Weapon-carrying and youth violence

Weapons, and firearms in particular, are widely available in the United States and are at the heart of youth violence. Many schools and communities throughout the nation have identified weapon-carrying among youth as a substantial health, educational, and social problem. In fact, one of the national health objectives for the year 2000 is to substantially reduce the incidence of weapon-carrying among adolescents. This paper reviews the prevalence of weapon-carrying by youth, reasons they carry weapons, ways that firearms are obtained, firearms and violence (especially youth violence), and the controlling of weapons in schools.