Gun-Violence Exposure and General Victimization as Risk Factors for Gun Carrying in a National US Sample of Youth and Young Adults

• In Event: Growing Up With Guns: Findings from a Nationally Representative Survey of Youth and Young Adults

Abstract

A core risk factor for gun violence is gun carrying. Exposure to violence and concerns over personal safety likely influence gun carrying but fewer studies have examined the impact of gun violence on gun carrying in comparison to other forms of victimization. Using a U.S nationally representation survey of 5,311 individuals ages 10-34 from the AmeriSpeak panel, the current study describes characteristics of gun carrying and examines the effects of individual forms of victimization, as well as poly-victimization, on gun carrying, separately for male and females. Among the 14% reporting past-year gun-carrying, 78% carried a gun for protection and many took the gun to a public place (56%) and/or walking on the street (47%). Regression analyses showed that lifetime direct gun violence exposure was a strong predictor among males while other forms of victimization were unrelated to past year gun-carrying. In contrast, both direct gun violence exposure and poly-victimization, whether or not it included gun violence, predicted past year gun carrying among females. Recent gun carrying is associated with past experiences of violence exposure that differ in their impact for males and females. Prevention strategies to reduce gun carrying must acknowledge broader contexts that help shape gun carrying behaviors.

Authors

• Heather Turner, University of New Hampshire

• Kimberly Mitchell, University of New Hampshire

• Bruce Taylor, NORC at the University of Chicago

• Weiwei Liu, NORC at the University of Chicago