The first law school textbook on the Second Amendment is now available from Aspen Publishers. The co-author are Nick Johnson (Fordham), Michael O’Shea (Oklahoma City), George Mocsary (Connecticut), and me. Here’s the publisher’s page for the textbook, from which professors can request a free review copy. The book is also available for civilian purchase from […]
Author Archive | David Kopel
Reducing the Drug War’s Damage to Government Budgets
By David Kopel on May 14, 2012 4:29 pm in Constitutional History, Criminal Law, Federalism, Proposed Legislation, Supreme Court, Tenth Amendment, War on Drugs
That’s the title of an article that I have co-authored with the Cato Institute’s Trevor Burrus, in a symposium issue of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. The symposium is “Law in an Age of Austerity,” and includes contributions from Charles Cooper (Treasury Dept.’s authority to index capital gains for inflation), John Eastman (state […]
How the British Gun Control Program Precipitated the American Revolution
By David Kopel on May 14, 2012 2:17 pm in Constitutional History, Guns, History, Militia, Religion, Religious Freedom
I posted a draft of this article a few months ago, and I thank VC readers for some helpful comments in improving it. The final version has been published by the Charleston Law Review, and is available on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: This Article chronologically reviews the British gun control which precipitated the American Revolution: the […]
Liberty Quotes. Free new book
Just published on-line by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, at Auburn University. Edited by Christopher Kalabus. Subtitled “Peace and Prosperity: A collection of historical, legal, and philosophical quotations.” Begins with Edward Abbey and Bruce Ackerman, and concludes with Aaron Zelman. In-between are quotes from VC writers Adler, Barnett, and Kopel. Plenty of pro-right to arms […]
Cinco de Mayo: An all-American holiday
UCLA Professor David Hayes-Bautista explains the 1862 origins, an all-American holiday created by Mexican-Americans, who saw the Mexican victory against the French attempt to destroy Mexican democracy as another front in the Union’s battle against the Slave Power. The Franco-Mexican war continued until 1867, and American firearms played an important role in the liberation of […]
Post-argument debate on the constitutionality of Obamacare
By David Kopel on April 18, 2012 12:00 am in Commerce Clause, Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Taxing and Spending Clause
Held at Denver University, Sturm College of Law, on April 11. Debaters were University of Colorado Prof. Scott Moss and me. Moderator is DU Prof. Ann Scales. WMV, via ftp.
Canada abolishes long gun registry
Yesterday the Canadian Senate voted 50-27 to abolish the long gun registry. Bill C-19 received unanimous support from Conservative Senators, and some support from Liberals. The bill had previously passed the House of Commons. It became the law of the land today, with the Royal Assent of Canada’s Governor-General. The bill does not change Canada’s […]
President Obama versus the Constitution
By David Kopel on April 2, 2012 11:54 pm in Congress, Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Counter-Terrorism Policy, Executive Branch, Federalism, Growth of Government, Habeas, Health Care, History, Individual Mandate, Jefferson, Judicial Power, Obama, Presidency, Public Opinion, Supreme Court, Uncategorized, War on Terror
President Obama today fired his opening salvo in an unprecedented attack on the Constitution of the United States. Regarding the impending Supreme Court ruling on the health control law, the President said, “Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was […]
Andy Koppelman wonders: Are people who disagree with him just stupid, or are are they insane?
By David Kopel on April 1, 2012 4:48 pm in Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Psychology, Uncategorized
For over the two years, the very intelligent and clever professors at Balkinization have been doing a great job up trying to come up with legal arguments in support of the health control law. Even people who were not persuaded by the arguments can see how they have contributed to the debate. The first item […]
Nearing the end of the search for the non-existent limiting principles
By David Kopel on March 29, 2012 4:47 am in Commerce Clause, Constitutional Law, Federalism, Fifth Amendment, Growth of Government, Guns, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, New Class, Regulation, Supreme Court, Taxes, Uncategorized
With the Supreme Court probably voting on the constitutionality of Obamacare (a term the President proudly embraces) on Friday, the health control law’s academic friends are diligently attempting to do what the entire United States Department of Justice could not do after two years of litigation: articulate plausible limiting principles for the individual mandate. Over […]
Florida’s Self-Defense Laws
By David Kopel on March 27, 2012 11:59 pm in Crime Victims Rights, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Guns, Self-Defense
Media coverage of Florida’s self-defense laws in recent weeks has often been very inaccurate. While some persons, particularly from the gun prohibition lobbies, have claimed that the Martin/Zimmerman case shows the danger of Florida’s “Stand your ground” law, that law is legally irrelevant to case. So let’s take a look at what the Florida laws […]
Publication party for “Firearms Law and the Second Amendment”
On Friday, March 9, Fordham Law School is holding an all-day symposium on the Second Amendment. The event is free, and open to the public. Or if you would prefer to pay, you can get CLE credits. Among the speakers are Gary Kleck, Nelson Lund, Robert Cottrol, Nicholas Johnson, Adam Winkler, and me. After the […]
Right to carry victory in Colorado: Students for Concealed Carry on Campus v. Regents
Colorado’s 2003 Concealed Carry Act provides that licenses issued pursuant to the CCA shall be valid “in all areas of the state, except as specifically limited” by other portions of the CCA (such as the rule that CCA licensees can have a gun in the car when they are on K-12 school property, but may […]
Right to carry victory in Maryland: Woollard v. Sheridan
Earlier today, Maryland federal district Benson Everett Legg decided the case of Woollard v. Sheridan. Plaintiffs on the case are Robert Woollard and the Second Amendment Foundation. The lead attorney for plaintiffs is Alan Gura, the winning attorney in D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago. As explained in the district court’s Dec. 2010 ruling, […]
Remote gun detectors
A few weeks ago, the New York Times reported that the NY Police Department was working with the Department of Defense on a remote firearms detector. According to the article, the detectors are presently effective at a 3 to 5 meter range at finding guns that are being carried concealed. The objective is to improve […]