Sovereignty Symposium XXXVIII – 2026 will be held at the OKANA Resort in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 15–16, 2026. We invite papers on any issue concerning Native American law, policy, and governance.
The Firearms Research Center will be moderating and sponsoring a panel titled “Rights, Regulation, and Resilience: Sovereignty and Firearms” on Monday, June 15 at 1PM. This panel examines how tribal sovereignty is expressed through firearms law and policy, exploring the interplay between tribal, state, and federal systems, tribal constitutional design, real-world jurisdictional issues, and public safety and public health concerns in Native communities.
Panelists:
George A. Mocsary (Moderator) is the Director of the Firearms Research Center and Professor of Law at the University of Wyoming College of Law and the Founder & Director of the University of Wyoming Firearms Research Center. His teaching and scholarship span firearms law (including the Second Amendment) and business law (including corporate and small-business lav also serves as Director of the Business Planning Practicum.
Michael P. O’Shea is a Professor of Law at Oklahoma City University School of Law whose work focuses on firearms law, the Second Amendment, and state constitutional law, and he co-authored Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy.
Torivio A. (Tory) Fodder (Taos Pueblo) is Manager of the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Arizona and a Professor of Practice whose work centers on Indigenous governance, constitutional design, and Native rights and policy.
Shelby R. Rowe (Chickasaw Nation) is a suicide prevention practitioner and leader with experience in community-based, culturally grounded approaches to mental health and crisis response in Native and rural communities, with a focus on strengthening partnerships, advancing prevention strategies, and improving outcomes for at-risk populations.
More information about the symposium can be found HERE.
