Clayton Cramer

Clayton E. Cramer is an American historian, author and gun rights 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 in United States v. Emerson, 46 F.Supp.2d 598 (N.D.Tex. 1999). His research also informed the Supreme Court decision in the Second Amendment cases District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago.

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. 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. 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." On December 13, 2002, Bellesiles' Bancroft Prize was revoked by the Columbia University Board of Trustees.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.

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.