EXPLORING GUN VIOLENCE IN MODERN AMERICA: Law, Policy and Social Movements will explore our various issues gun violence presents to our country today by bringing together experienced speakers with differing views on the causes of and solutions to gun violence in America. The Symposium will tackle complex, controversial, and nuanced issues related to firearms and how we treat them academically, socially, and criminally. In an era of frequent mass shootings, we will analyze the relationship between the Second Amendment and a problem that some argue is unique to our country and to our time. We will confront virtues and problems associated with gun crime prosecutions at both the state and federal levels with a particular focus on how and why race and social status relate to prosecution rates. We will also explore the complicated relationship between gun violence, gun law, and mental health, particularly important given that the CDC reports that over 60 percent of gun deaths each year are by suicide rather than third party crime. Finally, we will examine how interest groups and social movements have affected the development of gun policy and gun laws through the use of lobbying, protesting, and other forms of political pressure. Each speaker will approach these topics from a unique perspective and will offer different views and solutions to the problems presented by gun violence in America today.