UNT Constitution Day Program to focus on Second Amendment and Campus Carry | Department of Political Science
August 23, 2016

UNT Constitution Day Program to focus on Second Amendment and Campus Carry

As part of its observance of Constitution Day on Thursday, September 15th, the University of North Texas Honors College and the Department of Political Science will present "Second Amendment & Campus Carry: Rights v. Safety?" featuring Kathleen Thompson from Texas Gun Sense and Emily Taylor from Texas Law Shield. The program will begin at 11 a.m. in the Union Lyceum (1155 Union Circle). It is funded by the Jack Miller Center, the UNT Libraries, and the Center for Leadership and Service.

To learn more about Constitution Day, click here.

Kathleen Thompson, Texas Gun Sense

Kathleen Thompson is a Colleyville, Texas, native who studied Radio, Television and Film at the University of Texas Austin, and completed her degree at the University of North Texas. She got her start in politics and communications at Grapevine High School via the Ecology Club and The Young Democrats. Kathleen is a communications consultant and a writer. Her work has been published or broadcast in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, the Dallas Morning News, The New York Times, The Texas Tribune, local AM and FM new stations and on Channels 4, 5, 8, 11, and Univision 23. Kathleen is an advisory board member of Texas Gun Sense, a nonprofit organization that works to reduce gun violence by promoting effective gun laws through research and public awareness. She is also a board member of the non-profit non-partisan Dallas Democratic Forum, which brings public affairs programming to North Texas. She holds other board positions in area and statewide nonprofits and political action committees. Kathleen is the mother of two children who are in elementary school.

Emily Taylor, Texas Law Shield

Emily Taylor prides herself on providing attentive, aggressive criminal defense for clients in misdemeanor and felony cases. She believes the best defense requires an intimate understanding of the law, and since joining Walker & Byington, Emily has been a frequent lecturer and instructor to both law enforcement officials and civilians on firearms-carry laws and the use of force and deadly force. She is a frequent contributor to Fox news affiliates and other media outlets on issues of firearms law, and has been cited as an authority on firearms law in national publications. Emily received her J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in Nashville, Tennessee in 2012. Prior to law school, she earned bachelor of arts degrees in both Anthropology and Psychology from Vanderbilt University. A native Texan, Emily returned from Tennessee to intern with the Harris County District Attorney's office and, after graduation from law school, was sworn in as an Assistant District Attorney for Galveston County, Texas. As an Assistant District Attorney she took a broad range of felony and misdemeanor cases to trial in front of judges and juries, and was responsible for grand jury presentations, motions and hearings, and plea negotiations. She provides an insider's perspective into the Texas criminal justice system, particularly into cases involving gun owners and claims of self-defense.