So argued the eminent Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, in Of Guns, Abortions, and the Unraveling Rule of Law, recently published in the Virginia Law Review. In Unraveling Judicial Restraint: Guns, Abortion, and the Faux Conservatism of J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, Nelson Lund and I disagree, arguing that none of Judge Wilkinson’s comparisons to […]
Archive | Guns
First Circuit upholds federal ban on juvenile handgun possession
By David Kopel on October 6, 2009 2:02 pm in Commerce Clause, Constitutional History, Criminal Law, Guns
The decision is here, and includes extensive analysis of 19th and early 20th century state laws (and court decisions upholding them under state constitution RKBA provisions) against juvenile handgun possession, or sale of handguns to juveniles. The decision also rejects a challenge that the federal ban on simple possession in one’s own home exceeds congressional […]
Want to do it the easy way, or the hard way?
In a new podcast from iVoices.org, I explain McDonald v. Chicago to Independence Institute President Jon Caldara. This is an 11 minute audio, which presumes that the listener is entirely new to the whole idea of incorporation. If you’ve got much more time on your hands, here’s an 86 minute video of my presentation on […]
“Guns Did Not Protect Those Who Possessed Them from Being Shot in an Assault.”
So reports a press release posted at ScienceDaily.com, which also says, The study estimated that people with a gun were 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not possessing a gun. “This study helps resolve the long-standing debate about whether guns are protective or perilous,” notes study author Charles C. […]
Police May Not Even Temporarily Detain a Person Simply Because He’s Openly Carrying a Handgun,
if such open carrying in that place is generally not a crime. So holds St. John v. McColley (D.N.M. Sept. 8, 2009), which grants summary judgment to the seized person on his Fourth Amendment claim: Defendants lacked a justifiable suspicion that Mr. St. John had committed a crime, was committing a crime or was about […]
Self-Defense, Shmelf-Defense:
In working on my article on the regulation of stun guns and irritant sprays, I came across this editorial from the Annapolis Capital, June 27, 1985: Council Should Ban Stun Guns Guns often fall into the wrong hands or are misused. Why make it possible for people to misuse a new technology weapon, the electric […]
United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (Year?)
The Supreme Court will consider whether the Second Amendment should apply to the states, and thus whether to overrule United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1876). Or is it United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1875)? Both citations are commonly used; HeinOnline reports that the 1875 date is given in roughly 60% of […]
Supreme Court Agrees To Decide Whether the Second Amendment Applies to the States
The Court has granted certiorari on this issue, in McDonald v. City of Chicago.
Does CHL ban in churches violate the First Amendment?
An opinion released today by the Arkansas Attorney General says “no.” Like most states, Arkansas allows adults to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun for lawful purposes, after passing a background check and safety class. Like a few states, Arkansas prohibits licensed carry in “Any church or other place of worship.” In short, the […]
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