Join us for a far-reaching discussion with David French that will cover the landmark 2022 Supreme Court term and the impact of the Court's major Second Amendment decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen. Mr. French is a leading political commentator who is the senior editor at The Dispatch and a New York Times best-selling author. He is also Duke's 2022 Egan Visiting Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy and the School of Arts and Sciences. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Joseph Blocher. The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Firearms Law and the Richard A. Horvitz Program in Constitutional and Public Law. For more information, please contact Theresa Boyce at theresa.boyce@law.duke.edu. Read more »
Join us for a discussion of the future of Second Amendment Rights with Clark Neily of the Cato Institute and Duke Law Professor Joseph Blocher. The two will discuss their thoughts on the case and its impact on gun control legislation and Second Amendment litigation. Lunch will be served. Sponsored by the Federalist Society and the Duke Law Center for Firearms Law. For more information, please contact Tom Fogarty at tmf33@duke.edu or Matthew Mcknight at mcm141@duke.edu Read more »
Join us for an all-day conference on the theme Privatizing the Gun Debate. The conference will explore the ways in which private actors are increasingly taking on a major role in the gun debate. It will convene scholars and practitioners for a series of panels to discuss several themes in the movement to regulate guns outside legislative channels, like those using civil lawsuits and business policies. Distinguished panelists include New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie, Ian Ayres, Brannon Denning, Heidi Feldman, Alla Lefkowitz, Jon Lowy, Jody Madeira, Julia Mahoney, Linda Mullenix, Lars Noah, Dru Stevenson, Ilya Somin, and Fred Vars. The keynote address will be delivered by Alejandro Celorio, Legal Adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and is titled, "The Missing Link: Corporate Responsibility in Arms Trafficking." All are welcome to attend in person. To attend via webinar, please register here: https://bit.ly/PrivatizingGunDebate. Sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law. Contact Theresa Boyce for more information. Read more »
Join us for a discussion with Duke Law alumna Alla Lefkowitz. Ms. Lefkowitz is the Senior Director for Affirmative Litigation at Everytown Law and previously served as a Senior Staff Attorney at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. She will share her experience working on issues related to firearms law, gun violence, and the Second Amendment. We will reserve plenty of time for students to ask questions. Sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law. Contact Theresa Boyce at theresa.boyce@law.duke.edu for more information. Read more »
Many of the recent debates over police violence, the Capitol insurrection, and the events surrounding last summer's antiracism protests have centered on the connections between guns and violence. Observers of these events have developed different views of violence, the state's role in monopolizing legitimate violence, and the relevance of the Second Amendment to these questions. Join us for a discussion on these topics with Susan Liebell,Associate Professor of Political Science and Pre-Law Advisor, St. Joseph's University; Alice Ristroph, Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School; Jonathan Obert, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Amherst College; and Robert Leider, Assistant Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. The webinar can be access here - https://duke.zoom.us/j/93700407271. Sponsored by the Center for Firearms Law. Contact Theresa Boyce (Theresa.boyce@law.duke.edu) for more information. Read more »
Join us for a panel discussion with Denver University Sturm College of Law Professor David Kopel and Duke Law Professors Joseph Blocher and Darrell Miller on gun control and the prevention of tyranny argument raised by many Second Amendment proponents. The panel will discuss the impact of measures to restrict access to firearms and the historical underpinnings of the prevention of tyranny argument, as well as its strengths and weaknesses. In particular, the panel will discuss the implications of gun control on individual self-defense and constrained government. Sponsored by the Duke Law Federalist Society. Co-sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law and the Duke Program on American Values and Institutions, and. For more information, please contact Cameron Ervin at cameron.ervin@duke.edu. Log in using Webinar ID: 997 8814 8801 or this link: https://zoom.us/j/99788148801. Read more »
The 2020 election and its aftermath have raised new questions about the role and place of firearms in election-related activities and democratic institutions. Join us for a discussion about the laws regulating firearms around polling places, near political protests and demonstrations, and by groups purporting to act as a militia. The panelists will be: Mary McCord, Legal Director at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) and Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center; Alan Chen, Thompson G. Marsh Law Alumni Professor of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law; and Timothy Zick, John Marshall Professor of Government and Citizenship, William & Mary Law School. The discussion will be virtual. Please register at: https://duke.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iA32-f0-TCSNdaw8sdAZqw Sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law. Contact Theresa Boyce (Theresa.Boyce@law.duke.edu) for more information. Read more »
Professor Jennifer Carlson will join us to discuss her recently published book, Policing the Second Amendment: Guns, Law Enforcement, and the Politics of Race. Drawing on local and national newspapers, interviews with close to eighty police chiefs, and a rare look at gun licensing processes, Carlson explores the ways police talk about guns, and how firearms are regulated in different parts of the country. Examining how organizations such as the National Rifle Association have influence police perspectives, she describes a troubling paradox of guns today - while color-blind laws grant civilians unprecedented rights to own, carry, and use guns, people of color face an all-too-visible system of gun criminalization. This radicalized framework -- undergirding who is "a good guy with a gun" versus "a bad guy with a gun" -- informs and justifies how police understand and pursue public safety. We will have a moderated discussion followed by a Q&A. Please register using the following link: https://duke.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dC0BHSehStmzqI3nfK3UYQ. Sponsored by the Center for Firearms Law. For more information please contact Theresa Boyce at theresa.boyce@law.duke.edu Read more »
Duke Center for Firearms Law will host its annual symposium this fall in partnership with The Northwestern University Law Review. The symposium-the Second Amendment's Next Chapter-will explore the future of the Second Amendment. It has been over a decade since the Supreme Court decided a significant Second Amendment case and, with the new addition of Justice Kavanaugh to the bench, and another justice soon to join, the Court could be ready to start a new chapter for the right to keep and bear arms. This symposium will examine, among other topics, the Second Amendment's role in private and public spaces, the socio-political environment, and urban gun violence. The keynote address will be given by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy. Event will be held via Zoom Webinar. For more information and to register: https://northwesternlawreview.org/symposium/2020-symposium-the-second-a… Read more »
In the ongoing national conversations about policing, protest, racism, and violence, the role of guns plays an important part. And with gun purchasing, carrying, and brandishing increasingly in the news during the Covid-19 pandemic, the intersection of these issues takes on heightened importance. Join us for an online panel discussion about these issues. Panelists include Duke's own Darrell Miller, Melvin G. Shimm Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Intellectual Life, and Faculty Co-Director of the Center for Firearms Law; Kami Chavis, Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives, Professor of Law, and Director of Criminal Justice Program at Wake Forest University School of Law; Alice Ristroph, Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School; and Stuart Schrader, Lecturer and Assistant Research Scientist in Sociology at Johns Hopkins University. Please register at: https://duke.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_v8Q6n8jwSAOgfeEzpTaG5w Sponsored by the Center for Firearms Law. Contact Theresa Boyce (theresa.boyce@law.duke.edu) for more information. Read more »
Works in progress workshop for firearms law scholars. By invitation only. Sponsored by the Center for Firearms Law. For more information, please contact Jake Charles at jacob.charles@law.duke.edu. Read more »
Please join Kerry Abrams, James B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke Dean of the School of Law, for a conversation with Duke Law faculty members on the current state of policing throughout the United States, with an emphasis on how policies and biases impact communities of color. Panelists will discuss the history of policing in the United States; address how political movements have been used to demand reform and how the current moment compares to earlier protests; the role of the law and the legal profession in maintaining the status quo; and how the law can be used to enact reforms. The panel includes, Brandon L. Garrett L. the Neil Williams, Jr. Professor of Law and the Director of the Duke Center for Science and Justice; Lisa Kern Griffin, the Candace M. Carroll and Leonard B. Simon Professor of Law; H. Timothy Lovelace, Jr, Professor and John Hope Franklin Research Scholar; and Darrell A. H. Miller, the Melvin G. Shimm Professor of Law and the Co-Director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law. The conversation will be moderated by Jesse McCoy, the James Scott Farrin Senior Lecturing Fellow and Supervising Attorney for the Duke Civil Justice Clinic. Attendance is limited to members of the Duke Law community. Please register in advance at http://rsvp.duke.edu/d/67qm4c. Sponsored by the Office of the Dean. For more information, please contact Stella Boswell (boswell@law.duke.edu) Read more »
Whether we are speaking of the March for Our Lives students' remarkable amicus brief in NYSRPA v. NYC, or the recent phenomenon of "Second Amendment Sanctuaries," issues of popular mobilization, preemption, localism, and gun law and politics have been in the news lately. The Center for Firearms Law is sponsoring a discussion among scholars on these topics, with the aim of getting some analytical traction on the issues, and understanding them in the larger theoretical context. Event is by invitation only. A link will be sent to invitees to participate. Sponsored by Center for Firearms Law. For more information, please contact Jacob Charles at Jacob.charles@law.duke.edu. Read more »
Constitutional interpretation has increasingly turned to history and a close reading of the text to decipher meaning. Scholars have begun mining newly available databases containing thousands of works and millions of words from the founding era to shed light on questions about the typical use of words at the time the Constitution was drafted and ratified--including the Second Amendment's right "to keep and bear arms." Join Duke Law Professor Steve Sachs and Neal Goldfarb, Dean's Visiting Scholar at Georgetown Law School, for a discussion about how this work on corpus linguistics can or should inform debates about the meaning of constitutional text and the Second Amendment. Co-sponsored by the Center for Firearms Law, the Federalist Society, and the American Constitution Society. Contact Jake Charles at jacob.charles@law.duke.edu for more details. Read more »
Guns can be-and perhaps increasingly are-regulated outside the process we usually envision in which laws get debated and passed through the legislature. Through lawsuits asserting tort and tort-like liability (e.g. the Sandy Hook lawsuit against Remington) and through business regulation of sales practices and customer behavior (e.g. stores refusing to allow open or concealed carry), civil litigation and the private market are taking on a larger role in the regulation of firearms. Join Mary Anne Franks, Professor of Law & Dean's Distinguished Scholar at the University of Miami, Timothy D. Lytton, Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Development, Distinguished University Professor & Professor of Law at George State University School of Law, and Cal Burton, partner with Steptoe & Johnson LLP, for a discussion of this issues. The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Firearms Law & the American Constitution Society. Please contact Jake Charles at jacob.charles@law.duke.edu for more information. Read more »
Last December, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in a Second Amendment case for the first time in nearly a decade-New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York. Along with that case, nearly a dozen cert petitions are pending before the Court that raise complicated Second Amendment questions, like those concerning bans on assault weapons or high-capacity magazines, laws requiring individuals to show good cause to obtain a license to carry in public, and other regulations on firearms. Join us for a discussion with Professors April Dawson (NC Central Law) and Greg Wallace (Campbell Law) on NYSRPA and the Supreme Court's gun docket. Lunch will be provided. Sponsored by the Center for Firearms Law. Contact Theresa Boyce at theresa.boyce@law.duke.edu for more information. Read more »
Join this interdisciplinary panel of Duke experts for a conversation about 3D printed guns and the legal, technological, and policy considerations, moderated by Professor Joseph Blocher. Panel includes Professor Ken Gall, Associate Dean for Entrepreneurship in the Pratt School of Engineering, Professor Jeff Ward, Associate Dean for Technology & Innovation, and Professor Stuart Benjamin, Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law and co-director of the Center for Innovation Policy at Duke Law School. Lunch provided. This event is co-sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law, Duke Center on Law & Technology, and Law & Tech Society. For more information, please contact Allison Rackley at allison.rackley@law.duke.edu. Read more »
What counts as a "machine gun" under federal law? How do prosecutors charge and try gun crimes? Join former federal prosecutor Professor Lisa Kern Griffin and Duke Law alumna Pamela Hicks, who has held high-level positions within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), for a discussion about implementing and enforcing federal firearms laws and regulations. Jake Charles, executive director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, will moderate the discussion about the practical aspects of gun laws. This event is co-sponsored by Center for Firearms Law, Federalist Society and American Constitution Society. The event is free and open to all; no registration required. Lunch will be provided. For more information, please contact Allison Rackley at allison.rackley@law.duke.edu. Read more »
For information on the schedule of events for the fall symposium, please visit: https://lcp.law.duke.edu/gun-rights/. Sponsored by the Center for Firearms Law. For more information, please contact Allison Rackley at allison.rackley@law.duke.edu. Read more »
Join us for a discussion among Duke Professors Jeff Swanson & Kristin Goss and North Carolina State Representative Marcia Morey about Extreme Risk Protection Order laws (also known as "Red Flag" laws). These laws allow courts to order a person who poses an imminent risk to himself or others to temporarily surrender his firearms to law enforcement. Jake Charles, the executive director of the law school's Center for Firearms Law, will moderate the discussion about the law, history, policy, and effectiveness of this type of legislation. Light refreshments will be served. Sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law. Contact Allison Rackley allison.rackley@law.duke.edu for more information. Read more »
The law school's Center for Firearms Law is hosting University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson, a major constitutional law scholar who also wrote the book "Written in Stone" about monuments. It was published by Duke University Press 20 years ago, and just re-issued this year. We invite interested students and faculty to join us for a small discussion about issues raised in Scott Huler's recent (02/08/19) article in Duke Magazine. Sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law and the Program in Public Law. Moderated by Joseph Blocher. For more information, please contact Allison Rackley at allison.rackley@law.duke.edu. Read more »
University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson will join Duke's own Walter Dellinger for a conversation about the Supreme Court, the Second Amendment, and the future of gun rights and regulation. Levinson's article The Embarrassing Second Amendment is regarded as one of the foundational pieces of scholarship in the area. Dellinger argued District of Columbia v. Heller. Sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law. Moderated by Joseph Blocher. Lunch will be provided. For more information, please contact Marlyn Dail at marlyn.dail@law.duke.edu. Read more »
Two leading firearms law scholars, David Kopel, research director at the Independence Institute and associate policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and George Mocsary of the Southern Illinois University School of Law, will join Professor Charles Dunlap and Professor Darrell Miller for a discussion of The Second Amendment and the Prevention of Tyranny. Co-sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law and the Center for Law, Ethics, and National Security. Lunch will be provided. For more information, please contact Marlyn Dail at marlyn.dail@law.duke.edu. Read more »
