John Carter (St. Thomas University) has posted Natural Law’s Return: Uncovering the Roots of Intractability on Guns as Prelude to New Growth (Journal of Moral Theology 12 (SI 2): 33–57 (2021)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This essay is an overview of the legal history and politics which have contributed to the current intractability on gun issues in the United States. Importantly, this essay situates recent jurisprudence on guns within the broader context of recent shifts in constitutional theory, as well as the centuries-long shift in legal theory away from its natural-law moorings. Highlighted in this account is recent scholarship discussing the relationship between the natural law and common law in U.S. legal history, and the essay overall functions as a primer on the jurisprudence of guns addressed to those moral theologians interested in engaging the legal tradition pertaining to guns on a natural-law basis. The essay also notes several recent developments relevant to the topic, including the dissent in the Seventh Circuit case Kanter v. Barr written by now-Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. (Note: Originally published in the Journal of Moral Theology 12 (SI 2): 33–57 (2021).)
Lawrence Solum