Gun Laws and Youth Gun Carrying: Results from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, 2005-2017

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Criminology
• Sociology

Background:

• Youth gun carrying is a significant risk factor for violence and premature death.
• The specific impact of firearm legislation on deterring youth gun carrying behavior remains under-researched.
• Existing research often relies on advocacy-based gun law data, necessitating a more academic approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between state-level firearm legislation and youth gun carrying behaviors.
• To expand upon previous research by analyzing a larger timeframe and utilizing an academic gun law coding system.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) spanning 2005-2017.
• Employed generalized estimating equations (GEE) to analyze two models: youth gun carrying and youth weapon carrying at school.
• Included data from 20 states for youth gun carrying and 33 states for overall weapon carrying at school.

Main Results:

• A comprehensive gun regulation index was a significant predictor for both youth gun carrying and overall weapon carrying.
• Lower scores on the gun regulation index were associated with higher rates of youth gun and weapon carrying.
• States with more stringent gun laws reported fewer instances of youth carrying firearms.

Conclusions:

• State firearm legislation demonstrates potential in mitigating youth gun carrying behavior.
• The findings suggest a correlation between the strength of gun laws and the prevalence of youth gun carrying.
• Policy implications indicate that robust gun laws may contribute to safer communities by reducing youth access to firearms.