LARAMIE, WY — The Firearms Research Center at the University of Wyoming College of Law has been awarded a $908,991 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to launch a national civics initiative focused on the Second Amendment. The program, titled Armed with Knowledge: A Nonpartisan Second Amendment Initiative, is designed to equip secondary school educators with comprehensive, historically grounded, and nonpartisan resources to teach the Second Amendment within the context of American civics.
Led by UW law professor and Second Amendment scholar George Mocsary, the initiative aims to bridge a critical gap in civics education. It will offer educators access to primary historical documents, classroom-ready instructional videos, digital archives, and live engagement with scholars from across the ideological spectrum. The two-year program will also include a national in-person conference for teachers and regular webinars promoting civil dialogue on constitutional topics.
“The doctrinal complexity of the Second Amendment is too often obscured by divisive discourse,” said Mocsary, director of the Firearms Research Center and co-author of the first law school casebook dedicated to the Second Amendment. “We seek to provide a much-needed apolitical approach to an otherwise politically charged topic, emphasizing the legal and civic origins of the right to bear arms.”
The initiative comes as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, a milestone that Firearms Research Center Executive Director Ashley Hlebinsky says presents an ideal opportunity to promote civic understanding.
“Our project will honor the nation’s 250th anniversary by allowing educators to engage with the complexity and nuance of the country’s founding documents,” Hlebinsky said. “The ability to respectfully discuss and debate constitutional principles with those who hold a variety of beliefs has never been more important.”
The grant was awarded through the Department of Education’s American History and Civics Education Program. The initiative will be guided by an advisory committee including K-12 educators, public health professionals, legal scholars, and UW’s College of Education faculty.
Established in 2023, the Firearms Research Center is committed to promoting education, constitutional literacy, and legal-historical scholarship. It regularly hosts academic events, partners with law enforcement and public health agencies, and produces educational resources on firearms law and safety.
For more details about the initiative or to access resources, visit www.uwyo.edu/law/centers/frc.html.