Article
To say that the moral stain of racism pervades American history would be an understatement. One does not have to look hard to find examples where people of color were treated disparagingly or disparately. Thus, it should come as no surprise that throughout much of American history there are examples where race played a role in lawmakers deciding who may and may not acquire, own, and use firearms for lawful purposes, or where race was the principal factor in orchestrating state- and nonstate-sponsored armed violence against people of color. The painful and often tragic historical intersection between race and firearms is indeed a complex and multifaceted narrative worthy of examination and reflection, including in the area of history-in-law—that is, the study of how the law has evolved in a particular area; what events and factors caused the law to evolve; and how, if at all, this history is important when adjudicating legal questions.
by Patrick J. Charles
Article
Among the most pressing questions in Second Amendment jurisprudence is the constitutionality of public carry restrictions. With the Court set to rule on Second Amendment protections beyond the home, the issue demands scrutiny not simply for the outcome but for how the Justices consider the question in light of a growing gun violence epidemic. This Article argues against a rights-as-trumps approach that focuses on history, instead using a population-based perspective to shift the focus from the scope of the right and properly place the rights and liberties of the general public into the equation.
by Michael R. Ulrich
Article
Forty-five states have adopted express preemption statutes curtailing or entirely prohibiting local gun regulation, and several jurisdictions now threaten localities with penalties for violating such restrictions. These measures have been remarkably effective in reducing the breadth and variety of gun laws nationwide, but their consequences have only just begun to attract attention. Public debates over guns tend to center on the Second Amendment while overlooking state-level obstacles to local lawmaking, and the scholarship on state-local preemption lacks an analysis devoted exclusively to the gun-policy space.
by Rachel Simon
Article
Gun violence is no longer just a crime-control problem in the United States; it is a public health crisis. This crisis is most acute in densely populated and economically challenged communities. The threat of becoming the intended or innocent victim of gun violence in these communities has become so pervasive that it only seems to make the headlines when the numbers are truly shocking to the general public. Sadly, these numbers have become the norm for the residents of these communities. Government bears a responsibility to leverage every lawful measure to mitigate this safety hazard, no differently than it does for other threats that implicate both public safety and crime control, such as the detection and deterrence of intoxicated drivers.
by Geoffrey S. Corn
Article
Assault rifle bans. Gun-free zones. Concealed carry permits. Sentencing enhancements. Of all the firearm regulations we have, or have had, in our country, the most important one is the felon prohibitor, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). This is the federal statute prohibiting anyone “who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving firearms. For better or worse, this statutory subsection is the centerpiece of gun laws in the United States in terms of impact, enforcement, overlap with other laws, and spillover effects.
by Dru Stevenson
Student Note
There are many obstacles and possible bars to a public nuisance claim succeeding in a suit seeking reparations for racial violence. Even if those barriers are overcome, there remains a limit on how impactful such litigation can be relative to the immense and nearly immeasurable harm of America’s history of racism and racial violence. However, this novel legal strategy, if successful in the Tulsa Lawsuit, could serve as a model for other communities that have suffered events of mass racial violence without any form of reparations or redress. Whether or not the public nuisance claim is successful on the merits in this instance, it can still serve as a valuable tool within broader advocacy efforts to bring about reparations.
by Adam Coretz
Student Note
In order to investigate the racially disparate impact of policing, it is imperative to critically interrogate the nature of police-civilian interactions and how these interactions may be infected by individual bias. Traffic stops represent one of the most common forms of police-civilian contact, and thus are a fitting category of interaction to serve as a target for this type of inquiry. Traffic laws in the United States are generally extremely broad; they tend to “regulate the details of driving in ways both big and small, obvious and arcane.” The breadth of such codes and the latitude offered to officers in enforcing them make traffic violations potent openings that officers can exploit to investigate persons they would not otherwise have the requisite suspicion to investigate.
by Rebecca Yin
Student Note
Imagine this. You are a rising second-year law student preparing for on-campus interview season. You are ecstatic because you were able to secure an interview with your top choice law firm. You worked hard for this opportunity, and you know that you are qualified. You have the grades and ambition to succeed. Then, one of your classmates nonchalantly asks, “Are you going to straighten your hair for the interview?” It may seem like an uncomplicated question, yet, for many, this question presents a quandary.
by Grayson Moronta
