On June 23, 2022, the United States Supreme Court, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen rendered one of the most significant decisions ever to be issued on the Second Amendment. The impact of the Bruen decision is already being felt in major changes to gun regulations and increased legal challenges to existing gun laws in New York and throughout the country. What role did appeals to history play in the Bruen decision? How accurate were the historical arguments? What will be the likely role of history and historians moving forward? What is the current state of historical research on guns and society, and what new areas of research are needed? The proposed round table would bring together six historians who, if the panel is accepted, have agreed to explain and explore the arguments over history that were central in the recent Bruen decision. In addition to discussing the role of history and originalism in the decision and its aftermath, the presenters will briefly spotlight cutting-edge areas of new research on guns in U.S. history. The format will be a lightning round plus ample time for audience discussion. Given that the Bruen decision was released on June 23, and the continued tragedy of gun violence and the Supreme Court’s emphasis on historical tradition in rendering this tradition, we submit this proposal for late-breaking panel consideration.

Legath, a scholar of religion with special interest in histories of American women and Christianity, will touch on the relevance to contemporary discussions of religion, gender and armed self-defense in the United States, drawing on her examination of the historical emergence of religiously inflected gun cultures.