Experts to explore problems and solutions to gun crime in University of Chicago Law School lecture/discussion series

What: Nationally recognized experts will examine key issues related to gun crime in a three-part lecture and discussion series, “Guns, Crime, and Punishment in America.” Topics include:

• How differences in comparative rates of burglaries in the U.S. and Canada should influence ongoing litigation against gun manufacturers. (David Kopel, the Independence Institute.)
• The influence of cultural beliefs on people’s opinions on gun issues and the risks of gun possession. (Prof. Dan Kahan, Yale Law School.)
• The language of guns among young males detained in a correctional facility in Tucson, Arizona. (Prof. Bernard Harcourt, Univ. of Chicago Law School.)

When:

• Monday, October 27, 6:15 p.m.
• Friday, November 14, 4:00 p.m.
• Friday, December 5, 4:00 p.m.

Where: The University of Chicago Law School, 1111 East 60th Street

Who: Professor Bernard Harcourt, University of Chicago Law School, organized the series. Harcourt is the editor and a contributing author to a collection of essays on Guns, Crime, and Punishment in America, which has just been released by New York University Press. The book brings together the foremost experts on gun crime to explore the leading solutions to the problem. Harcourt’s own focus is to insert the voices of youths, who are usually ignored in the debates about guns: how they talk about guns; what guns mean to them; the symbolic dimensions of guns for them; why many young people are fascinated by guns. His research listening to youths talk about guns raises the question whether cracking down through enforcement really solves the problem or whether we need a much better understanding of the culture of guns in our societyÑa culture of guns that is so seductive to young people, as it is to adults. Harcourt is also the author of Illusion of Order: The False Promise of Broken Windows Policing (Harvard University Press, 2001).

Media: Details on the series are on the Web at: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/lectureconf. Print and broadcast media are invited to cover the event, and still photography and broadcast video are permitted. Please contact Peter Schuler at 773-702-4195.