Guns in Law

by Austin Sarat (Editor), Lawrence Douglas (Editor), Martha Merrill Umphrey (Editor)

Overview

Weapons have been a source of political and legal debate for centuries. Aristotle considered the possession of arms a fundamental source of political power and wrote that tyrants "mistrust the people and deprive them of their arms." Today ownership of weapons-whether handguns or military-grade assault weapons-poses more acute legal problems than ever before. In this volume, the editors' introduction traces the history of gun control in the United States, arguing that until the 1980s courts upheld reasonable gun control measures. The contributors confront urgent questions, among them the usefulness of history as a guide in ongoing struggles over gun regulation, the changing meaning of the Second Amendment, the perspective of law enforcement on guns and gun control law, and individual and relational perspectives on gun rights.

The contributors include the editors and Carl T. Bogus, Jennifer Carlson, Saul Cornell, Darrell A.H. Miller, Laura Beth Nielsen, and Katherine Shaw.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625344298
Publisher:	University of Massachusetts Press
Publication date:	05/09/2019
Series:	The Amherst Series in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

AUSTIN SARAT is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science and associate dean of faculty at Amherst College.LAWRENCE DOUGLAS is James J. Grosfeld Professor of Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought at Amherst College.MARTHA MERRILL UMPHREY is Bertrand H. Snell 1894 Professor in American Government and director of the Center for Humanistic Inquiry at Amherst College

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

An Introduction: The Contested Legal Meanings of Guns Austin Sarat Lawrence Douglas Martha Merrill Umphrey John Malague Lorenzo Villegas 1

Chapter 1 The Changing Meaning of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms: 1688-1788 Neglected Common Law Contexts of the- Second Amendment Debate Saul Cornell 20

Chapter 2 The Expressive Second Amendment Darrell A. H. Miller 48

Chapter 3 Guns, Interpretation, and Executive Branch Constitutionalism Katherine Shaw 67

Chapter 4 The Hard, Simple Truth about Gun Control Carl T. Bogus 88

Chapter 5 Merely Regulation? How Gun Law Matters for Public Law Enforcement Jennifer Carlson 135

Chapter 6 Good Moms with Guns Individual and Relational Rights in the Home, Family, and Society Laura Beth Nielsen 164

Contributors 201

Index 203

What People are Saying About This

Nathan Kozuskanich

This collection of new research from leading scholars in the fields of history, sociology, public policy, and law offers no easy solutions but recognizes that the future of gun regulation in America will be as fraught as its past.

William D. Rose

This edited volume makes a significant contribution to at least a couple of different scholarly literatures [including] recent originalist assumptions informing Second Amendment jurisprudence.

Editorial Reviews

"This edited volume makes a significant contribution to at least a couple of different scholarly literatures [including] recent originalist assumptions informing Second Amendment jurisprudence."--William D. Rose, professor and chair of the Political Science Department at Albion College

"This collection of new research from leading scholars in the fields of history, sociology, public policy, and law offers no easy solutions but recognizes that the future of gun regulation in America will be as fraught as its past."--Nathan Kozuskanich, coeditor of The Second Amendment on Trial: Critical Essays on District of Columbia v. Heller

"A collection of six essays by a diverse group of authors, Guns in Law . . . will be of interest not just to those studying Second Amendment law, but also to historians, political scientists, and sociologists seeking to explore the dynamic intersection of guns and the law."--CHOICE

From the Publisher

A collection of six essays by a diverse group of authors, Guns in Law... will be of interest not just to those studying Second Amendment law, but also to historians, political scientists, and sociologists seeking to explore the dynamic intersection of guns and the law.

CHOICE