A quick glance at headlines is enough to tell us that America’s relationship with guns is different from the rest of the world. Although gun laws and lobbyists are only pieces of a much larger puzzle, when assembled, it’s clear we have a problem with reconciling the 2nd Amendment and gun violence. What are we overlooking? Let’s take a closer look at gun culture from a sociological perspective to hopefully answer some of these questions:

– Why do some Americans feel safer with guns?
– What other belief systems influence gun culture?
– How does money or social status influence gun ownership?
– How did mass shootings become part of our culture?
– Why is it so hard to pass gun legislation, will strict gun policy make a difference?

Join Civic Series to get the answers to these questions and more. Our speaker for the event is Claire Boine, a research scholar from Boston University who specializes in gun culture. We’ll kick off the presentation at 6:15pm followed by an extensive Q&A with food and drinks from Life Alive and Sam Adams.

Huge thank you to our event host, the Beacon Hill Friends House. Check them out for more info and events.

SPEAKER
Claire Boine is a Research Scholar at Boston University where she focuses on gun culture. She looks into the social identities constructed around gun ownership and how they tie into the political debate on firearm policies. With a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and other degrees in international law and conflict analysis, she has a multicultural pluri-disciplinary approach to solving complex problems. Her past research includes framing analysis of human trafficking in the US and France, study of legal and social norms around torture and monitoring and evaluation of several nonprofit programs in child protection and access to rights.