Miller, Blocher leading new firearms law section of Association of American Law Schools
The section marked its inaugural gathering at the AALS Annual Meeting earlier this month in San Diego.
Two Duke Law School faculty members are leading a new Association of American Law Schools (AALS) section devoted to the study of the Second Amendment and firearms law.
Melvin G. Shimm Professor of Law Darrell A. H. Miller and Lanty L. Smith ’67 Professor of Law Joseph Blocher, who co-direct the Duke Center for Firearms Law, are serving as the first co-chairs of the AALS Section on Firearms Law. Jacob D. Charles JD/MA ’13, who was the center’s executive director until joining the faculty of Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in July, and remains an affiliated scholar with the Center, is the section’s chair-elect.
The section marked its inaugural gathering at the AALS Annual Meeting earlier this month in San Diego with a panel discussion, “Gun Rights and Regulation after Bruen.” Miller moderated the panel, which addressed outstanding scholarly questions raised by the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen — its first major Second Amendment decision in 12 years. The section also held a well-attended social event which allowed members to connect and discuss issues related to firearms law in an informal setting.
“The new AALS section is really a response to demand," said Blocher. More and more law professors are teaching and writing about firearms law, and our hope is to facilitate the growth of that scholarly community.”
Blocher, Miller, and Charles are currently finalizing a new casebook on firearms law, tentatively titled The Second Amendment: Gun Rights and Regulation, along with Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Jody Madeira. The casebook, which will be published by Foundation Press in the coming months, seeks to summarize the post-Bruen legal landscape.
AALS Sections are interest groups comprised of faculty members and professional staff of AALS member schools, according to the organization’s website. They provide newsletters for their members, host awards, offer mentoring programs, and provide exam exchanges, directories, and discussion lists.
According to its by-laws, the Firearms Law Section’s purpose is “to promote the exchange of ideas, interests, and activities among its members.” It fosters scholarship on legal issues surrounding firearms law and related topics, firearms policy development, and curriculum development and teaching methodology for firearms-related courses, promotes a greater diversity of perspectives within legal education on issues related to firearms law, and makes recommendations to AALS on matters concerning firearms law.
The Duke Center for Firearms Law launched in 2019 with a two-fold mission: to help support and build the scholarly field of firearms law and to serve as a balanced and reliable resource on firearms law for scholars, judges, lawyers, policymakers, journalists, and interested citizens. The Center carries out its mission by disseminating and supporting reliable, balanced, and insightful scholarship and programming on firearms law, with the goal that this information will be useful to a broad array of academic and popular audiences. Throughout the year, the Center organizes and hosts conferences and workshops, encourages scholarship, and develops teaching materials.