GUNS IN YOUNG HANDS - A SURVEY OF URBAN TEENAGERS ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS RELATED TO HANDGUN VIOLENCE

Objective: To determine the nature and causes of gun violence among ur ban young people. Methods: We conducted a confidential survey of 1,219 7th and 10th graders in Boston and Milwaukee, regarding their attitud es and behaviors toward violence and handguns. Results: Twenty-nine pe rcent have had a member of their immediate family shot, 42% could get a gun if they wanted, 28% have handled a gun without adult knowledge o r supervision, 17% have carried a concealed gun, and 3% reported bring ing a gun to school in the past 30 days. Nine percent admitted smoking cigarettes in the past week, 11% admitted smoking marijuana, Twenty-f ive percent were attacked or threatened within the past year. Reasons for gun carrying were mostly related to perceived safety/threats/reven ge (73%), followed by casual handling (17%), hunting (4%), being cool (3%), target practice (2%), and gangs (1%). The following factors were significantly correlated with gun handling by chi(2) analysis, at p < 0.001 (percentage of respondents admitting unsupervised gun handling shown in parentheses): male (39%), versus female (19%); 10th graders ( 35%) versus 7th graders (24%) seat-belt nonusers (35%) versus users (2 0%): students who state they have poor grades (39%) versus good grades (26%); cigarette smokers (61%) versus nonsmokers (25%); have a gun in the home (46%) versus no gun in the home (23%). Also strongly correla ted in multivariate analysis were violence exposure, having been arres ted, and beliefs that ''gun carrying is a good idea,'' or that ''only cowards back down from a fight.'' Conclusions: Handgun availability an d use are high among urban youth; gun carrying is mostly related to sa fety concerns and easy access, Father than to hunting or sport, This m ay be a cause of high handgun injury rates in this group. Gun injury p revention programs must address youth safety concerns along with handg un availability.