Gun control

About: Gun control is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1211 publications have been published within this topic receiving 16516 citations. The topic is also known as: firearms control & gun law.

Guns, identity, and nationhood

Abstract: The article provides a theoretical perspective on the symbolic meaning of the right to bear arms in modern America, especially among its conservative movement. Neglecting this issue, scholarship on gun symbolism has commonly focused on guns possessed by offenders in inner-cities, such as juveniles or gang members. Offering a multidisciplinary and comparative outlook, the article explains how guns have become symbols of a worldview under which armed patriots must stand ready to defend America from “tyranny,” “big government,” “socialism,” and other existential threats. In particular, the U.S. conservative movement does not merely perceive the right to bear arms as a means of self-defense against criminals, but as a safeguard against an oppressive government that “patriots” may have to overthrow by force. The article examines the hypothesis that guns foster a sense of belonging in this conception of nationhood. This worldview is not solely limited to politicians, elites, or activists, as it can encompass rank-and-file conservatives. Group identification can rest on sharing radical beliefs that enhance cohesion, including rallying against perceived threats. This mindset helps explain resistance to elementary reforms to regulate firearms. If one believes that an unbridled right to bear arms is not only key to protecting the United States, but also key to what it means to be an American, concessions on gun control become difficult to envision. While conservatives in other Western democracies tend to support significant gun control, a key dimension of American exceptionalism is the relative normalization of a conservative identity in which firearms have acquired a peculiar symbolic value.

3D-Printed Firearms, Do-It-Yourself Guns, & the Second Amendment

Abstract: I INTRODUCTION In December 2012, Cody Wilson, a law student and self-described anarchist, (1) posted to the Internet free software that instructs a three-dimensional (3D) printer (2) to make plastic gun parts and a functional gun. At a demonstration widely covered by the media, Wilson fired a single bullet from a 3D-printed gun called "the Liberator." (3) He also posted to Kim Dotcom's website (4) the software (computer numerical code) that directs the printing. (5) Wilson and his supporters hailed this technological breakthrough as a giant step toward making firearms more publicly accessible and unsusceptible to regulation. (6) According to Wilson, "[I]n this world, in the world we want to create, anyone who wants access to a firearm can have access. Because we believe that is a right that no one should be allowed to infringe. Especially political actors.... Gun rights are human rights." (7) Wilson's demonstration was excoriated by gun control advocates because a 3D-printed plastic gun evades metal detection and is not traceable to its maker. (8) The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), the U.S. State Department's unit in charge of administering and enforcing the Arms Export Control Act, advised Wilson to remove his 3D firearm printing software from the Internet (9) because it "might" violate the Act as interpreted by the State Department's International Traffic in Arms Regulations. (10) The Regulations require State Department permission to export "defense articles." (11) Export means: (1) "sending or taking a defense article out of the United States in any manner, except by mere travel outside of the United States by a person whose personal knowledge includes technical data," and (2) "disclosing (including oral or visual disclosure) or transferring technical data to a foreign person, whether in the United States or abroad." (12) "Defense article" means articles and items on the U.S. Munitions List. (13) The list includes "technical data," defined as "information in the form of blueprints, drawings, photographs, plans, instructions or documentation" and "software directly related to defense articles." (14) Therefore, posting to the Internet technical data related to manufacturing defense articles constitutes arms exporting under the Act. Wilson complied with DDTC's request. However, in the few days before he removed the software from the Internet, it was downloaded more than 100,000 times (15) and reposted to other websites. (16) Moreover, neither DDTC nor any other government agency prohibited Wilson from selling or giving his software away on a flash drive or via email as long as it is distributed in the United States. He formed a company, Defense Distributed, to sell 3D printers programmed to print firearms and firearms parts to Americans within the United States. Thus, anyone in the United States could easily obtain Wilson's 3D firearms printing software and hardware from Wilson himself, and a foreign person or entity could easily obtain these products through a willing U.S. intermediary, or from a foreign person who downloaded the software either from Wilson's website before he removed it from the Internet or from another website. (17) Wilson sought to overturn the removal order by obtaining a "commodity jurisdiction determination" (18) from DDTC. (19) Consequently, Wilson, on behalf of Defense Distributed, submitted ten "commodity jurisdiction requests" pertaining to his software for 3D printing firearms. (20) On September 25, 2014, (21) while its commodity jurisdiction requests were pending, Defense Distributed sought prepublication approval from the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review (22) to publish on the Internet computer numerical control (23) files for producing "Ghost Gunner," a computer-instructed machine that mills a metal block--or, "blank"--into a lower receiver for an AR-15. (24) Uncertain as to whether Ghost Gunner was subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the Office of Prepublication and Security Review decided not to provide an opinion. …

The Pivotal Politics of Temporary Legislation

Abstract: Temporary legislation — law that expires on a given date — is an increasingly important part of the policy landscape in areas as diverse as homeland security, gun control, and taxation. Whether temporary legislation is renewed (and just as importantly, whether sophisticated actors expect such legislation to be renewed) is key to understanding its behavioral effects and long-run policy implications. Before we can evaluate the desirability of any piece of temporary legislation, we must first understand the uncertainty surrounding its renewal. This Article fills a gap in the existing literature by providing a theoretical and empirical framework for exploring that uncertainty.

Gun Rights Talk

Abstract: The Second Amendment plays a massive – some would say outsized – role in our often-dysfunctional national gun debate. It serves as a banner for gun-rights supporters, a common enemy for gun-control advocates, and a consistent headache for scholars, lawyers, and judges. But the full force of the Amendment’s influence over the scope and extent of gun control cannot be found in casebooks.