Police and Guns in the Age of Concealed Carry
A Discussion with Jennifer Carlson, Professor of Sociology, University of Arizona
Matrix is located on the 8th floor of Barrows Hall, on the UC Berkeley campus, near Telegraph and Bancroft Avenues, just up the hill from Sather Gate. There are entrances at both ends of the building, but only one of the elevators on the eastern side goes directly to the 8th floor. You can alternatively take the stairs to the 7th floor and walk up the stairs.
Police officers have long been sought-after allies for gun control advocates, but a 2017 Pew Report finds that police favor gun rights over gun control by a 3-1 margin. Wouldn’t increasingly permissive gun laws, such as conceled carry, favor criminals over police officers?
The University of Arizona’s Jennifer Carlson has conducted extensive interviews with both law enforcement officers and gun owners who practice concealed carry. She breaks down how guns are not only part of the American legal framework, but also deeply embedded within the American character.
Professor Carlson’s work examines gun politics, policing and public law enforcement, the politics of race and gender, and violence. She is fascinated by how societies distinguish and regulate legitimate force versus criminal violence. Her book on the politics of gun carry, Citizen-Protectors: The Everyday Politics of Guns in an Age of Decline, was published in 2015 by Oxford University Press. Drawing on in-depth interviews and participant observation at firearms classes, activist events, shooting ranges, and online gun forums, the book examines the growing popularity of gun carry among American men.
Her current project examines gun law enforcement in Arizona, California and Michigan through interviews with police chiefs and observation of gun licensing procedures. In addition to her academic work, she has written for popular audiences in venues such as the Detroit News, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.
This event is part of the Gun Violence in America Series, presented by the UC Berkeley Human Rights Center, Human Rights Program, Boalt Hall Committee for Human Rights, Berkeley School of Public Health, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice.
