New Ledger
March 26th, 2009
http://newledger.com/2009/03/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.
David B. Kopel and Robert A. Levy
Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th Ed.
"Now in its seventh edition, the Cato Handbook for Policymakers sets the standard in Washington for reducing the power of the federal government and expanding freedom. The 63 chapters--each beginning with a list of major policy recommendations--offer issue-by-issue blueprints for promoting individual liberty, free markets, and peace. Providing both in-depth analysis and concrete recommendations, Cato's Handbook is an invaluable resource for policymakers and anyone else interested in securing liberty and limiting government."
Check out iVoices.org, every Friday afternoon, for Dave's weekly Second Amendment podcast. The MP3's may be downloaded, or the URL opened in a media player program to hear the audio.
Dave Kopel
Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Podcast
April 3, 2009
http://audio.ivoices.org/mp3/iipodcast281.mp3
The New York Times has said that the Supreme Court's Heller decision isn't significant. Here is Dave's view.
Dave Kopel
Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Podcast
March 20, 2009
http://ivoices.org/podcast.php?id=265
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. 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. In addition, the National Park Service moves to ban all lead in national parks.
Dave Kopel
Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Podcast
March 13, 2009
http://audio.ivoices.org/mp3/iipodcast266.mp3
Dave Kopel and Jon Caldara discuss Dave's law review article finding that nations with higher rates of gun ownership tend to have higher levels of civil, political, and economic freedom.
Dave Kopel
Dave Kopel's Second Amendment Podcast
March 6, 2009
http://audio.ivoices.org/mp3/iipodcast265.mp3
What's the deal with conceal carry laws as it pertains to college campuses? Jon Caldara sits down with 2nd amendment expert Dave Kopel to talk about the current state of conceal carry on campus in Colorado, and how it compares to Utah, where students are allowed to carry.
Dave Kopel with Jon Caldara and Gloria Neal
850 KOA: The Ride Home
March 27, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/dbgeay
Should Colorado lawmakers approve a bill that would waive gun-show checks for concealed weapons carriers? Independence Institute President Jon Caldara, Gloria Neil, and callers discuss the pending legislation, Dave gives his opinion in the 2nd hour.
Abbas Rana
The Hill Times (Canada)
March 30, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/d2d3dl
"Mr. Breitkreuz's private member's bill, Bill C-301, was introduced on Feb. 1 and is scheduled for debate on April 1. The Harper government has not introduced any government bill to abolish the gun registry. The government, however, introduced a legislation, C-24 on this issue in the last Parliament and it died on the Order Paper after Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament in September of last year to call an election. In their election platform, the Conservatives pledged to end the 'ineffective long-gun registry and reduce guns in our streets.' "
The Government of Finland
NewsRoom Finland
March 11, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/dex7s3
" 'In future, only persons who have reached the age of 20 and practised shooting as a member of a shooting club actively for at least two years could be granted a handgun permit,' the ministry said."
House Editorial
New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
March 12, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/dlncgl
"Wednesday's mass shooting was the third by a German teen since the 2002 Erfurt shooting. How many will it take before authorities see that tougher gun control laws are not the answer?"
Deutsche Welle (Germany)
March 15, 2009
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4098492,00.html
"Merkel called on Sunday, March 15, for tighter gun control in her country after a teenager used his father's pistol to kill 15 people. Authorities have said the gunman then took his own life while in a shoot-out with police."
Kerstin Gehmlich
Reuters News
March 12, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLC958278
"Germany does not need to tighten its gun laws in response to school shootings by a teenager in southwestern Germany on Wednesday, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said." The article also contains a concise summary of Germany's existing gun laws.
Tony Paterson
The Independent (UK)
March 15, 2009
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/in-europes-league-of-school-shootings-germany-comes-top-1645387.html
"Germany is now second only to the US in terms of the number of deaths that have resulted from school shootings. It is in the unenviable position of being top of the league in Europe, and many are beginning to ask whether radical changes to the country's gun control laws are not long overdue."
Heinz de Boer
Daily News (South Africa)
March 27, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/d63lmw
"The South African Gun Owners' Association (Saga) is threatening legal action against the SAPS amid threats that thousands of firearm owners could be arrested come July 1."
Marcus Berry
Swisster (Switzerland)
March 19, 2009
http://www.swisster.ch/en/news/society/swiss-to-vote-on-home-storage-of-army-firearms_117-1340038
"Switzerland will vote on whether Swiss soldiers will continue to keep their rifles at home -- a long standing custom. Officials in Bern have confirmed that the initiative to abolish the practice and protect the public from firearms collected more than 100,000 signatures required to force a national referendum on the issue. Swisster lines up both sides of the argument."
Bangkok Post (Thailand)
March 27, 2009
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/14053/defence-plans-to-arm-teachers
"The Royal Aide-de-Camp Department plans to buy 4,700 pistols and rifles for use by teachers, security officers and village defence volunteers working in the troubled South.The Defence Ministry department has sought donations to buy the 4,700 9mm semi-automatic pistols and semi-automatic rifles."
Richard Munday
The Times (UK)
March 13, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5897827.ece
"If the Germans are serious about stopping killers running amok in schools, they might consider the Israeli solution of arming teachers. It works there, as it has on occasion in America -- the massacre in the 'gun-free zone' of Virginia Tech can be contrasted with the assault by a former pupil on the neighbouring Appalachian Law School in 2002 that was halted by two armed students."
Cameron Brooks
The Press and Journal (Scotland)
March 28, 2009
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1145477?UserKey=
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has begun a campaign of posters and leaflets to banish air rifles and pistols from Scotland's streets.
Dominic Casciani
BBC News Home Affairs
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7919078.stm
"The number of firearms operations rose by almost a fifth last year in police forces in England and Wales. The Home Office figures show there were 21,181 authorized operations in the year to 31 March 2008, a rise of 17.5%."
Daniel Foggo
The Times (UK)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5950486.ece
"To circumvent the legislation, the guns are equipped with longer barrels and wire stocks at the back which together extend their length to 2ft. Only 'short' firearms are banned."
Translation by David B. Kopel & Ruben Medardo Tapia
David Kopel en Español
March, 2009
https://davekopel.org/Espanol/mexican-firearms-statutes.htm
This unofficial yet apropos translation is based on the 2004 Mexican government regulations, and in a legal context should not replace the actual Spanish legal text.
Chris Hawley
The Arizona Republic
April 3, 2009
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/04/03/20090403mexicoguns0403.html
" 'It's hard for me to take all this stuff seriously, considering how incredibly sporadic Mexico is about its own enforcement of its own border,' said David Kopel, research director for the Independence Institute, a Colorado think tank that advocates for gun rights. The United States should pressure Mexico to stop complaining about border fences; crack down on corrupt Mexican cops who sell their weapons; and stop tolerating migrant smugglers, Kopel and other gun-rights advocates say.' "
David Crowder and Sito Negron
Newspaper Tree - El Paso's Online Newspaper
March 30, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/cycar3
"U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and two fellow senators left El Paso today after a three-hour hearing having heard from six witnesses that violence has dropped off in Juarez and National Guard troops aren't needed on the border." In the hearing, the following dialog took place between Senator Roger Wicker (R, MS) and El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza: "I do not hear you advocating additional gun control laws on the people of the United States," Wicker said. "You do not," Esparza replied.
William La Jeunesse and Maxim Lott
FoxNews.com
April 2, 2009
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/02/myth-percent-guns-mexico-fraction-number-claimed/
"While 90 percent of the guns traced to the U.S. actually originated in the United States, the percent traced to the U.S. is only about 17 percent of the total number of guns reaching Mexico."
Press Release
The O'Leary Report
March 26, 2009
http://www.sunherald.com/prnewswire/story/1229280.html
"Sixty-five percent of voters say that the international black market is the main source for Mexican drug cartel arms; while only 13.5 percent think these arms are coming from U.S. gun stores (3.5 percent think the arms are coming from somewhere else and 18 percent are not sure)."
Suzanne Gamboa
Associated Press
March 26, 2009
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/26/gun-bans-off-limits-in-drug-war/
"Members of Congress may be alarmed by the surge in Mexican drug violence and its potential to spill across the border, but when talk turns to gun control, opposition from both Democrats and Republicans grows fierce."
Ken Ellingwood and Tracy Wilkinson
The Los Angeles Times
March 15, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/da4xu8
"Most of these weapons are being smuggled from Central American countries or by sea, eluding U.S. and Mexican monitors who are focused on the smuggling of semi-automatic and conventional weapons purchased from dealers in the U.S. border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California."
Informational Website
The Revolutionary War Veterans' Association
"The Appleseed Program is designed to take you from being a simple rifle owner to being a true rifleman. All throughout American history, the rifleman has been defined as a marksman capable of hitting a man-sized target from 500 yards away -- no ifs, ands or buts about it. This 500-yard range is traditionally known as "the rifleman's quarter-mile;" a rifleman can hit just about any target he can see. This skill was particulary evident in the birth of our country, and was the difference in winning the Revolutionary War."
HamptonRoads.com
March 26, 2009
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/03/hollywood-vigilante-pic-mocks-virginia-gun-law
A character in Punisher: War Zone, a film just released on DVD, claims to have obtained a firearm from a Virginia gun show without a background check. Background checks are required on all dealer sales of firearms in the United States, but not on sales between private individuals. The film did poorly at both the box office and in critical reviews.
Eric Fingerhut
JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People
March 25, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/cj2f2v
"Seventeen Jewish organizations are among 32 faith-based groups which have signed a letter to Congress opposing 'in the strongest terms' any amendment to the Washington, D.C. voting rights bill that would 'undermine the District's ability to regulate firearms.' " The groups fear that the plan to grant D.C. a House representative in Congress would limit the city government's ability to restrict firearms ownership.
The Oak Ridger (TN)
March 3, 2009
http://www.oakridger.com/localnews/x844651624/1-in-4-lawmakers-have-gun-permits
"One in four Tennessee lawmakers has a state-issued permit to carry a loaded handgun, a newspaper analysis has found."
Jennifer Vigil
The San Diego Union Tribune
February 28, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/cpvuo7
Citing President Obama as their inspiration, three young activists successfully lobbied the San Diego Unified School District Board to cancel a district-wide program in marksmanship. "The teens are part of a group called the Education Not Arms Coalition, which opposes marksmanship programs because its members believe allowing students any access to guns on campuses contradicts zero-tolerance policies... Xavier McGregor, a sophomore at Lincoln High, told the board Tuesday that 'the simple symbol' of guns on campus is too much for him to take."
Bob Smietana
The Tennessean
March 17, 2009
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=81458
"Safety has been on the minds of many local congregations recently, after a Southern Baptist pastor was gunned down in an Illinois pulpit during church services on March 8. Some local churches already rely on armed volunteers and off-duty police officers, while others say recent church shootings have made them realize they should be prepared, in case the unthinkable happens."
Ross Kaminsky
Human Events
March 31, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/ch4ny8
"If President Obama has stimulated anything in America, it is demand for guns and ammunition. According to Rich Wyatt, the voluble and intense owner of Gunsmoke -- a firearms shop and training facility just outside Denver -- 'If I had known it would be this good in the gun business, I might have voted for Obama.' "
Kimberlee Sakamoto
KRON-TV (San Francisco)
March 25, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/da4nno
"Many law enforcement officials are openly expressing dismay that the public held a rally for gunman Lovelle Mixon in Oakland." Mixon, a convicted felon tentatively linked to a rape, killed four Oakland police officers before police finally killed him.
Pete Thomas
The Los Angeles Times
March 12, 2009
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/03/carrie-underwoo.html
" 'Carrie Underwood has decided to use her talents to benefit an organization dedicated to destroying the rights of thousands of her fans,' Rick Story, vice president of the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, said in a news release."
House Editorial
The Washington Times
March 17, 2009
http://gto7.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/guns-on-a-plane/
This House editorial in The Washington Times argued against a plan they reported by the Obama administration to end the Federal Flight Deck Officers program allowing pilots of commercial aircraft to arm themselves after training and certification. This editorial has since disappeared from the newspaper's web site, and the paper published the article below.
Audrey Hudson
The Washington Times
March 24, 2009
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/24/gun-program-for-pilots-set-for-expansion-officials/
"The Obama administration has no plans to end a program that trains commercial airline pilots to carry guns and thwart terrorist attacks, and in fact is seeking to expand resources for oversight and training, government officials and pilots organizations say."
Press Release
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
March 26, 2009
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/03/26-1
"The National Park Service has stepped back from a plan it announced earlier this month to ban lead-based ammunition and fishing tackle by 2010, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The proposed lead ban triggered a fierce counterattack by gun groups that has put into doubt the pledge to eliminate lead ammunition from the park system by 2010."
Timothy Warren
The Washington Times
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/05/gun-planks-stymie-dc-vote/
"The amendments have put House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and other top Democrats in a bind because they don't want to pass a bill that relaxes gun laws in the District. The Senate passed the bill with such an amendment last week."
Associated Press
KTUU.com
March 26, 2009
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=10080298
"Alaska's new attorney general has a colorful background and a reputation for promoting gun rights. Palin today named Wayne Anthony Ross, a current director and former vice president of the National Rifle Association."
The Fort Mill Times (SC)
March 26, 2009
http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/507083.html
"An effort to expand an Illinois law requiring safe storage of guns failed Thursday."
Jeanne Koranda
The Wichita Eagle (KS)
March 29, 2009
http://www.kansas.com/news/state/story/752013.html
"Next year, Kansans will vote whether to change the state constitution to guarantee individual gun rights." The amendment is to make certain that the right in the Kansas state constitution will be understood to guarantee the right to keep and bear arms to individual Kansans, whatever Federal courts might decide about the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Buckeye Firearms Association
March 27, 2009
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6603
"The anti-gun Sheriff has long-been an anathema to Ohio gun owners. In 2004, McFaul had to be sued by Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman Jim Irvine before he would do his job and begin issuing Ohio concealed handgun licenses. He eventually settled the suit, and paid all court costs and attorney's fees (with taxpayer funds, of course)."
Mark Puente
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
March 25, 2009
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/mcfaul_resigns_amid_questions.html
Here is the original story that prompted the above post. McFaul was under close investigation on a wide variety of charges, including nepotism, improper political activity in his departments, and acceptance of bribes."
Associated Press
The Rapid City Journal
March 26, 2009
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2009/03/26/news/legislature/2008_stories/doc49bbec9832112709497505.txt
"Gov. Mike Rounds has signed a bill that eliminates South Dakota's post-purchase 48-hour waiting period to buy a handgun."
David Saleh Rauf
The Houston Chronicle (TX)
March 26, 2009
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6341952.html
"Texans would be allowed to stow their guns and ammo inside their locked cars or trucks while at work and parked on employer property under a controversial bill passed Wednesday by the state Senate."
Press Release
The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action
March 31, 2009
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?id=4680
"Senate Bill 78 will protect your right to lawfully transport and store firearms in your privately-owned locked motor vehicle while parked in publicly accessible parking lots controlled by your employer or a business you frequent. House Bill 357 will make it easier for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves without the need to obtain a concealed weapon permit."
Matthew Cella
The Washington Times
March 28, 2009
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/28/kaine-vetoes-gun-execution-bills/
"Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine on Friday vetoed bills that would have lifted restrictions on gun possession and increased the number of offenders eligible for the death penalty." The story goes into some detail on the assortment of bills the Democrat vetoed.
Press Release
The Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens' Committee for the Right
to Keep and Bear Arms
March 24, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/c82e3q
The SAF and the CCRKBA plan to take Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to court as soon as the Mayor imposes his announced ban on the carrying of legal concealed weapons from Seattle city property. SAF Founder Alan Gottlieb alleges that the Mayor uses the ban to distract attention from issues damaging to his administration.
Don Ward
The Seattle Weekly
March 24, 2009
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/03/mayor_nickels_moving_forward_w.php
Ward here provides a summary of Nickels's announcements of the putative ban of 'dangerous weapons' on city property, opposition to it, Nickels's failure to enact the ban, then re-announcements of the ban such as the current one.
Rep. Jennifer Coffey and Evan F. Nappen
Jurist (University of Pittsburgh, PA)
March 13, 2009
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2009/03/supreme-court-gets-hayes-wrong-only.php
"If domestic violence offenses are serious enough to take away one's Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms, then these offenses are serious enough to be felonies. The Hayes Court rationalizes the law by claiming Congress closed a 'loophole' by its enactment. In reality, the bar for loss of civil rights was simply lowered."
Bob Unruh
World Net Daily
March 24, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/dkb2qe
"A federal judge ruled there must be a full review of the possible environmental impact of allowing citizens on national properties to carry concealed guns in holsters rather than locked cases."
Associated Press
The Arizona Daily Star
March 21, 2009
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/285369
"The National Rifle Association on Friday appealed a federal court ruling that blocked a Bush administration policy allowing people to carry concealed, loaded guns in national parks."
Press Release
The National Shooting Sports Foundation
March 20, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/cza4mv
"The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the trade association for the firearms industry -- lauded a decision yesterday by the Illinois Supreme Court that dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2001 against firearms manufacturer Beretta U.S.A. Corp. arising out of a criminal shooting."
Press Release
The Second Amendment Foundation
March 9, 2009
http://www.saf.org/viewpr-new.asp?id=287
"The Second Amendment Foundation and three Washington, D.C. residents today filed a lawsuit challenging a regulation by District of Columbia city government that arbitrarily bans handguns based on a roster of 'acceptable' handguns approved by the State of California."
Press Release
The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action
March 27, 2009
http://www.nraila.org/legislation/read.aspx?id=4673
"NRA filed a second amended complaint in Dick Anthony Heller et al v. District of Columbia in U.S. District Court. NRA and other plaintiffs are asking the court to issue a preliminary and permanent injunction to prevent the D.C. Council from implementing laws that violate the Second Amendment and from enforcing its prohibitions on the possession of commonly owned firearms."
Press Release
The Second Amendment Foundation
March 30, 2009
http://saf.org/viewpr-new.asp?id=290
"The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Attorney General Eric Holder, seeking an injunction against enforcement of a federal law that makes it impossible for American citizens who reside outside the United States to purchase firearms while they are in this country."
Bill Rankin and Aaron Gould Sheinin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
March 13, 2009
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/13/airport0313.html
"A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled licensed firearms owners may not carry guns into parts of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. GeorgiaCarry.org, a gun rights group, and state Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-Villa Rica) challenged the airport's ban on guns. They contended a law enacted last year overrode a long-standing policy prohibiting airport visitors from carrying guns in non-secure areas."
Eugene Volokh
The Volokh Conspiracy
February 25, 2009
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_29-2009_04_04.shtml#1238444660
Professor Volokh excerpts here without comment the decision of the California State Court of Appeals that a young man who had professed a desire to harm others could be denied access to firearms before he had actually committed any crime. The comments section offers some additional thought.
J. Haller
Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, State of
California
March 24, 2009
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/D052261.PDF
Here is the decision itself, 'NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS,' giving the full grounds for the upholding of the lower court's decision.
Associated Press
WKYC.com
March 5, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/cu9xht
"The Ohio Supreme Court says state wildlife officers don't need to suspect wrongdoing to enter private land and check up on hunters. Thursday's 7-0 ruling affirmed a lower court's ruling that evidence wasn't improperly gathered in the case of William Coburn of Erie County."
Doug Page
Dayton Daily News (OH)
March 23, 2009
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2009/03/23/ddn032309gunsuitweb.html
A resident of Englewood, Ohio, is suing for being stopped and questioned by that city's police for openly carrying a handgun in a city park. Englewood forbids possessing a firearm in such a location, but Ohio state law allows open carry.
David E. Young
Informational Web Log
http://onsecondopinion.blogspot.com/
"Fact checking modern opinions and assertions regarding Second Amendment history and development by direct comparison with Founding Era facts..." Young is one of the historians whose research into the origins of the 2nd Amendment laid the groundwork for much of the debate and decision of Heller.
Miguel E. Larios
Working Paper Series of the Social Science Research Network
March 5, 2009
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1354362
"In District of Columbia v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess firearms. More recently, in United States v. Hayes, the Supreme Court upheld a federal statute which criminalizes the possession of firearms by persons previously convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses. This essay argues that the Hayes decision cannot be squared with the individual right to keep and bear arms enunciated in Heller."
Tracey L. Meares and Andrew V. Papachristos
Working Paper Series of the Social Science Research Network
January 13, 2009
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1326932
"Despite the recent and welcome decline in United States crime, gun crime remains a persistent concern among many Americans. Solutions to the 'gun problem,' however, diverge considerably, fueled by ideological, constitutional, and moral debates. Our prior work details the potential of a unique intervention effort that polices gun offenders with a hybrid mix of traditional enforcement and models of normative change. Using an individual growth curve models and propensity scores to adjust for non-random group assignment, our findings suggest that several PSN interventions are associated with greater declines of homicide in the treatment neighborhoods as compared to the control neighborhoods. The largest effect is associated with offender notification meetings that stress individual deterrence, normative change in offender behavior, and increasing views on legitimacy and procedural justice. Here we extend the prior work by examining and evaluating how the ex-offenders who attend the offender notification meetings - and those who don't - view the legitimacy of key actors in the criminal justice system and the law itself."
Robert A. Levy
Regulation
Winter, 2008-2009
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv31n4/v31n4-noted.pdf#page=6
PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader or similar software.
"It is clear, post-Heller, that government has the burden of proof in justifying gun regulations that might infringe on Second Amendment rights. It is equally clear -- notwithstanding the predisposition of the NEJM and JAMA-- that the regulators have not met their burden."
Robert Mitchum
The Chicago Tribune
March 3, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/dms9yo
"Expanding upon previous research that every crime-related gunshot wound causes around $1 million in social costs, the report's four authors calculated the annual cost of gun violence at $2.5 billion, or $2,500 per Chicago household." The group in question is the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
Patrik Jonsson
The Christian Science Monitor
March 30, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/ctkgkx
This article quotes from traditionally anti-2nd Amendment groups postulating, without any effort to prove, a correlation between some recent notorious crimes and the current economic downturn. The Christian Science Monitor ceased print publication on March 27, 2009, and now exists solely as an electronic edition.
C.D. Michel
Informational Web Log
http://www.calgunlaws.com/
http://www.calgunlaws.com/index.php/che-talk/
"CalGunLaws.com is an online research resource designed primarily for use by attorneys and interested firearm owners. CalGunLaws.com strives to provide easy access to and facilitate understanding of the multitude of complex federal, state, and local firearm laws and ordinances, administrative and executive regulations, case law, and past and current litigation that defines the California firearms regulatory scheme in theory and practice." The site is also now the home for Don Kates's blog, to be found at http://www.calgunlaws.com/index.php/che-talk/
Carlton F. W. Larson
Working Paper Series of the Social Science Research Network
February 21, 2009
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1347186
"This Symposium Essay examines the Supreme Court's Second Amendment decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. Specifically, the Essay examines four exceptions to the right to bear arms that the Court specifically approved: laws disarming felons; laws disarming the mentally ill; laws prohibiting the possession of firearms in sensitive places; and laws regulating the commercial sale of firearms. The Essay argues that these exceptions cannot be completely justified on originalist grounds, at least under the form of originalism that the Court is likely to employ. The Essay further argues that the exceptions cannot be justified if strict scrutiny is the applicable standard of scrutiny. Accordingly, some lesser standard of review of firearms regulation must apply."
This newsletter is compiled with help from Dr. Rob S. Rice. For more on this vitalized, yet stuporous individual, see here: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rrice/rrice_hd.html. Dr. Rice has of late allocated a moiety of his scanty funds toward upgrading his NRA Membership. The like-minded might do well to consult http://www.nra.org.
Al Qaeda delenda est!
