Robert J. Cottrol: Retracts allegations he made against peer review process that approved publication of article by Bellesiles

[Robert J. Cottrol is Professor of Law, of History, and of Sociology, and Harold Paul Green Research Professor of Law at the George Washington University. He received his B.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He was a critic of Michael Bellesiles, the historian who left Emory University after his research denying the importance of guns in early American history was called into question.]

During the October [2006] symposium [at George Mason University] on Firearms Law and the Second Amendment I made statements concerning the peer review process at the Law and History Review with respect to the publication of an article by Michael Bellisiles. These statements were based on a misunderstood conversation between myself and one of the potential peer reviewers. I wish to state that I regret these statements and that I have confidence in the integrity of the peer review process for the Law and History Review as it was conducted by Dr. Christopher Tomlins, editor of the review at the time.