Homemade guns are a growing problem, according to Mark Tallman, M.A. ’08, an Illinois State Politics and Government alumnus interviewed by The New York Times.

The story highlights the linkages between mass shootings and homemade weapons in the United States. According to Tallman, there are a “a growing number of cases involving homemade guns, some of which were high-profile active shootings by precisely the sort of people who are prohibited from buying the weapons.” Tallman, who graduated with a master’s degree in global politics in 2008 and then earned a Ph.D. from the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, has been studying the spread of homemade weapons across the globe.

Mark Tallman, Ph.D.

Tallman’s academic work includes teaching as adjunct professor at the Center for the Study of Homeland Security at Colorado State University-Pueblo, and he is working on a book. Tallman’s book Guns 3.0: Weapons Control and the 4th Industrial Revolution (working title), is set for 2019 release by Praeger.

In addition to his academic work in security, Tallman is a security and emergency management consultant with experience in risk assessment, security and emergency planning, business continuity, energy security, security technology research, counterterrorism research, and exercise design. He was a project manager for the Program on Terrorism and Insurgency Research at the Sie Center for International Security and Diplomacy. He has delivered security research and emergency planning services for state, county, municipal, foreign, public, private, and nonprofit clients.