Jennifer Carlson

Jennifer Carlson is Professor of Sociology at Arizona State University, where she directs the Center for the Study of Guns in Society. In 2022 she was awarded a MacArthur Genius grant for her research into how guns shape American life, including those who survive gun violence’s harrowing aftermath, police who enforce the country’s complex gun laws, gun sellers and retailers who are on the front lines of surges in gun purchasing, and the people who choose to own and carry guns. In 2022 she was awarded a MacArthur ‘Genius’ grant for her research. She tweets at @jdawncarlson.

Professor Carlson is the author of several books including Policing the Second Amendment: Guns, Law Enforcement, and the Politics of Race (Princeton University Press, 2020) and Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2023), which focuses on the dramatic increase in gun sales in 2020 against the backdrop of pandemic insecurities, police violence, and political polarization. She is also at work on a large-scale study of trauma among people affected by gun violence. With her balanced and rigorous approach, Carlson is a sought-after voice on the nuances of gun culture in the United States. Carlson’s insights into how gun ownership has become a highly charged political issue offer a potential path toward overcoming the entrenched social divisions that characterize gun policy discussions.