PA Bill Number: HB917
Title: Adopting the Uniform Family Law Arbitration Act.
Description: Adopting the Uniform Family Law Arbitration Act. ...
Last Action: Presented to the Governor
Last Action Date: Apr 29, 2024
Cornell Law School Event: The Debate on Gun Control :: 04/06/2016
On April 4, the Cornell Law chapters of the Federalist Society, Second Amendment Club, and American Constitution Society partnered to bring Adam Skaggs and Robert F. Turner to campus for a talk entitled “The Gun Control Debate.” While the two men come from very different backgrounds, there was a shockingly small amount of back-and-forth debate.
The first speaker, Adam Skaggs, is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School. He then went on to become a Litigation Associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP before spending five years as Senior Counsel at Brennan Center for Justice. Currently, he is Senior Counsel at Everytown for Gun Safety, a New York City-based nonprofit organization advocating for comprehensive background checks for gun ownership, and gun control in general.
He briefly discussed issues on which his organization focuses, such as the importance of limiting dangerous domestic abusers’ access to firearms, and that 90% of Americans support comprehensive background checks to enforce gun laws, which includes three quarters of NRA members. He also touched on the correlational benefits that the six states enacting laws to close the gun loopholes have seen, including reduced gun violence.
Skaggs did not, however, mention what are arguably the more contentious issues that Everytown supports. For example, the front page of their website urges citizens to tell lawmakers to “shut down dangerous campus carry laws,” on the claim that college students having guns makes us “less safe” and “stifles intellectual freedom and debate.” Only a few more clicks through the site reveal there is a link to “thank the president” for his executive orders concerning gun control. Personally, I would have liked to hear Mr. Skaggs defend these positions that his organization supports.
The other speaker, Robert F. Turner, is a professor at University of Virginia Law School. His highly distinguished record includes co-founding the Center for National Security Law, of which he is now co-director, numerous government agency positions, and countless publications in newspapers and books.
Professor Turner presented the audience with a lengthy PowerPoint, and although he did not have time to finish all the slides, he did introduce a great deal of information about firearms and the history of gun control in the United States. He stressed the second amendment’s importance throughout history, detailed some of the discriminatory nature of gun control legislation in its early days, and showed images to help distinguish the differences between what the government does and does not consider assault rifles and automatic weapons. He cited statistics that show the minimally harmful effect of guns, including the fact that gun-related violence has decreased with a corresponding increase in ownership. Additionally, he noted the importance of considering how few people are murdered by guns: far more lives are taken by everyday household items, fists, and feet.
Overall, it would have been preferable to hear a little more debate from the two men as advertised. However, the event was informative and presented different perspectives on aspects of the increasingly important issue of second amendment rights. Anytime the community on such a liberal campus can come together and be willing to hear different sides of a contentious political issue, there is the potential for bipartisan conversation that can benefit everyone involved.
http://www.thecornellreview.org/cornell-law-school-event-debate-gun-control/
