“Sparking the Revolution” conference in Springfield, 20–21 Nov.

On 20–21 November the Springfield Armory will co-host the 2025 Fall Conference of the Firearms Research Center, on the topic of “Sparking the Revolution: Flintlocks, Gunpowder, and Policy in America’s War for Independence.”

The Firearms Research Center is based at the University of Wyoming law school. It states its mission as “to foster a broad discourse and produce meaningful change in how firearms are discussed and understood.”

The conference will open the afternoon of Thursday, 20 November, with a reception and fireside chat on the theme “Exercising the Bruen Test: A Study in the Modern-Day Debate on the Second Amendment.”

“Examining Revolutionary-era topics through the lens of today’s constitutional debates” will be Firearms Research Center director George Mocsary, Megan Walsh of the Gun Violence Prevention Law Clinic at the University of Minnesota, and moderator Ashley Hlebinsky, the center’s executive director.

The “Bruen test” is the outcome of a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that stated the constitutionality of gun restrictions must be “consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” Since there isn’t a consistent, unchanging, and non-discriminatory tradition of firearm regulation, judges have struggled to understand and apply that test. The Brennan Center for Justice says it’s unworkable. In a follow-up case this year, United States v. Rahimi, the nine Supreme Court justices issued seven opinions to tweak the Bruen language.

That opening session is scheduled to take place at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site. As a National Park Service unit, that’s currently closed because of the lapse in Congressional funding with almost all the employees furloughed. I suppose that location may change before 20 November.

On Friday, 21 November, the conference will move across the street to Springfield Technical Community College’s Scibelli Hall. That day’s program will include these parts.

Panel 1: Disarmament and the Revolution

• Bob Cottrol, George Washington University
• E. Gregory Wallace, Campbell University
• James Slaughter, Marshall University

Guns of the American Revolution
Erik Goldstein, Colonial Williamsburg

The Earliest Days of Springfield Armory
Alex Mackenzie, Springfield Armory

Panel 2: The Colonial Militia

• Jody Madeira, Indiana University
• Joyce Malcolm, George Mason University
• Alexander Cain, Author, We Stood Our Ground

Creating an Arsenal of Liberty
Andrew Fagal, Princeton University

Early Ballistics of the American Revolution
Joel Bohy, Antiques Roadshow

Find the full schedule here. Anyone can register to attend all of the sessions for free either in person or virtually.