The Story of the Colorado Inside Out (CIO) Time Machine from the PBS12 Colorado Archive. July 2026. Between 2003 and 2019, PBS12 Colorado produced a series of historical reenactments; examining Colorado history through the lens of the long-running political discussion program Colorado Inside Out (CIO). These productions were known as the CIO Time Machine. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Colorado’s statehood, we sat down with three of the main contributors Patty Calhoun, Dominic Dezzutti, and David Kopel for a look back on this unique project and its mission to educate audiences about Colorado's storied history.

The Doodle Desk with David Kopel. PBS12. Sept. 2, 2026. Kyle Dyer sits down with constitutional law expert David Kopel to discuss his career, Colorado politics, his family’s public affairs legacy and his decades on Colorado Inside Out. Kopel shares what drives his research, how his views have evolved and why he values informed debate, all while they draw each other’s portraits. 31 mins.

New

The Centuries Long History of Multi-Shot Firearms. University of Wyoming Firearms Research Center. Sept. 24, 2026. 59 minutes. Kopel traces the development of repeating firearms from early magazine-fed designs of the 1600s through innovations including the Kalthoff and Lorenzoni systems, Joseph Belton’s repeating firearms, and the Girardoni air rifle. He also explores the transition to more widely accessible repeating firearms through pepperboxes, revolvers, and eventually the Henry and Winchester rifles. The seminar examines what this history reveals about the development and understanding of repeating firearms from the Founding era through the 19th century.

U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel. Federal statutes banning retail handgun sales to young adults ages 18-20 are unconstitutional and may not be criminally enforced. Opinion is binding on the executive branch. Sept. 17, 2026. The opinion cites and quotes Kopel & Greenlee, The Second Amendment Rights of Young Adults, 43 Southern Illinois University Law Journal 495 (2019).

Viramontes v. Cook County, Illinois, No. 25-238 (U.S. Sup. Ct. Sept. 4, 2026). Amicus Brief of National Rifle Association, American Suppressor Association, and Independence Institute. Modern semiautomatic firearms are the product of five centuries of incremental advances in repeating- arm technology. The notion that traditional knife regulations just banning most the most popular rifle in the nation "is, in nineteenth-century parlance, fiddle-faddle, flapdoodle, and bunkum."

The Gun That Won the Revolution. The American Long Rifle was accurate at long distances, unlike British smoothbores. Reason. June 28, 2026.

Fiddlers, Drunkards, Marijuana, and the Second Amendment: The Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Hemani. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. June 19, 2026.

Guns Are Lethal: The History of Five Centuries of Improvements in Firearms Efficacy. 68 William and Mary Law Review (forthcoming 2026). Because virtually every enhancement serving legitimate defensive, hunting, or militia uses also increases potential for misuse, efforts to impose tort liability for "excessive" lethality conflict with centuries of constitutional recognition of firearms' inherently lethal role in the constitutional right to arms.

Short articles

The Gun That Won the Revolution. The American Long Rifle was accurate at long distances, unlike British smoothbores. Reason. June 28, 2026.

Fiddlers, Drunkards, Marijuana, and the Second Amendment: The Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Hemani. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. June 19, 2026.

Supreme Court to Decide Firearms Ban for Marijuana Users. NRA Amicus Brief Argues that Ban Fails Bruen. Reason/Volokh Conspiracy. Jan. 30, 2026.

In the Media

New York Ban on Nonlethal Weapons ‘Undermines’ Supreme Court, Expert Warns. Daily Signal. May 29, 2026. Joseph Buff.

Gov. Polis, AG Weiser at odds over marijuana users owning guns. Complete Colorado. Feb. 10, 2026. Savana Kascak.

Are guns barred at protests, as Kash Patel said? In most states, no. Politifact. Jan. 27, 2026. Louis Jacobson.

CPW begins meetings for semi-automatic licensing scheme. Complete Colorado. Jan. 23, 2026. Savana Kascak.

Second Amendment Roundup: Wolford and the government security principle for sensitive places. Volokh Conspiracy. Jan. 21, 2026. Stephen Halbrook.

Television, Radio, Podcasts 

The Centuries Long History of Multi-Shot Firearms. University of Wyoming Firearms Research Center. Sept. 24, 2026. 59 minutes. Kopel traces the development of repeating firearms from early magazine-fed designs of the 1600s through innovations including the Kalthoff and Lorenzoni systems, Joseph Belton’s repeating firearms, and the Girardoni air rifle. He also explores the transition to more widely accessible repeating firearms through pepperboxes, revolvers, and eventually the Henry and Winchester rifles. The seminar examines what this history reveals about the development and understanding of repeating firearms from the Founding era through the 19th century.

Colorado Inside Out. Aug. 7, 2026. Congressional races, new dsyfunctional anti-gun law, taxpayers shouldn't pay corporate welfare for billionaire Denver Broncos, leadership changes at Denver City Hall, Denver School Board sued for illegal racist gerrymandering. Disgrace: Trump's corrupt plan to sell insider financial information. Best thing: Independence Institute Supreme Court amicus brief against Boulder's abusive lawsuit.

The Doodle Desk with David Kopel. PBS12. Sept. 2, 2026. Kyle Dyer sits down with constitutional law expert David Kopel to discuss his career, Colorado politics, his family’s public affairs legacy and his decades on Colorado Inside Out. Kopel shares what drives his research, how his views have evolved and why he values informed debate, all while they draw each other’s portraits. 31 mins.

The Story of the Colorado Inside Out (CIO) Time Machine from the PBS12 Colorado Archive. July 2026. Between 2003 and 2019, PBS12 Colorado produced a series of historical reenactments; examining Colorado history through the lens of the long-running political discussion program Colorado Inside Out (CIO). These productions were known as the CIO Time Machine. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Colorado’s statehood, we sat down with three of the main contributors Patty Calhoun, Dominic Dezzutti, and David Kopel for a look back on this unique project and its mission to educate audiences about Colorado's storied history.

Latest Monographs & Journal articles

Guns Are Lethal: The History of Five Centuries of Improvements in Firearms Efficacy. 68 William and Mary Law Review (forthcoming 2026). Because virtually every enhancement serving legitimate defensive, hunting, or militia uses also increases potential for misuse, efforts to impose tort liability for "excessive" lethality conflict with centuries of constitutional recognition of firearms' inherently lethal role in the constitutional right to arms.

John Snyder: An Oral History of the Dean of Washington Gun Lobbyists. (U. Wyo.) Firearms Research Center, Working Paper No. 2025-7.

Big Business as Gun Control. 129 Dickinson Law Review 851 (2025). With George A. Mocsary and Bhav Ninder Singh. Covers and examines possible solutions for debanking, financial blacklisting, New York's egregious abuses, disclosure of private banking information, merchant credit codes, and censorship by social media giants.

Negating Democratic Consent: How the Colorado Supreme Court has Nullified Colorado Constitutional Limits on Taxes, Debt, and Corporate Privilege. 102 Denver Univ. Law Review 449 (2025).

Machine Gun History and Bibliography. 25 Wyoming Law Review 45 (2025).

The Social Cost of Nullifying the Right to Arms: The Case of Mexico. 62 South Texas Law Review 137 (2025). With Joseph G.S. Greenlee and Bhav Ninder Singh.

In the Courts and Legislatures

National Shooting Sports Foundation v. James, No. 25-1026 (U.S. Sup. Ct. Mar. 30, 2026). Amicus brief of National Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation, American Suppressor Association, and Independence Institute in support of cert. petition. New York's latest attemtpt to evade the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

United States v. Hemani, No. 24-1234 (U.S. Sup. Ct. Jan. 30, 2026). Amicus brief of National Rifle Association and the Independence Institute. Federal ban on firearms possession by marijuana users violates the history and tradition of the right to arms.

Wolford v. Lopez, No. 24-1046 (U.S. Sup. Ct. Nov. 24, 2025). Amicus brief of National Rifle Association and Independence Institute. Hawaii's "vampire rule" that bans licensed firearms carriers from entering public premises is contrary to the American legal tradition. Persons with carry permits are far more law-abiding than the general population. Brief cited by the United States during oral arugment, p. 50.

National Rifle Association v. Vullo. No. 25-479 (U.S. Sup. Ct., Nov. 19, 2025). Amicus brief of Business and Financial Law Scholars and Independence Institute. Scholars are Eric C. Alston (U. Colo. Business), Daniel D. Barnhizer (Mich. St. Law) Martin Edwards (U. Mississippi Law), Sean J. Griffith (Fordham Law), Julie Hill (Dean, U. Wyo. Law), Jeremy Kidd (Drake Law), George A. Mocsary (U. Wyo. Law), Joseph Olson (Mitchell Hamline Law, emeritus), Todd Zywicki (George Mason Law). Superintendant Vullo's attempt to destroy the NRA by debanking was a well-known pressure tactic of financial regulators, and she is not entitled to qualified immunity for purportedly not understanding her own actions.

The Buckeye Institute v. Internal Revenue Service, No. 25-3170 (6th Cir. Nov. 26, 2025). Amicus brief of Independence Institute. Historically, the English government used the tax code to control the press. Tax statutes may abrirdge the freedom of speech or the press should be judged under the same standards as other statutes, not a lesser standard.

United States v. Peterson. No. 24-30043. Amicus brief of National Rifle Association, American Suppressor Association, and Independence Institute in support of petition for rehearing en banc (5th Cir., Sept. 17, 2025). If suppressors are Second Amendment arms, then registration is unconstitutional.

Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County. No. 25-170, 2025 WL 2664308. Amicus brief of Frontier Institute, Independence Institute, Pelican Institute, and Manhattan Institute in support of cert. petition. (U.S. Sup. Ct., Sept. 11, 2025). Colorado local governments cannot use local tort suits to control national energy policy.