Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy - Fourth Edition - Nicholas J. Johnson

Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy Fourth Edition Nicholas J. Johnson

ISBN: 9798894111315

Purchase a new copy of this textbook to receive access to the Connected eBook on Casebook Connect, including academic lifetime access to the online edition with highlighting, annotation, and search capabilities. Access also includes an outline tool and other helpful study resources designed to support success in law school.

Debates over the right to keep and bear arms remain among the most contentious issues in American law and public policy. For some, this right represents an essential safeguard against tyranny and a fundamental means of self-defense. For others, it reflects an outdated principle that creates significant public safety concerns. Firearms Law and the Second Amendment provides a comprehensive examination of firearms law in the United States and internationally. Recognized as a leading casebook and scholarly resource in the field, it has been repeatedly cited by federal courts of appeals, state supreme courts, and U.S. district courts.

The text examines the historical development of firearms law, modern federal and state regulations, and significant litigation, providing students with the knowledge necessary to address firearms-related legal issues in practice. Tracing the history of arms regulation from ninth-century England to the modern United States, the book places legal doctrine within its broader social and cultural context, including the influence of race, technological developments, and changing public policy.

Supplemental chapters offer additional historical and international perspectives, tracing the regulation of arms from Confucian-era societies to the present. These materials explore the intersection of firearms law and policy with race, gender, sexual orientation, and other social categories. The book also provides practical explanations of firearms and ammunition technology and examines the evolution of firearms from the Middle Ages to the modern era.

New to the Fourth Edition:

• Supreme Court Developments: Updated coverage of the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen and its 2024 decision in United States v. Rahimi, including ongoing disputes over the interpretation and application of these decisions.
• Hybrid Electronic Format: Modern case law and jurisprudence are presented in print, while essential historical background is available through the Connected eBook.
• Expanded Online Resources: An enhanced companion website featuring additional teaching materials.

Key Features and Benefits:

• Practice-Oriented Resources: Practical instruction, legal advice, and resource guides designed to assist attorneys handling firearms-related matters, particularly early-career prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys.
• Comprehensive Case Law Analysis: Five chapters examining the varied approaches lower courts have taken in applying Bruen, District of Columbia v. Heller, and McDonald v. City of Chicago to contemporary firearms regulations.
• Historical Foundations: Extensive primary sources documenting the historical development of the right to keep and bear arms, including materials central to modern Second Amendment analysis under Bruen's history-and-tradition framework.
• Established Judicial Authority: Since its first edition in 2012, the book has been relied upon by courts nationwide. It has been cited in opinions from ten federal circuit courts of appeals, including an opinion by then-Judge Kavanaugh, as well as more than two dozen other courts. Its historical and factual analysis has informed judicial decisions upholding and invalidating a wide range of firearms laws.

Combining historical scholarship, contemporary constitutional analysis, practical legal guidance, and extensive judicial coverage, Firearms Law and the Second Amendment provides students and practitioners with an authoritative resource for understanding one of the most important and evolving areas of constitutional law.

Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy 2026 Fourth Edition Nicholas J. Johnson
ISBN: 9798894111315, 979-8894111315, 979-8-8941-1131-5, 979-8-89411-131-5

Nicholas J. Johnson
David B. Kopel
George A. Mocsary
E. Gregory Wallace
Donald Kilmer