Dave Kopel is an American author, attorney, political science researcher and contributing editor to several publications.
He is currently Research Director of the Independence Institute in Golden, Colorado, Associate Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute, contributor to the National Review magazine and Volokh Conspiracy legal blog. Previously he was Adjunct Professor of Law, New York University, on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, and Former Assistant Attorney General for Colorado.
Kopel earned a B.A. in history with highest honors from Brown University and won the National Geographic Society Prize for best History thesis with a biography of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.[1] He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. He was also a contributing editor of the Michigan Law Review.
Politically he is a lifelong registered Democrat but a confessed small government libertarian at heart who voted for Ralph Nader.[2]
In 1996 he and former Illinois senator Paul Simon wrote an article published in the National Law Journal criticizing the practice of mandatory minimum sentence.[3]
Kopel opposes gun control and is a benefactor member of the National Rifle Association. His articles on gun control and gun violence have been cited in the Opposing Viewpoints Series.[4] In 2003, Kopel wrote in National Review "Simply put, if not for gun control, Hitler would not have been able to murder 21 million people.[5]" He recently contributed an article to the 59th Volume of the Syracuse Law Review entitled "The Natural Right of Self-Defense: Heller's Lesson for the World."[6] He is a critic of Michael Moore and provided a list of what he characterized as Moore's "deceits".[7][8] He appeared in FahrenHYPE 9/11, a film that disputes the allegations in Fahrenheit 9/11.
Kopel is also a member of many other organizations including Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (life member), American Civil Liberties Union, American Society of Criminology, National Council of Editorial Writers, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and Society of Christian Philosophers.