GUN ACQUISITION AND USE BY JUVENILE-OFFENDERS

Objective.-To learn how, when, where, and why juvenile offenders acqui re guns.Design.-Following acquisition of informed consent, we conducte d semistructured interviews between June and November 1995 with a conv enience sample of 63 juvenile offenders aged 13 through 18 years, each of whom was incarcerated at a detention center in metropolitan Atlant a, Ga. Setting.-Five detention centers in metropolitan Atlanta. Main O utcome Measures.-Frequency of handgun acquisition and use, age at and method of first handgun acquisition, feelings experienced when carryin g guns, development of gun-carrying behavior, drug use, and gang membe rship. Results.-The mean age of respondents was 15.7 years. Forty-one male and 12 female respondents had owned a gun, Eighty-four percent of gun carriers acquired their first gun before the age of 15 years; mor e than half received their first gun passively, without any specific p lan to do so. Adolescents who purposefully obtained their first handgu n were more likely to become frequent or constant carriers. Forty perc ent felt safer and 40% said they felt more energized, excited, or powe rful while carrying a gun, However, 34% reported increased anxiety abo ut getting caught. Almost all stated that guns are readily available f rom a wide range of sources. Conclusion.-Knowledge of the developmenta l patterns of gun carrying by delinquent adolescents could be useful i n formulating effective strategies to reduce firearm violence.