Since Heller, I have maintained that Illinois’s ban on carrying guns violates the plain meaning of “bear” arms. The Second Amendment creates two distinct rights: “keeping” and “bearing,” one for the home, one for the street. Today the Seventh Circuit agreed, holding Illinois’ carry ban unconstitutional. Judge Posner held that “bearing” is a right that […]
Archive | Guns
Seventh Circuit Invalidates Ban on Carrying Loaded Guns in Public
I’m on the run to a faculty meeting, so I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but from the How Appealing blurb the case sounds quite interesting: Majority on divided three-judge Seventh Circuit panel invalidates under the Second Amendment an Illinois law forbidding most people from carrying a loaded gun in public: You […]
First item of new post-election “flexibility”: U.N. gun control
As reported by the Second Amendment Foundation, this morning the Obama administration joined a U.N. majority which called for convening a new conference to create a global Arms Trade Treaty.
Newly Strengthened Louisiana Right-to-Arms Provision
It now reads, The right of each citizen to keep and bear arms is fundamental and shall not be infringed. Any restriction on this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny. The preceding version read, “The right of each citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged, but this provision shall not prevent […]
Second Amendment Results, Final
Only reporting results which represent a change. U.S. Senate. Gains: Indiana (Donnelly replaces Lugar). NM (Heinrich replaces Bingaman). ND (Heitkamp replaces Conrad). Senate losses: Mass., Warren defeats Brown (-.5 with NRA C-rated Senator replaced by an F). Virginia, Kaine replaces Webb. Senate net: +1.5. Ted Cruz’s win in Texas won’t change Senate voting patterns, but […]
Second Amendment election results
As the results come in tonight, I will blog here about the results as they affect the Second Amendment. In an article last week for National Review Online, I previewed all the Senate and Governor races, and all the competitive House races. Election night starts with a net +3 for the Second Amendment in the Senate, […]
Fifth Circuit Upholds Ban on Handgun Sales by Professional Gun Dealers to 18-to-20-Year-Olds
The case is NRA v. BATF (5th Cir. Oct. 25, 2012); thanks to my coblogger John Elwood for the pointer.
99% Chance That This Florida Attorney General’s Brief Was Filed by Someone Not Licensed to Practice Law
Odd, you say — wouldn’t it be pretty likely that whoever is signing the brief is likely licensed to do so? Well, I can prove it: Less than 1% of the Florida population is licensed to practice law. Thus, given the small percentage of the population that is licensed to practice law, the overwhelming majority […]
Louisiana amendment to strengthen right to arms, on November ballot
By David Kopel on October 3, 2012 7:04 pm in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Elections, Guns, Militia, Popular Constitutionalism, Right to carry, State Constitutional Law
In state elections, the most important vote this November will be in Louisiana. A referendum there would significantly strengthen protection of the right to keep and bear arms in the state, and would set a very significant national precedent. Before the Civil War, the Louisiana Constitution did not mention a right to arms. The Louisiana […]
The Ruby Ridge murders, 20 years later
By David Kopel on August 22, 2012 11:48 pm in Criminal Law, Executive Branch, Growth of Government, Guns, Self-Defense, Targeted Killing, War on Drugs
The Prologue to my book No More Wacos: What’s Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix it, includes a section on the Ruby Ridge case. Much more on Waco and Ruby Ridge is available on the Waco page on my website.
Large-Capacity Magazines
The Colorado shooting has led to renewed calls to ban or otherwise restrict access to large-capacity magazines (see, for instance, Elliot Spitzer’s proposal, though that one is likely to be ineffectual). I think such bans might well be constitutional, for reasons given in my Implementing the Right to Keep and Bear Arms paper (p. 1489): […]
Elliot Spitzer’s Proposal to Make Semiautomatics “[Un]available to Private Purchasers”
As I note below, Elliot Spitzer, writing in Slate, seems to want to make semiautomatics “[un]available to private purchasers.” (He says “If the president and the mayor truly believe that semi-automatic weapons should not be available to private purchasers,” but in context it appears that he thinks they should indeed believe this.) The Defense Department […]
Oddly Static Economic Analysis from Elliot Spitzer
Elliot Spitzer, in Slate, has a post — in his “How to Make Government Work” column — titled “How the Government Could Limit Guns Immediately“: The Defense Department and the city of New York are among the largest purchasers of guns. If the president and the mayor truly believe that semi-automatic weapons should not be […]
Amicus brief in Woollard v. Gallagher, Maryland right to bear arms case
Earlier today, I filed an amicus brief in Woollard v. Gallagher, currently scheduled for an expedited hearing around October 23 before the Fourth Circuit. The case is an appeal from the decision of the federal district court that Maryland’s granting of handgun carry permits only to persons who can prove a specific, imminent threat is […]
What Judge Reinhardt missed
Eugene Volokh’s post below discusses a dissent by the Ninth Circuit’s Judge Reinhardt in a capital sentencing case. Judge Reinhardt accurately states that carrying a gun is a Second Amendment right, to make the broader point that carrying a gun is not, in itself, illegitimate behavior. Judge Reinhardt could have strengthened his opinion by citing […]