Dave Kopel: Supreme Court Gun Cases

Supreme Court Descriptive Index


In May of 2006, Dave Kopel published a book titled "Supreme Court Gun Cases". (See the link above.)

(Co-authers: Stephen P. Halbrook, Ph.D. and Alan Korwin)

This book is described by Kopel:

"All 92 Supreme Court gun cases are listed here alphabetically, as answered questions, to help you find specific proceedings, and quickly grasp the gun-related elements of the case. Only the questions related to firearms or self defense are listed even if, as is often the case, the decision itself has a different focal point. Many other questions are indeed typically addressed in the cases and, because of the terseness of the questions below, you should rely on the full actual cases for an understanding of the significance of each one. Think of this index as a navigation tool, a memory jogger, and a good read."

That describes the content and utility of the book, certainly, but it also describes the content of the link. The webpage lists all 92 Supreme Court cases alphabetically, by Name, Date and Citation. It also describes the legal questions addressed and a brief one-word (yes or no) answer to the question.

For example, here are the first half-dozen cases cited:

• Indicates the 44 cases presented in their entirety in Supreme Court Gun Cases.
Ð Indicates the 14 self-defense cases.

Key: Name; Date; Citation; Page in Supreme Court Gun Cases

Acers v. United States • Ð; 1896; 164 U.S. 388; 238
Is fear of a deadly attack, without reasonable demonstrated grounds for the fear, sufficient to support a claim of self defense [NO]; Must the danger be immediate [YES]; Can any object be considered as a deadly weapon depending on how it was used [YES].

Adams v. Williams; 1972; 407 U.S. 143; 363
Can a peace officer conduct a limited protective search for concealed weapons, if there is reason to believe a suspect is armed and dangerous [YES]; Are 4th Amendment guarantees violated by such a stop and frisk [NO].

Adamson v. California; 1947; 332 U.S. 46; 310
[The dissenting opinion in a 5th Amendment case argues that the 14th Amendment was intended to incorporate the Bill of Rights, including the 2nd Amendment, against the states].

Alberty v. United States • Ð; 1896; 162 U.S. 499; 231
If a husband sees another man trying to get into his wife’s room window at night is it natural for him to investigate further [YES]; Is the husband under a duty to retreat when attacked with a knife under such circumstances [NO]; May the husband use only as much force as is necessary to repel the assault [YES]; If in an ensuing confrontation the husband shoots and kills the other man, then flees, must his flight in and of itself be seen as evidence of his guilt [NO].

Albright v. Oliver; 1994; 510 U.S. 266; 481
[The dissenting opinion in a case involving freedom from malicious prosecution cites the right to keep and bear arms as among fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution].

Allen v. United States • Ð; 1896; 164 U.S. 492; 241
Are words alone sufficient provocation to justify an assault [NO]; Are words alone sufficient to reduce murder to manslaughter [NO]; Can premeditation and intent to kill be determined from your actions [YES]; Although flight after a possibly criminal event may suggest guilt, does it prove it conclusively [NO].

You can order this book directly from gunlaws.com or from Barnes&Nobel. The price is the same, but one assumes (perhaps incorrectly) that the first vendor returns a greater percentage to the authors, because the Gunlaws website is directly associated with Alan Korwin's "Bloomfield Press".

I haven't yet decided to buy the book, but I have included the link to the summary on my sidebar, under "Reference Sources". This is one of Dave Kopel's "Second Amendment Project" offerings, as is "Dave Kopel 2nd Amendment", linked on the sidebar under the heading of "Other RKBA Websites".

If you have an evening free to do nothing more than expand your understanding of Second Amendment issues, I encourage you to start at Kopel's website. There's a cornucopia of fascinating reading to be found there.

For example, I found a review of Joyce Malcolm's book "Guns and Violence: The English Experience" which Kopel refers to as "The Gold Standard of Gun Control". Here's one paragraph from the review:

Malcolm describes the patterns of gun possession and violence, as well as changes in British culture due to war, food shortages, politics, and crime policy. She pays particular attention to changes in the culture of self-defense, both from the viewpoint of the Crown and of the subjects, and to how crime victims are treated by the government. Formerly, Britons happily contrasted their own permissive gun laws with the repressive laws on the Continent, and considered liberal British laws to exemplify the superior and free character of the British nation. But today, British gun controls are the most severe in the western world.

(Emphasis added)

We've all read the frightening, frustrating news stories about the consequences of severe gun-control laws in England during the past decade, and wondered how the Brits can have so lost their soul. This may help us to understand. Warning: if you assume that the increasingly burdonsome gun-control laws in Great Britain serve only to demonstrate the proclivity of British Government to place its erstwhile citizens under the dominion of an autocratic state, this book may serve only to confirm your convictions.

As I write this, I realize that I have updated this article a half-dozen times as I find ever more fascinating information at this source. It's difficult to resist the temptation to point you to other interesting articles, but for the sake of brevity (long lost in my whirlwind of enthusiasm, I know) I'll leave the rest of the research as an exercise for the reader.