This clinic challenges students to design and advocate for gun safety legislation, and to analyze and fight against gun lobby legislation, in statehouse fights across the country.

Working with Everytown for Gun Safety, students research statutes to identify gaps in state and federal laws that threaten public safety; draft proposed legislation to reform the law and prepare and implement campaigns to enact those bills; identify and analyze dangerous gun-lobby-backed bills; research the history of relevant laws and similar legislation; and aid in the work to defeat those bills and prevent the dangers they would create.

This course immerses students in the policy work of the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization, exposing them to the legislative lawyer’s work of bill drafting and analysis, effective communication, and coalition-building. Students conduct legal and social science research, write policy papers and bill drafts, and engage in simulations of bill negotiations or legislative hearings. Clinic students will also work with our team of policy advocates at Everytown’s Manhattan offices. The clinic seminar meets weekly for an hour and forty minutes. Students are expected to complete an average of 12–16 hours of work, including the seminars.

Approved for Experiential Learning Requirement. Enrollment is limited. Registration is binding. Application is required, and can be found in Student Resources on the NYLS Portal.

Recommended for the following Professional Pathways: Civil Rights/Civil Liberties; Government/Public Sector; Immigration; International Law/Human Rights; General Practice – Litigation/Dispute Resolution 

4 Credits