Before the U.S. Supreme Court in Castillo v. U.S. (2000)

“Stephen Halbrook is an attorney with extensive knowledge of the historical underpinnings of the Second Amendment and practical knowledge of litigating in this rapidly evolving area of law. His writings include topics as diverse as Gun Control in the Third Reich and The Founders’ Second Amendment, and he was heavily involved in Heller and McDonald.”

– U.S. District Judge Michael J. Reagan
Shepard v. Madigan, 2014 WL 4825592, *7 (S.D. Ill. 2014)

Supreme Court Practice

Comments on ATF Regulation Proposals

Practice Areas

Gun Control Act/National Firearms Act

  • Firearm technical classifications
  • ATF regulatory compliance
  • FFL warning conferences, license denials,
    and revocations
  • Forfeitures
  • Legal disabilities and restoration of civil rights
  • Criminal defense

State and Local Laws

  • “Assault weapon” restrictions
  • Legal status of firearms
  • Challenging restrictions

Civil and Criminal Cases Litigated >>

1968 Hearings on GCA Regulations

Books

Congressional Testimony

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Scholarly Articles

“Textualism, the Gun Control Act, and ATF’s Redefinition of ‘Firearm’,” Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: Per Curiam No. 32, (Summer 2024).

“Text-and-History or Means-End Scrutiny? A Response to Professor Nelson Lund’s Critique of Bruen,” 24 Federalist Society Review, (Mar. 15, 2023).

“The Second Amendment Was Adopted to Protect Liberty, Not Slavery: A Reply to Professors Bogus and Anderson,” 20 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 575 (2022).

“Право народа на хранение и ношение оружия: вторая поправка билля о правах сша” [“The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms: the Second Amendment in the U.S. Bill of Rights”], 2 Ukrainian Law Journal “Law of the USA” (2013), 240-50.

“The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms: the Second Amendment in the U.S. Bill of Rights,” 2 Ukrainian Law Journal “Law of the USA” (2013), 240-50.

“Banning America’s Rifle: An Assault on the Second Amendment?,” 22 Federalist Society Review (June 28, 2021).

“Virginia’s Second Amendment Sanctuaries: Do They Have Legal Effect?,” Regent University Law Review, No. 2, 277 (2020-2021).

“The Eidgenössisches Schützenfest: a Traditional Shooting Festival,” Swiss American Historical Society Review (Nov. 2020).

“To Bear Arms for Self-Defense: A ‘Right of the People’ or a Privilege of the Few? Part 2” 21 Federalist Society Review (Mar. 31, 2020).

View More Scholarly Articles >>

Second Amendment Roundup at The Volokh Conspiracy

“Supreme Court Grants Cert in Mexico v. Smith & Wesson,” The Volokh Conspiracy, October 22, 2024.

“The VanDerStok Argument,” The Volokh Conspiracy, October 10, 2024.

“Follow ATF into a Political Briar Patch?,” The Volokh Conspiracy, October 3, 2024.

“ATF’s Final Rule Implicates the Right to Bear Arms,’” The Volokh Conspiracy, October 2, 2024.

“ATF’s Wish to Trace More Firearms Doesn’t Justify Redefining ‘Firearm,’” The Volokh Conspiracy, October 1, 2024.

“Textualism and ATF’s Redefinition of ‘Firearm,’” The Volokh Conspiracy, September 30, 2024.

VanDerStok Tests Limits of Yet Another ATF Rule,” The Volokh Conspiracy, September 29, 2024.

“New York’s ‘Good Moral Character’ Requirement for Gun Permits,” The Volokh Conspiracy, September 26, 2024.

“8th Circuit Rules in Favor of Pistol Brace Owners,” The Volokh Conspiracy, August 25, 2024.

“8th Circuit Rules for 18 to 20-Year-Olds,” The Volokh Conspiracy, July 22, 2024.

View More Op-Eds and Short Articles >>

Op-Eds & Short Articles

TV Appearances

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Presentations

Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Garland v. Cargill – The Federalist Society, (Mar. 5, 2024)

Attorney Stephen Halbrook Discusses the Upcoming Supreme Court Case Garland v. Cargill on Whether Bump Stocks Are Machine Guns – The Federalist Society, “A Seat at the Sitting: The February Docket” (Feb. 15, 2024)

Attorney Stephen Halbrook Talks SCOTUS Re: Biden “Ghost Gun” and “Weapons Part Kits” – Four Boxes Diner (Aug. 13, 2023)

The Case for the AR15 – The Republican Professor (Aug. 1, 2023)

Attorney Stephen Halbrook Breaks Down Current Pistol Brace Fight – Four Boxes Diner (May 22, 2023)

A Year After Bruen, and This Is Happening? – America’s First Freedom (May 20, 2023)

ATF OVERREACH: Stephen Halbrook on How ATF Rules DO NOT = LAW; Defeating the ATF in Court – The Dana Show with Dana Loesch (Mar. 28, 2023)

The Politically Incorrect Truth about America’s Rifle – America’s 1st Freedom (Feb. 4, 2023)

View More Presentations >>

Instagram Updates

After D-Day, a report to the German "Army High Command (OKH) and General Staff on August 22, 1944, included a comprehensive analysis of the military situation vis-à-vis Switzerland: 

" 'The Swiss army has sufficient modern weapons and equipment. Its armored force is weak, but armor won't be a factor in this terrain. The air force is negligible. However, the army is well trained. Its able-bodied men have been mobilized repeatedly since the war began.

" 'Given the indoctrination of the army with the imperative that the home country must be defended against any attacker, we have to expect that the Swiss soldiers will fight well. Against Allied troops, we would, however, expect them to exhibit certain sympathies for the Allies. . . .' "

From Halbrook, The Swiss and The Nazis: How the Alpine Republic Survived in the Shadow of the Third Reich, p. 253-54.

Photo: Swiss soldiers in the Swiss Alps
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#GermanArmyHighCommand #GermanGeneralStaff #3reich #nazihistory #wwiihistory #ww2documents #armedswiss #swissresistance #Switzerlandhistory #swissarmywwii #swissarmy #theswissandthenazis #armedneutrality #swissarmedneutrality #armeddefense #swissarmedforces #swissmilitia #swissconfederation #confoederatiohelvetica #confederatiohelvetica #alpinerepublic #ww2switzerland

After D-Day, a report to the German "Army High Command (OKH) and General Staff on August 22, 1944, included a comprehensive analysis of the military situation vis-à-vis Switzerland:

" `The Swiss army has sufficient modern weapons and equipment. Its armored force is weak, but armor won`t be a factor in this terrain. The air force is negligible. However, the army is well trained. Its able-bodied men have been mobilized repeatedly since the war began.

" `Given the indoctrination of the army with the imperative that the home country must be defended against any attacker, we have to expect that the Swiss soldiers will fight well. Against Allied troops, we would, however, expect them to exhibit certain sympathies for the Allies. . . .` "

From Halbrook, The Swiss and The Nazis: How the Alpine Republic Survived in the Shadow of the Third Reich, p. 253-54.

Photo: Swiss soldiers in the Swiss Alps
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#GermanArmyHighCommand #GermanGeneralStaff #3reich #nazihistory #wwiihistory #ww2documents #armedswiss #swissresistance #Switzerlandhistory #swissarmywwii #swissarmy #theswissandthenazis #armedneutrality #swissarmedneutrality #armeddefense #swissarmedforces #swissmilitia #swissconfederation #confoederatiohelvetica #confederatiohelvetica #alpinerepublic #ww2switzerland
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If you think you might have issues with a vampire this Halloween, you might consider picking up a special vampire hunter gun. This silver-plated Colt Detective .38 Special revolver (ca. 1975) was elaborately engraved by Leonard Francolini and the design includes bats and a cross. The coffin-shaped ebony case holds "holy water, mirror, a wooden stake and silver bullets cast in the shape of miniature vampire heads." This vampire hunter's Colt can be seen at NRA's National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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#NRAmuseum #NRAmuseums #LeonardFrancolini #vampirehunter #vampirehunterkit #coltdetective #coltdetectivespecial #38special #coltrevolver #38spl #vampireweapons #watchoutforvampires #halloweenhasarrived #happyhalloween2024 #engravedgun #engravedguns #vampirebullets #coffincase #coffincases #holywaterprotected #batengraving #engravedrevolver #pewpew #firearmsmuseum #funguns #vampiregun #vampirekit #firearmsphotography

If you think you might have issues with a vampire this Halloween, you might consider picking up a special vampire hunter gun. This silver-plated Colt Detective .38 Special revolver (ca. 1975) was elaborately engraved by Leonard Francolini and the design includes bats and a cross. The coffin-shaped ebony case holds "holy water, mirror, a wooden stake and silver bullets cast in the shape of miniature vampire heads." This vampire hunter`s Colt can be seen at NRA`s National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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#NRAmuseum #NRAmuseums #LeonardFrancolini #vampirehunter #vampirehunterkit #coltdetective #coltdetectivespecial #38special #coltrevolver #38spl #vampireweapons #watchoutforvampires #halloweenhasarrived #happyhalloween2024 #engravedgun #engravedguns #vampirebullets #coffincase #coffincases #holywaterprotected #batengraving #engravedrevolver #pewpew #firearmsmuseum #funguns #vampiregun #vampirekit #firearmsphotography
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John Adams "recognized the individual right to use arms for personal protection, but looked askance at the kind of armed protest recently exemplified in Shays' Rebellion: 'To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defense, or by partial orders of towns, counties, or districts of a state, is to demolish every constitution, and lay the laws prostrate, so that liberty can be enjoyed by no man -- it is a dissolution of the government.' " 

From Adams, A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (vol. 3), quoted in Halbrook, The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?, p. 161 (hardback edition).

John Adams' born on this date in 1735.
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#johnadams #presidentadams #presidentjohnadams #foundingfather #uspresident #gunowner #gunrights #foundingfathersquote #individualrights #keepandbeararms #johnadamsquotes #therighttobeararms #therighttobeararmshalbrook #righttobeararms #rightofthepeople #2ahistory #selfdefense #individualliberty #shaysrebellion #bornonthisdate #gunrights #constitutionalrights #righttobeararms #oppressivegovernment #armeddefense #armedselfdefense #armedprotest #armedcitizens

John Adams "recognized the individual right to use arms for personal protection, but looked askance at the kind of armed protest recently exemplified in Shays` Rebellion: `To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defense, or by partial orders of towns, counties, or districts of a state, is to demolish every constitution, and lay the laws prostrate, so that liberty can be enjoyed by no man -- it is a dissolution of the government.` "

From Adams, A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (vol. 3), quoted in Halbrook, The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?, p. 161 (hardback edition).

John Adams` born on this date in 1735.
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#johnadams #presidentadams #presidentjohnadams #foundingfather #uspresident #gunowner #gunrights #foundingfathersquote #individualrights #keepandbeararms #johnadamsquotes #therighttobeararms #therighttobeararmshalbrook #righttobeararms #rightofthepeople #2ahistory #selfdefense #individualliberty #shaysrebellion #bornonthisdate #gunrights #constitutionalrights #righttobeararms #oppressivegovernment #armeddefense #armedselfdefense #armedprotest #armedcitizens
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"The invention of fixed cartridges—consisting of a case filled with gunpowder, with a primer in its rear and a bullet fixed to the front—paved the way for mass production of repeating, lever-action rifles with magazines of various capacities. Designed in 1856, the Volcanic rifle had a magazine that held, depending on barrel length, twenty, twenty-five, or thirty cartridges. This developed into the Henry Repeating Rifle in 1860, which evolved into the Winchester Model 1866. The rifle version of the Winchester held seventeen rounds, and the carbine version held twelve. The Smith & Wesson Model One revolver, introduced in 1857, also used a fixed cartridge."

From Halbrook, America's Rifle: The Case for the AR-15, pgs. 122-123.
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#AmericasRifleTheCaseForTheAR15 #firearmshistory #2ndamendment #2asupporter #2ahistory #pro2ndamendmentrights #firearmstechnology #firearmtechnology #fixedcartridge #fixedcartridges #leveractionrifle #barrellength #barrellengthmatters #firearmcartridges #volcanicrifle #HenryRepeatingRifle #repeatingrifle #WinchesterModel1866 #winchestercarbine #winchesterrifle #smithandwessonmodelone #smithandwessonrevolver

"The invention of fixed cartridges—consisting of a case filled with gunpowder, with a primer in its rear and a bullet fixed to the front—paved the way for mass production of repeating, lever-action rifles with magazines of various capacities. Designed in 1856, the Volcanic rifle had a magazine that held, depending on barrel length, twenty, twenty-five, or thirty cartridges. This developed into the Henry Repeating Rifle in 1860, which evolved into the Winchester Model 1866. The rifle version of the Winchester held seventeen rounds, and the carbine version held twelve. The Smith & Wesson Model One revolver, introduced in 1857, also used a fixed cartridge."

From Halbrook, America`s Rifle: The Case for the AR-15, pgs. 122-123.
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#AmericasRifleTheCaseForTheAR15 #firearmshistory #2ndamendment #2asupporter #2ahistory #pro2ndamendmentrights #firearmstechnology #firearmtechnology #fixedcartridge #fixedcartridges #leveractionrifle #barrellength #barrellengthmatters #firearmcartridges #volcanicrifle #HenryRepeatingRifle #repeatingrifle #WinchesterModel1866 #winchestercarbine #winchesterrifle #smithandwessonmodelone #smithandwessonrevolver
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Well she certainly looks pleased with herself - look at all the squirrels she killed! Did you grow up hunting squirrels?
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#squirrelshooting #squirrelhunting #smallgamehunting #squirrelhunter #squirrelhuntress #huntress #womanhunter #huntingtradtion #womenthathunt #vintagephotos #womenandguns #vintagehuntingphoto #vintagegunphoto #oldhuntingphoto #oldhuntingphotos #successfulhunt #asuccessfulhunt

Well she certainly looks pleased with herself - look at all the squirrels she killed! Did you grow up hunting squirrels?
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#squirrelshooting #squirrelhunting #smallgamehunting #squirrelhunter #squirrelhuntress #huntress #womanhunter #huntingtradtion #womenthathunt #vintagephotos #womenandguns #vintagehuntingphoto #vintagegunphoto #oldhuntingphoto #oldhuntingphotos #successfulhunt #asuccessfulhunt
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"Tombstone, Territory of Arizona, passed Ordinance No. 9 in 1880 making it 'unlawful for any person to carry deadly weapons, concealed or otherwise (except the same be carried openly in sight, and in the hand) within the limits of the City of Tombstone.' It then amended the ordinance in 1881 to make it 'unlawful to carry in the hand or upon the person or otherwise any deadly weapon within the limits of said city of Tombstone, without first obtaining a permit in writing.'

"Town marshal Virgil Earp allowed his brothers and friends to violate the law but he enforced it against his enemies. The trouble started when Wyatt Earp pistol-whipped Tom McLaury for not checking in his gun, and before long the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday shot dead three cowboys who refused orders to turn in their guns. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were charged with murder, but the case was dismissed.

"The Tombstone homicides were not exactly an inspiring showcase for bans on carrying firearms. While folks evaded the ordinance by carrying concealed arms, Tombstone was not a violent town; there were only three homicides with firearms in town that year, and the decedents were the cowboys shot by the Earps and Holliday in the name of law enforcement."

From Halbrook, The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?, pgs. 256-57 (hardback edition).

Tomorrow marks the 143rd anniversary of the infamous "shootout" at the OK Corral. 
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#okcorral #okcorralaz #tombstoneaz #tombstoneazhistory #shootoutokcorral #cowboys #cowboygunfight #cowboyshootout #wyattearp #virgilearp #earpbrothers #docholliday #famousfueds #clantons #mclaurys #wildwest #wildwestguns #revolver #revolvers #concealedcarry #concealedcarryreciprocity #guncontrol #rtkba #righttobeararms #historybuff #historygeek #ushistory #onthisday #onthisdate #therighttobeararmshalbrook

"Tombstone, Territory of Arizona, passed Ordinance No. 9 in 1880 making it `unlawful for any person to carry deadly weapons, concealed or otherwise (except the same be carried openly in sight, and in the hand) within the limits of the City of Tombstone.` It then amended the ordinance in 1881 to make it `unlawful to carry in the hand or upon the person or otherwise any deadly weapon within the limits of said city of Tombstone, without first obtaining a permit in writing.`

"Town marshal Virgil Earp allowed his brothers and friends to violate the law but he enforced it against his enemies. The trouble started when Wyatt Earp pistol-whipped Tom McLaury for not checking in his gun, and before long the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday shot dead three cowboys who refused orders to turn in their guns. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were charged with murder, but the case was dismissed.

"The Tombstone homicides were not exactly an inspiring showcase for bans on carrying firearms. While folks evaded the ordinance by carrying concealed arms, Tombstone was not a violent town; there were only three homicides with firearms in town that year, and the decedents were the cowboys shot by the Earps and Holliday in the name of law enforcement."

From Halbrook, The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?, pgs. 256-57 (hardback edition).

Tomorrow marks the 143rd anniversary of the infamous "shootout" at the OK Corral.
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#okcorral #okcorralaz #tombstoneaz #tombstoneazhistory #shootoutokcorral #cowboys #cowboygunfight #cowboyshootout #wyattearp #virgilearp #earpbrothers #docholliday #famousfueds #clantons #mclaurys #wildwest #wildwestguns #revolver #revolvers #concealedcarry #concealedcarryreciprocity #guncontrol #rtkba #righttobeararms #historybuff #historygeek #ushistory #onthisday #onthisdate #therighttobeararmshalbrook
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"On October 4, the Supreme Court granted cert in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. It involves Mexico's suit against the American firearms industry, which alleges that the industry enables the drug cartels to empower their stranglehold over Mexican society...."

"But corruption-ridden Mexico wants to blame America's lawful gun industry for its status as a failed state. In the cert petition, the petitioners describe the background to the question presented as follows:

" 'The Mexican Government has sued leading members of the American firearms industry, seeking to hold them liable for harms inflicted by Mexican drug cartels. According to Mexico, America's firearms companies have engaged in a series of business practices for decades—from selling semi-automatic rifles, to making magazines that hold over ten rounds, to failing to impose various sales restrictions—that have created a supply of firearms later smuggled across the border and ultimately used by the cartels to commit crimes. Mexico asks for billions of dollars in damages, plus extensive injunctive relief imposing new gun-control measures in the United States.

" 'The district court dismissed the case under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which generally bars suits against firearms companies based on criminals misusing their products. But the First Circuit reversed.' "

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "Supreme Court Grants Cert in Mexico v. Smith & Wesson" (10/22/24).

Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/10/22/second-amendment-roundup-supreme-court-grants-cert-in-mexico-v-smith-wesson/
Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com 
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#SCOTUS #Smith&WessonBrandsvEstadosUnidosMexicanos #firearmsindustry #firearmscompanies #PLCAA #ProtectionofLawfulCommerceinArmsAct #mexicancartel #mexicolawsuit #illegalfirearms #firearmregulation #illegalfirearms #americanfirearms #firearmstrafficking #saleoffirearms #firearmssales #antigungroups #GunControlAct #bureauofalcoholtobaccoandfirearms #S&WvMexico #MexicovS&W #federalfirearmslicense

"On October 4, the Supreme Court granted cert in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. It involves Mexico`s suit against the American firearms industry, which alleges that the industry enables the drug cartels to empower their stranglehold over Mexican society...."

"But corruption-ridden Mexico wants to blame America`s lawful gun industry for its status as a failed state. In the cert petition, the petitioners describe the background to the question presented as follows:

" `The Mexican Government has sued leading members of the American firearms industry, seeking to hold them liable for harms inflicted by Mexican drug cartels. According to Mexico, America`s firearms companies have engaged in a series of business practices for decades—from selling semi-automatic rifles, to making magazines that hold over ten rounds, to failing to impose various sales restrictions—that have created a supply of firearms later smuggled across the border and ultimately used by the cartels to commit crimes. Mexico asks for billions of dollars in damages, plus extensive injunctive relief imposing new gun-control measures in the United States.

" `The district court dismissed the case under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which generally bars suits against firearms companies based on criminals misusing their products. But the First Circuit reversed.` "

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "Supreme Court Grants Cert in Mexico v. Smith & Wesson" (10/22/24).

Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/10/22/second-amendment-roundup-supreme-court-grants-cert-in-mexico-v-smith-wesson/
Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#SCOTUS #Smith&WessonBrandsvEstadosUnidosMexicanos #firearmsindustry #firearmscompanies #PLCAA #ProtectionofLawfulCommerceinArmsAct #mexicancartel #mexicolawsuit #illegalfirearms #firearmregulation #illegalfirearms #americanfirearms #firearmstrafficking #saleoffirearms #firearmssales #antigungroups #GunControlAct #bureauofalcoholtobaccoandfirearms #S&WvMexico #MexicovS&W #federalfirearmslicense
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Marathon & Triathlon Photos

Reykjavík Half-Marathon, 2019
Reykjavík, Iceland

Jungfrau Marathon, 2004
Jungfrau, Switzerland

Marine Corps Marathon
Washington, D.C.

Alcatraz Triathlon, 2001
San Francisco, California

Berlin Marathon, 2019
Berlin, Germany

Berlin Marathon, 2017
Berlin, Germany