I just learned that Professor Don Kates passed away on the first of the month. Don was a personal and family friend, my student in some things but my teacher in more, and one of the deans of the gun owners’ civil rights movement.

A classic example of the thinking liberal who realized restricting gun ownership caused more bad than good, Don rode with the Freedom Riders as a young man, and clerked with William Kunstler.  Don stood alongside other famous liberal thinkers and doers who had come to the same realization: Marc Benenson, for example, and Carol Ruth Silver.

Mutual friend Eugene Volokh, another stalwart of the movement, offers his remembrance here.

Goodbye, my friend, and a heartfelt thanks for all you have done.

11 COMMENTS

  1. Dang, another good guy gone. While none of us escape death I sure hope we’re leaving enough smart and articulate and stalwart and energetic young people behind to take over the cause. A new generation of progun leaders.

  2. , HANDGUN PROHIBITION AND THE MEANING OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT, by Don B. Kates, Jr. An amazing read. Haven’t finished it yet, but will study it thoroughly.
    We are definitely at an historic crossroads regarding our Second Amendment and the elections. Spiritual issues are no less at hand. Evil forces have always sought the destruction of Judeo-Christian folk, and Hell continues to rear its head in the form of a theatrically accomplished Banshee. Christ’s admonition to turn the other cheek to a formal insult was not intended to deny the right to personal self-defense. A vote for anyone other than our #1 champion for firearms rights is a vote for our own disarmament and the triumph of deceptive Evil. Please vote for Donald Trump.

  4. Honored to have met him at a Fordham Law symposium in 2012. Remember that he may be gone but his work is part of the granite bedrock upon which we and future generations will build.

  5. Don Kates was one of the few gun-rights writers in the 1970s and 80s. Gun control had been ascendant since GCA 1968, and stayed so until 1986, so he took heat for his work.

    He was one of the first “liberals” who started anti-gun, studied the issue, and “saw the light.” A big part of the value in what he published was to other, reasonable researchers who met him with skepticism, but were won over when their own studies confirmed his.

    For a lot of us who were already trying to drain the swamp, “The Red Book,” Restricting Handguns: The Liberal Skeptics Speak Out, (1979) was the first breath of fresh air in a long time.

    Vaya con Dios.

  6. Not surprising to see another assassination attempt on Donald Trump, this time in Reno. Insanity can occur anywhere. Donald would likely not be taken as any less brave if he spoke behind a bulletproof shield from now on. Not a total guarantee of safety, of course, but at least providing some effective defllade.
    Donald may have his flaws and foibles, but he is a good-hearted man and a good learner. His physical courage recommends him highly as a prospective commander-in-chief. His strong and constructive character continues to carry him through the storm of candidacy. He is intelligent enough to be a very great President. He is like Ike Eisenhower, whose touchstone for decision-making was the personal question: Will what I decide be good for America?

  7. My condolences for the loss of your friend. An article in the FBI “Justification for 9MM” would be interesting.

  8. Lucky the supposed assassin just had a sign in his hand. Apparently he made a furtive move with one hand towards his waist and triggered a sudden rumor that he had a gun. Better safe than sorry, though. I have been to a Trump rally and can see how metal detection can possibly be defeated.

  9. Matthew Russell, you’ll see that addressed in kind of a magnum opus (no pun intended) in the next Complete Book of Handguns, should be out by sometime in January.

  10. There is an opinion piece in the New York Post that I found interesting:

    http://nypost.com/2016/11/06/obamas-hope-and-change-has-given-us-fear-and-loathing/?ref=yfp

    This piece well sums up my views toward the Obama Administration and toward this Presidential Election contest. It is true that this piece does not discuss Hillary’s extreme views on gun control nor the threat that she poses toward the 2nd Amendment. Nevertheless, the points that it does make are good ones.

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