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1. The Right to Bear Arms in the Virginia Constitution and the Second Amendment

Author:
Stephen Halbrook
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
The right to keep and bear arms in Virginia is guaranteed by both the state and federal constitutions. Article I, section 13, of the Virginia Constitution provides in part: ‘‘That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed . . . .’’ The first clause dates to 1776, while the second clause was not adopted until 1971. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted in 1791 and provides: ‘‘A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.’’
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:
America

2. New York’s Not So ‘SAFE’ Act The Second Amendment in an Alice-In-Wonderland World Where Words Have No Meaning

Author:
Stephen Halbrook
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
Use and manipulation of the pejorative term “assault weapon” is a classic case of “an Alice-in-Wonderland world where words have no meaning.” The Second Amendment provides that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Arms, such as rifles, pistols, and shotguns, do not lose their constitutional protection because the legislature describes them with a derogatory term. Indeed, “no pronouncement of a legislature can forestall attack upon the constitutionality of the prohibition which it enacts by applying opprobrious epithets to the prohibited act . . . .”
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:
America

3. Reality Check: The “Assault Weapon” Fantasy and Second Amendment Jurisprudence

Author:
Stephen Hallbrook
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
From the founding of the Republic until the late twentieth century, rifles and other long guns were not subject to public controversy. At the end of that period, the words “assault weapon” appeared as a derogatory term in efforts to ban semi-automatic rifles. Handguns had previously been the primary target of gun prohibitionists, but the Supreme Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller that handguns are commonly possessed by law-abiding persons for lawful persons and are thus protected by the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:
America

4. Returning Education to the Schools and Parents

Author:
Vicki E Alger
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
President Donald Trump has called for major changes to federal education policy. During his bid for the White House, he vowed to cut wasteful federal spending on education while preserving funding for services; he pledged to champion school choice; and he promised to return educational policymaking to the state and local level. “We cannot have the bureaucrats in Washington telling you how to manage your child’s education,” he said in a television campaign ad. All of these goals can be accomplished during the Trump administration, but not without a major overhaul of the US Department of Education (ED).
Topic:
Education
Political Geography:
America

5. Reflections on the Current State of Political Economy

Author:
Richard Vedder
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
Like most economics professors, I have spent my academic lifetime examining the economic and public policy effects of issues involving the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services—political economy, if you will. There is, however, a “political economy” to the very act of producing and disseminating economic knowledge and examining public policies. And that political economy and my assessment of it has changed over a career spanning more than half a century. In this brief article, I will confine my attention mostly to the research dimension and look at five issues, most relating to the political economy of the study of political economy.
Topic:
Global Political Economy
Political Geography:
America

6. Armed Resistance to Crime The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun

Author:
Gary Kleck and Mark Gertz
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
Crime victims used to be ignored by criminologists. Then, beginning slowly in the 1940s and more rapidly in the 1970s, interest in the victim’s role in crime grew. Yet a tendency to treat the victim as either a passive target of another person’s wrongdoing or as a virtual accomplice of the criminal limited this interest. The concept of the victim precipitated homicide highlighted the possibility that victims were not always blameless and passive targets, but that they sometimes initiated or contributed to the escalation of a violent interaction through their own actions, which they often claimed were defensive.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation and Crime
Political Geography:
America

7. Better Than Government A New Way of Managing Life’s Risks

Author:
John Goodman
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
For decades, people have increasingly sought to better manage life’s risks by appealing for help from their government, even when other alternatives would yield better results. Moreover, the growing dependence on government to solve major life problems has taken a heavy toll—higher taxes, greater political polarization, and numerous hidden costs and unintended consequences. Fortunately, we need not resign ourselves to this predicament. Opportunities for better managing life’s risks and reducing government waste are all around us, according to Independent Institute Senior Fellow John C. Goodman.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
America

8. Internal Enforcement: The Political Economy of Immigration

Author:
Keith D. Malone
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
Over the past several years, Americans have become more aware and more vocal regarding the number of illegal aliens who have taken up residence in the United States. While this issue—and a resolution of this issue—is still being debated, many have questioned why current enforcement efforts are so lax. The focus of this paper is on the government agency responsible for the enforcement of our immigration laws, and in particular how the actions of this agency are influenced by political interests. This paper fills a gap in the literature-to-date by examining the enforcement of immigration laws within the interior of the nation. While other studies put border enforcement efforts in a political framework, this analysis is the first, to the authors' knowledge, to place interior enforcement within the interest-group theory of government framework. Our findings indicate that pressure groups shape the pattern of enforcement that emerges. Despite polls that indicate a majority of Americans favoring stricter enforcement, government enforcement agencies charged with this responsibility apparently succumb to the wishes of those that matter most politically.
Topic:
Government, Political Economy, Politics, Immigration, and Law Enforcement
Political Geography:
United States and America

9. A Report on the Patrol Special Police and Community Safety in San Francisco

Author:
Edward Stringham
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Independent Institute
Abstract:
This paper provides an analysis of one of the longest established private police groups in America, the San Francisco Patrol Special Police (PSP). Dating back to the days of the Gold Rush, the PSP are a collection of independent companies that the city charter authorizes to patrol different neighborhoods at the request of private clients. A survey was conducted to investigate why private parties pay the PSP rather than simply relying on government police. The results indicate that the PSP play an important role in providing safety that citizens cannot obtain if they rely solely on the San Francisco Police Department's safety services. However, despite these evident benefits, the PSP face some challenging political and regulatory obstacles. This article finds evidence that members of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) have been using regulations to restrict competition and effectively take over business using the force of law. This report documents some of the expenses these practices cost taxpayers and offers some suggestions for regulatory reform.
Topic:
Law Enforcement
Political Geography:
United States, America, and San Francisco