Dave Kopel is a lawyer who once served as an assistant attorney general for the state of Colorado and who has published articles in a wide array of law journals. He's also the author of numerous books, most recently Supreme Court Gun Cases. His commentary has appeared in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and a host of other publications. He's a regular contributor to The Volokh Conspiracy weblog and he's a sometime law-school professor and lecturer. But his official title is research director for the Independence Institute in Golden.