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Gun ownership, regulation, and violence are prominent stitches in the nation's political, social, and moral fabric. Mere mention of the word "gun" triggers passionate, but often uninformed positions. To enhance these discussions, the nation's leading scholars will convene Stanford Law School to address the state of gun ownership in America.
Conference participants will engage in debates informed by history, constitutional theory, and public policy studies. Legal scholars, social scientists and historians will present papers dealing with the historical underpinnings of gun ownership, the current status of gun regulation, various theories of Second Amendment arguments for and against government intervention, and contemporary American gun culture.
The two-day conference is hosted by the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, which is directed by Stanford Law School Professor Robert Weisberg.
Professor Weisberg, along with Professor Franklin Zimring of UC Berkeley and Professor James Jacobs of NYU, two of the leading criminologists on the scholarship of gun regulation in the nation, will provide overarching commentary.
Sponsored by the Stanford Criminal Justice Center at Stanford Law School, and co-sponsored by the Second Amendment Research Center at the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at The Ohio State University.
The Stanford Criminal Justice Center (SCJC) serves as Stanford's vehicle for promoting and coordinating the study of criminal law and the criminal justice system, including legal and interdisciplinary research, curriculum development, and preparation of law students for careers in criminal law. The Center brings legal scholars together with experts from the social sciences, history, and other disciplines on major issues, leading to collective scholarly publications that emanate from these conferences. SCJC also organizes policy forums and strategic roundtables for government officials and nonprofit leaders addressing pragmatic issues of criminal justice reform.
The Second Amendment Research Center at the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy at The Ohio State University is a nonprofit, nonpartisan center promoting scholarship on issues concerning the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and firearms regulation. SARC's goal is to aid in the creation of solutions to the problem of gun violence that are both effective and constitutional, and that recognize equally the widespread private ownership of firearms in the United States, the many legitimate uses of firearms in American society, and the high levels of firearm violence in our country.
All sessions are free and open to the public.
Attendees will be invited to contribute their views and question presenters. Drafts of working papers can be retrieved at http://www.secondamendmentcenter.org/digital_archive_searchresults.asp?SetID=11&;FieldID=1
Detailed Presentation Schedule:
Friday, September 16, 2005
1:30 to 3:00 p.m.
Gun Control and Gun Rights in Early America
Presenter: Saul Cornell, professor of history, The Ohio State University
3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Gun Regulation and Gun Rights in the Era of the 14th Amendment
Presenter: Carole Emberton, department of history, Northwestern University
Saturday, September 17, 2005
9:00 to 10:30 a.m.
The Current State of Second Amendment Theory
Presenter: William Merkel, associate professor of law, Washburn University School of Law
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Gun Violence & Gun Regulation:
The Current State of Public Policy
Presenter: David Hemenway, professor of health policy, Harvard School of Public Health
1:30 to 3:00 p.m.
Gun Regulation and the Problem of Constitutional Scrutiny
Presenter: Adam Winkler, acting professor of law, UCLA School of Law
3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Contemporary Gun Culture and the Future of Regulation
Presenter: Joan Burbick, professor of English, Washington State University