The Right to Assemble (Firearms)

Jamie G. McWilliam*

In The Myth of Continuity in American Gun Culture, Brian DeLay provides important historical context to the ongoing debate regarding Founding-era treatment of firearms.¹ He walks through the history of repeating arms in early America,² as well as how firearms were made at the time,³ and argues that the accounts provided in current Second Amendment litigation do not tell the whole story.⁴ Ultimately, DeLay concludes that the narrative of continuity in our firearms tradition is simply a myth, and that “discontinuity would be a much more defensible starting assumption for courts considering firearms challenges.”⁵

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© 2026 Jamie G. McWilliam. Individuals and nonprofit institutions may reproduce and distribute copies of this Essay in any format at or below cost, for educational purposes, so long as each copy identifies the author, provides a citation to the Notre Dame Law Review Reflection, and includes this provision in the copyright notice.

*Research Fellow, University of Wyoming Firearms Research Center. J.D., Harvard Law School, 2022. B.S., Montana State University, 2018. The author would like to acknowledge the aid received during the drafting of this Essay, in the form of advice, background knowledge, comments, and suggestions. Specifically, the author would like to thank Mark Allen, Joseph Greenlee, Ashley McWilliam, Catherine McWilliam, Charles McWilliam, and George Mocsary. The author would also like to thank the editors of the Notre Dame Law Review for their indispensable work in finalizing this Essay. All views and errors are the author’s own, and do not reflect those of any of the aforementioned people or any of the author’s current or past employers.

1 Brian DeLay, The Myth of Continuity in American Gun Culture, 113 CALIF. L. REV. 1 (2025).

2 Id. at 20–49.

3 Id. at 54–70.

4 Id. at 6.

5 Id. at 74.