NEWS MEDIA FACT SHEET

WHAT

Supreme Court Gun Cases

A unique reference book, six years in the making; includes 44 cases unedited and another 48 in pertinent part, for a total of 92 gun cases. No one ever realized there were so many cases -- previous estimates suggested a set of cases not exceeding perhaps a dozen. Includes plain-English summaries of every case, more than 1,000 highlighted quotations for easy reading; essays on the subject matter by the three co-authors; a special "descriptive index" that reduces each case to the question(s) it answers about firearms.

WHO

Supreme Court Gun Cases is the work of three co-authors: Attorney David B. Kopel, Research Director of the Independence Institute in Colorado; Attorney Stephen P. Halbrook, Ph.D., attorney in private practice in Virginia who has won three gun-related cases before the Supreme Court; author Alan Korwin, nationally recognized expert on American gun laws and the originator of the project. Click here for full bios.

WHEN

Official release of the book occured on September 18, 2003. The case list and case summaries were posted on the web on April 2, 2006. Work on the book began in 1997, when it was believed that a mere few cases could be compiled and studied in a short period of time. Boy was that notion wrong. Review copies are available to news media on request.

WHERE

Book release events were held simultaneously in Phoenix, Ariz., where the book was published, and in the Washington, D.C., area in association with civil rights groups concerned with the Second Amendment. The American Enterprise Institute held a forum addressing the issues raised by Supreme Court Gun Cases. Phoenix ceremonies took place at an event sponsored by the Goldwater Institute think tank, 602-712-1144.

WHY

This book sheds light on a contentious American political issue. Before the release of Supreme Court Gun Cases it was common for the news media and the public to believe the High Court had been relatively quiet on the subject of guns. With the release of this definitive reference book, it becomes plain that the Court has been very vocal on the subject. The debate about gun rights can take place now with hard factual information to help illuminate the issues.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

It turns out the Supreme Court has been staunchly supportive of the individual right to keep and bear arms, and the right of armed self defense. Mythologies surrounding these points can be layed to rest, and public policy can be established on a more factual and rational basis.


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See any new gun cases heard at the Supreme Court.

Look at our general findings.

Press releases about Supreme Court Gun Cases are posted below.

Supreme Court Gun Cases
Kopel, Halbrook, Korwin
Published by Bloomfield Press

ISBN 1-889632-05-8
Trade paperback, 672 pp., $24.95
Library/Lawyer's Hardcover edition $49.95

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Bloomfield Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2003
Contact: Felicity Bower 1-800-707-4020

SUPREME COURT STUDY FINDS NEW GUN FACTS
SUPREME COURT STUDY FINDS NEW GUN FACTS

92 Cases Reveal Court's Outlook on Guns

Phoenix, Ariz. The results of a six-year study of Supreme Court gun cases will be released in September and has uncovered scores of forgotten decisions that affect the highly contested Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Co-written by an attorney who has won three cases before the High Court, along with the research director of a prominent think tank, and a nationally recognized gun-law expert, the researchers conclude from the evidence that the Supreme Court has recognized an individual right to arms for most of the past two centuries.

Among the key findings in Supreme Court Gun Cases, being released next month by Phoenix-based Bloomfield Press:

• The Court has not been quiet on this subject as previously thought, using some form of the word "gun" in its decisions 2,910 times (gun, rifle, pistol, shotgun, firearm, etc., even Winchester five times) in 92 cases. Three dozen of the cases quote or mention the Second Amendment directly.

• Armed self defense with personally owned firearms is recognized and supported in more than a dozen cases, is a distinct right of American citizens, and an ancient "duty to retreat" is not obligatory.

• The often-cited Miller case from 1939 is inconclusive, which is why gun-rights and gun-control advocates both claim it supports their position. The record shows that the Court actually remanded this case back to the lower court for retrial and a hearing on the evidence, since there was no evidence presented. Because Miller had been murdered by that time and his co-defendant had taken a plea agreement, no retrial or evidentiary hearing was ever held.

• All 92 cases are reproduced to show what the Court has actually said. More than 1,000 interesting quotations are highlighted, and each case includes a plain-English description. A special "descriptive index" reduces each case to the firearms-related question(s) it answers.

Advanced review copies of Supreme Court Gun Cases are available to the news media on request. Contact Bloomfield Press at 1-800-707-4020 or SCGC@gunlaws.com.

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Note: Bloomfield Press publishes Gun Laws of America,the unabridged guide to federal gun law, and is the largest publisher of gun-law books in the country, founded in 1988. Copies of Supreme Court Gun Cases for media review are free on request, call 1-800-707-4020. The authors (Attorney David Kopel, Attorney Stephen Halbrook, Alan Korwin) are available for interview, call us, or email interview@gunlaws.com. Download high-resolution mini-cover art and more info from our website, click here.

Contact:
Alan Korwin
BLOOMFIELD PRESS
"We publish the gun laws."
4848 E. Cactus, #505-440
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
602-996-4020 Phone
602-494-0679 FAX
1-800-707-4020 Orders
http://www.gunlaws.com
alan@gunlaws.com

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