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Date: March 14, 1995
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Rayford Kytle, PHS (202) 260-3388

Teens and Firearms: Not Just an Inner-City Problem

An investigation of gun possession by youth in a "classic" American suburb indicates that suburban youth are nearly as likely to own and carry guns as inner city youth. The findings are reported in Public Health Reports, the journal of the U.S. Public Health Service, part of HHS.

Researchers surveying 432 students from three public high schools in Jefferson Parish, a suburban area bordering New Orleans, found that nearly one in five (18 percent) owned a handgun. Among males, the figure was more than one in four (28 percent). One in six males (16.5 percent) owned an automatic or semiautomatic handgun.

One in six (17 percent) of the whole sample and one in four (28 percent) of the males carried weapons outside their homes, whether they owned them, shared ownership or borrowed them.

Previous studies of inner-city high school students have found one in six males reporting owning an automatic or semiautomatic handgun; one in seven owning a revolver; one in three carrying a gun at least occasionally.

Researchers Joseph F. Sheley, Ph.D., and Victoria E. Brewer, MSW, MSB, both of Tulane University, surveyed the public high school students in Jefferson Parish, which has approximately 450,000 residents and little industry. It is predominantly white (78 percent) and the wealthiest parish in Louisiana.

High school dropouts and students who were not in attendance on the day of the survey were not included in the study, so the researchers believe their findings are conservative.

Students -- particularly boys -- who carry guns are more likely to be involved in drug activity according to this study, and more likely to have committed crimes with weapons. Girls who carried guns were more likely to report feeling threatened.

The researchers also theorize that among suburban youth, gun possession and gun carrying may serve to enhance status among their peers.

In 1990, 82 percent of the homicides of persons 15 to 19 years old were committed with guns. In 1991, homicide became the 10th leading cause of death for all Americans. It is the leading cause of death for black youth, ages 15-24.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a PHS agency, has established the Division of Violence Prevention at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control to study homicide and reduce its incidence.

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice are working with CDC to analyze those cases where students or faculty were killed either in school, at a school related function or on their way to school. A complete analysis of the study data is expected later this year.

The departments of Education and Justice are also working together on a guide for schools on how to develop conflict resolution curricula tailored to their particular needs.

The Improving America's Schools Act includes the Gun Free Schools Act, which the Department of Education is implementing. According to the act, in order to receive federal funding, states must pass laws requiring all students found to have brought a gun to school be expelled for not less than one year. The Department of Education is also developing a demonstration program that will provide school districts with alternatives to expulsion.

Note: Copies of the study may be obtained by phoning Rayford Kytle at 202-260-3388. For the complete Jan.-Feb. issue of Public Health Reports, phone 301-443-0762.

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