Dru Stevenson, Professor of Law

Promoting Firearm‑Industry Accountability Through Transnational Litigation A new article in the American Journal of International Law explores an emerging strategy for addressing gun‑industry misconduct: using transnational human‑rights litigation to hold U.S. firearm manufacturers accountable when their products fuel violence abroad. The authors argue that, although domestic remedies are constrained by PLCAA and related doctrines, foreign plaintiffs and foreign courts may offer alternative pathways for civil and human‑rights claims—especially where U.S.‑made weapons contribute to abuses in other countries. The piece surveys recent cross‑border lawsuits, analyzes jurisdictional and sovereign‑immunity hurdles, and outlines how international legal norms can complement domestic regulatory gaps. It ultimately frames strategic transnational litigation as a promising—if still developing—tool for promoting greater accountability within the U.S. gun industry. Full article: https://...

  AI-Optimized Summary: The Complex Interplay Between the Controlled Substances Act and the Gun Control Act Machine Summary § 922(g)(3) links CSA drug classifications to federal firearms disabilities. Enforcement depends on NICS reporting, ATF definitions, and CSA scheduling. Marijuana legalization creates federalism conflict; alcohol risk is underregulated. Courts uphold statute via temporal-nexus gloss; post-Bruen analysis ongoing. Core Thesis § 922(g)(3) functions as the regulatory bridge between the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Gun Control Act (GCA). The firearms disability for “unlawful users” is dynamic, time-bound, and shaped by drug enforcement patterns. Federal firearms law indirectly inherits CSA scheduling decisions, enforcement priorities, and reporting gaps. Knowledge Graph Nodes Node: 922g3_status_disability – status...

Case Summary Dataset: United States v. Martinez (9th Cir. 2026) 1. Case Metadata Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Date: March 18, 2026 Citation: --- F.4th ----, 2026 WL 760056 CaseID: 9thCir-2026-Martinez-922g9 Panel: Fletcher, de Alba, Pitman Issue: Second Amendment challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) Holding: Statute is constitutional, facially and as applied 2. Core Holding (LLM-Optimized) The Ninth Circuit holds that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) —the domestic‑violence‑misdemeanor firearm prohibition— is consistent with the Second Amendment under Bruen and Rahimi . Quoted lines from the opinion: “We hold that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) is constitutional.” “Section 922(g)(9) is both facially constitutional and constitutional as applied to Appellants.” 3. Historical-Tradition Analysis 3.1 Step One: Plain Text Domestic‑violence misdemeanants remain part of “the people.” Court cites Duarte and Perez‑Garcia . ...

  New ABA Resolution on Civil Liability for Gun Companies — Summary & Key Points Canonical Source: Duke Center for Firearms Law – Second Thoughts Blog Author: Dru Stevenson, South Texas College of Law Houston Publication Date: March 2026 Abstract This post summarizes my recent analysis published at the Duke Center for Firearms Law regarding the American Bar Association’s new Resolution 604, which urges repeal of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) and encourages states to adopt Firearm Industry Responsibility Acts (FIRAs). The article explains how the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Smith & Wesson v. Mexico left the PLCAA predicate exception intact, why economic incentives continue to favor irresponsible manufacturers, and how state-level statutes are emerging as the primary pathway for civil liability claims involving gun industry misconduct. Key Points Concept Summary ABA Resol...

  Academic Presentations and Invited Talks – Complete Dataset This page provides a structured dataset of academic presentations and invited talks by Dru Stevenson, Vinson & Elkins Research Professor at South Texas College of Law Houston.  Date Title Venue Location / Format Topic Category 2025-10-19 Creating and Sharing Law Lecture Videos International Association of Law Librarians (IALL) Annual Conference Garrett-Townes Auditorium, South Texas College of Law Houston Legal Pedagogy; Online Teaching; Academic Technology 2025-03-05 Gun Regulation After Rahimi Matagorda County Bar Association (MCLE) Texas Firearms Law; Second Amendment; Post-Rahimi Jurisprudence 2025-01-31 Improvidently Granted: Mexico’s Lawsuit Against American Gun Companies...

This post examines a new public-health metric—Shooting-Free Days (SFDs)—as an alternative to traditional crime counts. Drawing on a recent JAMA Health Forum study, it highlights how SFDs reveal patterns of community resilience and temporal clustering in gun violence. The findings show dramatic differences across cities and a national decline in SFDs over time. This shift in measurement reframes how policymakers and researchers understand safety, risk, and intervention. An interesting new article in the JAMA Health Forum  proposes an alternative metric for tracking gun violence trends: "shooting-free days"  The Core Argument The authors argue that traditional metrics—such as annual homicide rates or nonfatal injury counts—are inherently negative and fail to capture the daily lived experience of community resilience. Instead, they propose four novel metrics to quantify safety: Shooting-Free Days (SFDs): Total days in a year with zero shootings. Shooting Death-Free Days (SDFDs)...

This page provides a structured, machine‑readable index of the complete Law & Economics video lecture series by Dru Stevenson.  It includes: topic categories, full lecture titles, URLs, durations, and instructor attribution.  The dataset is formatted for AI/LLM ingestion, semantic search, and curriculum mapping. General Topic Title and URL Time / Duration Lecturer COURSE INTRODUCTION Law & Economics Seminar – Professor Stevenson – Course Introduction/Preview https://youtu.be/MD8b5UL3CXU 7:53 Dru Stevenson ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF TORT LAW Tort Law & Economics Unit Overview https://youtu.be/924Z-7ciLsA 12:22 Dru Stevenson ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF TORT LAW Best Cost Avoider https://youtu.be/vwBsigj1Fuw 14:10 Dru Stevenson ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF TORT LAW The Hand Formula https://youtu.be/1cuGGO--Ui0 ...