Jennifer Carlson is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Government & Public Policy at the University of Arizona, where she teaches courses on Guns in America, Sociology of Punishment, and Policing & Society.

Her research examines American gun culture, policing and public law enforcement, and conservative politics. She is the author of the book Citizen-Protectors: The Everyday Politics of Guns in an Age of Decline (2015; Oxford University Press) as well as articles appearing (or forthcoming) in Social Problems, Law & Society Review, British Journal of Criminology, Contexts, Theoretical Criminology, and Law & Contemporary Problems.

She is currently working on two major book projects. The first, entitled “Policing the Second Amendment: Gun Law Enforcement in Arizona, California & Michigan,” examines ‘gun policy in action’ by looking at the frontline officials and administrative bodies that enforce gun laws. The second, entitled “Killed but Not Murdered: Accidental Shootings, Justifiable Homicides & the New Politics of Trauma,” is a collaborative book project with Jessica Cobb that historically examines how Americans understand and experience two kinds of understudied gun deaths: accidental and justifiable homicides.

Her research has won awards from the American Sociological Association Sex and Gender Section and Race, Gender & Class Section; the Society for the Study of Social Problems Theory Division; and the American Society of Criminology Division on Women & Crime and Division on Critical Criminology. In addition to scholarly writing, her work has been featured in popular venues such as NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, BBC, and Detroit News.

She can be reached at jennifercarlson AT email DOT arizona DOT edu.