The following thesis will merge the field of legal studies with the field
of Science, Technology, and Society, and will focus on issues surrounding the
gun control debate. The goal is to ultimately bring new light to this hot-
button legal topic through the use of STS scholarship. STS tools and theories,
which have previously been absent from most gun control discussions, have
much to contribute to the discourse in terms of motivating the need for gun
control, fully understanding the user-gun relationship, breaking down
misconceptions about the technology and its role in society, and further
understanding the complex societal network within which guns exist in
America. This will begin first with a discussion of the legal history and
background of firearms in the United States, and will be followed by an STS
analysis of technological agency and somnambulism as they can be applied to
guns. Following this, the Actor Network in which firearms in America are
imbedded will be explored, in order to better understand why they have
been so difficult to regulate. Although this thesis will be heavily policy and
law-focused, the aim is not to propose any specific new policy, but instead to
use STS to conceptualize gun issues from a new perspective that will allow
misconceptions and blockades to be confronted head-on.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CLAREMONT/oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:scripps_theses-2086 |
| Date | 01 January 2017 |
| Creators | Skinner, Caroline |
| Publisher | Scholarship @ Claremont |
| Source Sets | Claremont Colleges |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Scripps Senior Theses |
| Rights | © 2017 Caroline Skinner, default |
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