Clayton E. Cramer is an American amateur historian, author and

gun rights The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a legal right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, as well as ...

activist. He played an important early role in documenting errors in the book '' Arming America'' by Michael A. Bellesiles. His work was cited by the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (in case citations, N.D. Tex.) is a United States district court. Its first judge, Andrew Phelps McCormick, was appointed to the court on April 10, 1879. The court convenes in ...

in '' United States v. Emerson'', 46 F.Supp.2d 598 (N.D.Tex. 1999). His research also informed the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

decision in the

Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

cases '' District of Columbia v. Heller'' and ''

McDonald v. Chicago ''McDonald v. City of Chicago'', 561 U.S. 742 (2010), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that found that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms", as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporate ...

''.

''Arming America'' controversy

In 1996, while working on his master's thesis, Cramer read a paper by Bellesiles on early gun laws, published in the

Journal of American History ''The Journal of American History'' is the quarterly official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', the o ...

. This paper formed a basis for Bellesiles' later book, ''Arming America''. Cramer's thesis "examined the development of concealed weapon laws in the early Republic", believing Bellesiles' paper contradicted his own knowledge of gun availability in early America. Cramer was later sent an early review copy of ''Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture''. Upon reading it, Cramer immediately noted significant discrepancies with what he knew of American history, particularly at the time of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. He began checking facts and discovered that many of Bellesiles' citations and quotes did not match the historical record. "I sat down with a list of bizarre, amazing claims that Bellesiles had made, and started chasing down the citations at Sonoma State University’s library. I found quotations out of context that completely reversed the author’s original intent. I found dates changed. I found the text of statutes changed — and the changes completely reversed the meaning of the law. It took me twelve hours of hunting before I found a citation that was completely correct." Cramer's research encountered resistance from journal editors and other historians, but he continued alleging fraud against Bellesiles' scholarship. Other critics, including James Lindgren of

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, supported Cramer's claims, and

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

conducted an investigation which was strongly critical of Bellesiles' ethical standards. Bellesiles resigned his position at Emory on the day the report was released. On December 13, 2002, Bellesiles'

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, d ...

was revoked by the

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Board of Trustees.

Other activities

In 2008, Cramer ran for Idaho State Senator from District 22 as a Republican, but was defeated in the

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

. Cramer is critical of making involuntary commitment of mentally ill persons difficult, and has researched and compiled a book explaining the origins of this policy.

Publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *"On the right side of the bullet: More Americans protect themselves with guns than you think." ''Washington Times.''February 9, 2012.

References

External links

Clayton Cramer's personal website
*https://claytonecramer.blogspot.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Cramer, Clayton American male writers Living people People from Boise County, Idaho American gun rights activists Year of birth missing (living people)