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Dave Kopel
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Dave Kopel
Director of Research Research Director for the Independence Institute
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Dave Kopel is Research Director of the Independence Institute, a public policy
research organization in Golden, Colorado. He is also an Associate Policy Analyst
with the Cato Institute, in Washington. His website is www.davekopel.org.
Kopel is a media critic for the Saturday Rocky Mountain News/Denver
Post, a regular panelist on Channel 12's "Colorado Inside Out", and a blogger
on the Volokh Conspiracy (the world's #8 weblog).
Kopel writes on constitutional criminal justice, civil rights, firearms policy
international affairs, technology, politics, environmental policy, and the media.
He is the author of ten books, hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles,
and over three dozen scholarly journal articles. His newspaper articles have
appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and
the Los Angeles Times. Among his journal publications are articles
in the SAIS Review (Johns Hopkins School of Strategic and International Studies),
Michigan Law Review, and the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
He is been cited by 8 state Supreme Courts, and in over 400 law review articles.
Kopel's book The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies? was named book of the year by the American Society of Criminology, Division of International Criminology. Before joining the Independence Institute, Kopel served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado, dealing with enforcement of hazardous waste, Superfund, and other environmental laws. In 1998-99, he served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University. He holds a J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, and a B.A. in History with honors from Brown University.
His current research interests include genocide prevention, African affairs, and the inter-relationship between religious philosophy and beliefs about self-defense.
Articles by Dave Kopel Issue Backgrounder Issue Paper
| Title |
Date |
Sotomayor Testimony (IP-6-2009) [PDF]
Kopel's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, regarding the Second Amendment record of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. | 07-20-2009 | Taiwan’s 2008 Presidential Elections: An Analysis of What Happened, and What May Happen Next (IP-3-2008) [PDF]
The long term objective of the U.S.-Taiwan alliance should be maintaining Taiwan’s sovereignty, and searching for ways to help restore the sovereignty of the Chinese people themselves, as well the sovereignty of the captive nations currently imprisoned in the Chinese empire.
| 04-01-2008 | Media Errors in Coverage of Boulder High School: Falsehoods, Distortions, and Omissions by Bill O’Reilly and “Caplis & Silverman” (IP-3-2007) [PDF]
Coverage of reporting problems in “The O’Reilly Factor” television show and the “Caplis & Silverman” radio program. | 06-13-2007 | Dark Sky Ordinances: How to Separate the Light from the Darkness (IP-4-2006) [PDF]
Dark Sky laws aim to reduce "light pollution" so as to make stargazing easier. However, excessively severe Dark Sky laws overlook the role that lighting plays in deterring crime. | 03-31-2006 | | Denver's New Welfare Hotel (IP-4-2003) | 03-15-2003 | Hate Crime Laws: Dangerous and Divisive (IP-3-2003)
Contingent fee arrangements have become a profoundly corrupt scheme which undermines our very system of government. The problem far transcends the interests of the particular industries which are today's victims. | 03-13-2003 | | How Strict are U.S., Colorado, and Local Gun Control Laws? (IP-12-1999) | 09-20-1999 | | Unfair and Unconstitutional: Juvenile Gun Control Proposals (IP-3-1999) | 06-01-1999 | | Agenda for a Better Colorado (IP-8-1998) | 10-01-1998 | | Refining Colorado's Criminal Code (IP-10-1997) | 12-01-1997 | Clueless: The Misuse of Batf Firearms Tracing Data (IP-7-1997) [PDF]
Sometimes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms traces the registered sales history of a gun which was used in a crime, or which has been seized by the police. Traced guns are not representative of the broader universe of crime guns. Accordingly, drawing public policy conclusions based on tracing data is unwise. | 06-17-1997 | | Unneeded Laws 1997 (IP-2-1997) | 01-14-1997 | | Welfare Reform: Next Steps for Colorado (IP-1-1997) | 01-13-1997 | | Unneeded Laws (IP-4-1996) | 01-05-1996 | | End Compulsory Schooling (IP-1-1996) | 01-01-1996 | | Squirt Gun Bans Wont Stop Violent Crime: Denver's 'Mr. Wilson laws' are Empty Shells (IP-25-1993) | 12-03-1993 | | 'Shall Issue': The New Wave of Concealed Handgun Permit Laws (IP-14-1993) | 10-17-1993 | | Do Federal Gun Traces Accurately Reflect Street Crime? (IP-5-1993) | 04-15-1993 | | Extreme Drug Law Tramples Bill of Rights: Flaws Seen in Uniform Controlled Substances Bill (IP-2-1992) | 01-22-1992 | The Assault Weapon Panic: "Political Correctness" Takes Aim at the Constitution (IP-12-1991)
Page under construction... | 12-10-1991 | Marijuana Jail Terms: Costly And Hasty (IP-5-1991)
Under present Colorado law, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for personal consumption is punished by a summons and fine of one hundred dollars. Some people have proposed that the current penalty be replaced by a jail term of up to six months. Based on studies from other states, replacing the current system of fines with a system of potential jail sentences would cost Colorado well over 10 million dollars a year, without making a dent in marijuana use. | 04-24-1991 | Why Gun Waiting Periods Threaten Public Safety (IP-4-1991)
Page under construction... | 04-01-1991 | Drug Testing: Shaky Science May Nullify Good Intentions (IP-4-1990)
The current state of science for drug testing is too primitive for use in a society that respects the rights of innocent people. Until technology improves, drug tests will injure the innocent more than they will identify the guilty. | 04-03-1990 | Opinion Editorial |
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» Jon Caldara
- President of the Independence Institute
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» Jessica Peck Corry
- Director of the Campus Accountability Project and Property Rights Project
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» Marya DeGrow
- Research Associate, Education Policy Center
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