In the Gun Law Fights of 2023, a Need for Experts on the Weapons of 1791 https://nyti.ms/402xCjd

By Shawn Hubler NYT

Lawyers are turning to historians as they comb through Colonial-era statutes to litigate modern gun laws.

“Gun historians across the country are in demand like never before as lawyers must now comb through statutes drafted in the Colonial era and the early years of the Republic to litigate modern firearms restrictions. From experts on military gun stamping to scholars of American homicide through the ages, they have been called — many for the first time — to parse the nation’s gun culture in court.”

“Cases now explore weapons bans in early saloons, novelty air rifles on the Lewis and Clark expedition, concealed carry restrictions on bowie knives and 18th-century daggers known as “Arkansas toothpicks,” and a string-operated “trap gun” that may or may not be comparable to an AR-15.”