Can we have a better gun debate? Political divisiveness is at an all-time high–and nowhere is this more apparent than in the debate about guns in society. Drawing on rich accounts of how guns impact Americans, this talk suggests that we don’t have a gun debate–but a gun dilemma, characterized by the abundant presence of guns alongside an intolerable level of gun violence. It offers two guiding aphorisms to rethink the gun debate: first, we don’t have a gun violence problem, we have a gun trauma problem and second, guns solve problems for the people who turn to them. In doing so, this talk opens up a third space to journey through the gun debate with compassion and vulnerability rather than dehumanizing discord. Attendee results:
In 2020 and 2021, gun sellers found themselves at the center of a historic surge in gun purchasing. Roughly 20% of American households purchased a gun–and up to more than 8 million people became first-time gun owners. These new gun owners differed from existing gun owners in a number of ways: they were younger, more likely to be women, more likely to be racialized minorities and members of the LGBTQ community, and they were also more likely to be liberal. This massive surge in gun purchasing gave longstanding gun rights advocates, themselves disproportionately conservative, a choice: to double down on gun politics as conservative terrain or to move toward a new, perhaps post-partisan future. This talk takes us to the frontlines of this surge and examines how gun sellers themselves largely chose the former–doubling down on gun rights as conservative politics. Using in-depth interviews with gun sellers as a window into contemporary American politics, this talk maps out how gun politics impacts the democratic challenges currently facing the US–and how we must transform our culture of democracy as a result.
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The movement for gun control and the movement for criminal justice reform represent two of the major political mobilizations of the 21st century. Yet, while African Americans are situated at the noxious intersection of harms caused both by the criminal justice system and gun violence, the relationship between these two movements has often been at odds–largely because in the United States, gun control has often taken the form of gun criminalization. This talk troubles the terms of the current gun debate by centering the politics of race in order to unravel how the criminal justice system has responded to the broad prevalence of guns–and how we must reimagine gun policy if we are to effectively reduce gun harm.
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Jennifer Carlson is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Moving Through our Gun Dilemmas, Democracy & Gun Politics and Race, Guns Rights & Gun Violence. The estimated speaking fee range to book Jennifer Carlson for your event is $20,000 - $30,000. Jennifer Carlson generally travels from Phoenix, AZ, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Ann Fradkin-Hayslip Ed.D., Tania Israel, Kimberly Wehle, Julianne Malveaux and Ruchi Koval. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Jennifer Carlson for an upcoming live or virtual event.
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