Category: Uncategorized
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Will the Gun Free School Zones Act Undermine Bruen?
Yesterday saw the most significant effort to date by a lower federal court to “narrow from below” the Supreme Court’s decision in New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. That decision held that the Second Amendment secures the right of individuals to carry firearms in public for self-defense. Yet, using the Federal Gun Free School Zones Act,…
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Is the President Capable of Committing “Insurrection” Against the Government He Leads?
A few weeks ago, Will Baude and Michael Paulsen dropped a legal bomb on the 2024 presidential race by arguing that former President Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible for a second term in office. They base their argument on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits individuals from holding certain offices if they “engaged in insurrection” after…
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New Article: The Modern Militia
I have posted my new article, The Modern Militia, to SSRN. Here is the abstract: Twentieth-century legal reforms of the military have obscured the distinction between an “army” and a “militia.” For the Framing generation, the distinction between these two kinds of land forces was sharp. An “army” consisted of regular, professional troops, while the…
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Should State Officials Receive Qualified Immunity for Creatively Resisting Bruen?
Unhappy with the Supreme Court’s decision in New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, New York and New Jersey have passed laws designed to nullify Bruen’s practical effect. California and Maryland look set to join them. Before Bruen, these states denied most residents the ability to publicly carry handguns by making licenses to carry…
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Pretextually Eliminating the Right to Bear Arms through Gerrymandered Property Rules
When the Supreme Court required public school desegregation in Brown v. Board of Education, some Southern jurisdictions resisted through legal chicanery. In Virginia, the Prince Edward County school district “closed” its public schools to avoid integration, while setting up government-funded private schools that were “private” in name only. The Supreme Court was not amused. In Griffin v.…
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Welcome to Standing His Ground
Welcome to my blog. I am an assistant professor at George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School. I research legal issues involving the legitimate use of public and private violence, including the right of self-defense, the use of force in law enforcement, just war theory, and gun control. On occasion, I have had the good…
Standing His Ground 