Trent “Tate” Steidley
Quick facts: “Tate” is a nickname my folks gave me, and pretty much everyone uses that in person, although I publish things using Trent. I was born and raised in Rogers County, Oklahoma. I earned a BA at Oklahoma State University and a MA and PhD at Ohio State University. I started working at the University of Denver in 2016.
The best way to reach me is via email at trent.steidley[at]du.edu.
Current Research Projects
Concealed Carry Weapons License Database (CCWLD) – I am currently gathering and cleaning data on state and county-level concealed carry weapons license applications, approvals, denials, and revocations. These data come from a series of public records requests and gather records from state websites. When complete, the CCWLD will be open access and document how each state was contacted and where the data was obtained along with documentation for how the raw data were cleaned. This research is funded by a fellowship from the Center on American Politics and a Professional Research Opportunity for Faculty grant from the DU Faculty Senate.
My recent research paper with Danielle Trujillo in The Sociological Quarterly uses preliminary data from the CCWLD.
Race & State Social Control
David Ramey (Penn State University) and I are currently working on a study of state social control efforts using budgetary data from city, county, and state level governments and the influence of racial demographics on government spending. This research is an extension of our work on police efforts to acquire military surplus materiel, published in Criminology.
I have also worked with Scott Phillips (University of Denver) on a study exploring the determinants of homicide defendants receiving the death penalty in Texas (1976-2016). This study was published in the Columbia Human Rights Law Review
Federal Firearm Licensees (FFL) Registry and Community Outcomes
Working with Daniel Semenza and Richard Stansfeld at the University of Rutgers, Camden, we are working on studies that examine the influence of federal firearm licensee (FFLS) prevalence on a variety of violent outcomes in communities. I have also published a study with David Ramey (Penn State University) and Emily Shrider (Formerly Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin) that assessed the effect of FFLs on neighborhood crime rates.
Trent Steidley 