The Duke Center for Firearms Law and the University of Wyoming College of Law Firearms Research Center invite applications to participate in the sixth annual Firearms Law Works-in-Progress Conference. The conference will be held at Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina on May 23 & 24, 2024. We ask all those interested in presenting a paper at the conference to submit an abstract by February 9, 2024.

At the Firearms WIP Conference, scholars and practitioners present and discuss works-in-progress related to firearms law broadly defined, including Second Amendment history and doctrine, federal and state gun regulation, and the intersection between firearms law and other areas of law. The Firearms WIP Conference is the only legal works-in-progress event specifically focused on firearms law.

Conference sessions are lively discussions among authors, discussants, and participants. Each accepted paper is assigned to a panel of three to four scholars with a moderator who will summarize the papers and then lead a discussion. Sessions run from Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon. There will be a casual dinner and social event Thursday evening following the afternoon session. All conference participants are expected to read the papers in advance and to attend the entire conference.

We accept papers on a wide array of topics related to gun regulation, including from scholars who are new to the field and interested in exploring the interaction between firearms law and other disciplines. Although participation at the conference is by invitation only, we welcome paper proposals from scholars and practitioners all over the world.

Submission Details:

- Titles and abstracts of papers should be submitted electronically to andrew.willinger@duke.edu no later than February 9, 2024. Abstracts should be no longer than one page, and should be submitted as a PDF file saved under the file name “[last name, first name] – [paper title].” Please use the subject line “WIP Paper Submission” in your email.
- Authors will be informed whether their paper has been accepted no later than March 8, 2024.
- Workshop versions of accepted papers will be due in early May so that they can be circulated to moderators and other conference participants in advance of the conference.

We expect that participants’ home institutions will cover travel expenses to the extent possible. However, the Duke CFL and Wyoming FRC are able to cover some costs of lodging and travel expenses for authors who would not otherwise be able to attend. This support is intended to encourage submissions from junior faculty, especially those who are new to the field.