David B. Kopel[1] (born January 7, 1960) is an American author, attorney, gun rights advocate, and contributing editor to several publications.
[14] In 2008, Kopel appeared before the United States Supreme Court as part of the team presenting the plaintiff's oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller.
He has also testified numerous times before Congress and state legislatures, including before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the Supreme Court nominations of Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
[15] Kopel testified on January 30, 2013, six weeks after the Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, before the Senate Judiciary Committee on gun violence.
[16] One month later MSNBC.com revealed that Kopel and the Independence Institute had received $108,000 in grants from the National Rifle Association's Civil Rights Defense Fund, and that another witness at the Senate Judiciary hearing, David T. Hardy, testifying as a private attorney in Tucson, Arizona, had received $67,500 in grants from the same NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund in 2011.
[18] The Fox News affiliate station in Denver, Fox31, and correspondent Eli Stokols in May 2013 revealed that Kopel had received $1.39 million in grant money from the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund between 2004 and 2011.