WEAPON-CARRYING AND YOUTH VIOLENCE

Weapons, and firearms in particular, are widely available in the Unite d States and are at the heart of youth violence. Many schools and comm unities throughout the nation have identified weapon-carrying among yo uth as a substantial health, educational, and social problem. In fact, one of the national health objectives for the year 2000 is to substan tially reduce the incidence of weapon-carrying among adolescents. This paper reviews the prevalence of weapon-carrying by youth, reasons the y carry weapons, ways that firearms are obtained, firearms and violenc e (especially youth violence), and the controlling of weapons in schoo ls.