Adolescents' Gun Carrying in Context: A Comparative Analysis of White, Black, and Hispanic Youth

Adolescent firearm carrying poses significant public health risks. Although youths of color in the United States have been disproportionately affected, recent evidence indicates that firearm carrying has also increased among White adolescents. While prior research has identified general predictors of firearm behavior among adolescents, few studies have explored whether these predictors operate similarly across racial and ethnic groups. This study investigates the individual, social, and contextual factors associated with adolescent gun carrying and examines how these factors vary among White, Black, and Hispanic youth. Using data from the Pathways to Desistance Study, logistic regression analyses were conducted on the full sample (N = 1,354) and subsamples comprising solely White, Black, and Hispanic adjudicated adolescents in two U.S. cities to identify and compare the predictors of gun carrying among these groups. A one-way ANOVA test was also used to investigate whether shared predictors significantly differ across racial groups. The findings showed that while parental knowledge and peer antisocial behavior are strong and universal predictors for adolescent gun carrying, Hispanic adolescents reported significantly higher levels of peer antisocial behavior than their White and Black peers. School expulsion, truancy, and family structure were unique predictors among Black adolescents, while family arrest history and parental education level were unique predictors among Hispanic youth. The findings from this study inform policies, community-based education, prevention, and intervention efforts.