Mini-Symposium: Teaching Firearms Law

Especially since the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, there has been an increased interest not only in writing about firearms law (check out Joseph’s post here), but in teaching classes on it as well. Our admittedly unscientific evidence—personal experience and conversations with others—suggests that student demand is high, and that professors are taking a diverse range of approaches to structuring and teaching their courses.

We’re excited to host a mini-symposium on this blog with accomplished scholars who have been writing and studying these issues for years—some even for decades. [Updated with links.]

Throughout this week, they’ll discuss their approaches to the course, how they select and organize reading material, and how they engage students in the class. At the end of the week, I’ll collect each of the individual posts and update this introduction with links to those posts.

• George Mocsary, soon-to-be Professor of Law at the University of Wyoming College of Law (and formerly professor at Southern Illinois University School of Law). Post here. 
• Mary Anne Franks, Professor of Law & Dean’s Distinguished Scholar at the University of Miami School of Law. Post here.
• Eric Ruben, soon-to-be Assistant Professor of Law at SMU Dedman School of Law (and currently Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice and adjunct professor at NYU School of Law). Post here.
• James B. Jacobs, Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Professor of Constitutional Law and the Courts at NYU School of Law. Post here.
• David Kopel, Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law; Research Director of the Independence Institute. Post here.
• Joseph Blocher, Lanty L. Smith ’67 Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law. Post here.

We hope that these posts provide some insight for those who are considering teaching in this area, and we welcome further questions, suggestions, syllabi, and the like. One of our central missions at the Center is to be a resource for teachers of firearms law, so please don’t hesitate to contact us at firearmslaw@law.duke.edu with any questions or comments.