New Histories of Gun Rights and Regulation Essays on the Place of Guns in American Law and Society

The US Supreme Court recently held that the constitutionality of modern gun laws depends on whether they are "consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation." This landmark judicial decision, which cited an essay in this collection, made it ever more crucial to be clear about what the "historical tradition" entails. The scope of the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms, and accordingly the government's power to regulate firearms in the interest of public safety, hangs in the balance.

Drawing on original research and sources not available to earlier Supreme Court opinions, New Histories of Gun Rights and Regulations brings together various methodological approaches and highlights issues in firearms law that have been previously underexamined. Its contributors, including distinguished historians, social scientists, and legal scholars, offer valuable new insight into the place of guns in American law and society. This groundbreaking new volume illuminates how history and constitutional law interact, suggesting concrete answers to some live legal controversies.

A vital contribution to a vibrant debate, New Histories of Gun Rights and Regulations is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the scope of the Second Amendment—a right whose breadth is frequently defined by its historical treatment.

"1. Firearms Law and History in a New Doctrinal Era
Chapter 1: Introduction
Joseph Blocher, Jacob D. Charles, and Darrell A. H. Miller
" "2. U.S. Expansion and the Development of a National Firearms Industry
Chapter 2: United StateLindsay Schakenbach Regele
" "3. Scottish History, Presbyterian Culture, and the Right to Bear Arms
Neil McIntyre
" "4. âA Well-Regulated Militiaâ: Constitutional Politics, the Second Amendment, and the Militia in the Jacksonian Era and the American Civil War
Nicholas Mosvick
" "5. Gun Laws in Early America: The Sometimes Contradictory Regulations of Gun Use in the Colonial South
Sally E. Hadden
" "6. To Brandish or Not to Brandish: The Consequences of Gun Display
Robert J. Spitzer
" "7. The Life She Saves May Be Her Own: The Radical Feminist Argument for Womenâs Gun-Armed Self-Defense
Mary Zeiss Stange
" "8. Historical Gun Laws Targeting âDangerousâ Groups and Outsiders
Joseph Blocher and Caitlan Carberry
" "9. Strange Bedfellows: Racism and Gun Rights in American History and Current Scholarship
Brennan Gardner Rivas
" "10. A Brief Overview of Gun Registration in U.S. History
Genesa C. Cefali and Jacob D. Charles
" "11. Historical Militia Law, Fire Prevention Law, and the Modern Second Amendment
Mark Anthony Frassetto
" "12. Abolition, Armed Self-Defense, and Firearms Regulation in Antebellum America: The Enforcement of Surety Laws in Boston
Saul Cornell
" "13. Constitutional Liquidation, Surety Laws, and the Right to Bear Arms
Robert Leider
" "14. Prohibitions on Private Armies in Seven State Constitutions
Darrell A.H. Miller
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