When states have strict gun laws, teens are less likely to carry guns on the streets, according to a new study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston University researchers. The authors also found youth are more likely to carry firearms if they live with adults who own guns.
The study, “State Gun Law Environment and Youth Gun Carrying in the United States,” was published September 21, 2015 in JAMA Pediatrics.
“We find that the strength of gun policies including both adult-focused and youth-focused policies is inversely associated with youth gun carrying,” wrote co-authors David Hemenway, professor of health policy at Harvard Chan School and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, and Ziming Xuan of Boston University School of Public Health.
An estimated 15,000 U.S. teenagers, 12 to 19 years old, died annually between 1999 and 2013, the authors wrote. The main causes of death were unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide. Most of the fatal injuries were gun-related (83%); 45% of the suicides involved a gun.
The authors analyzed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which includes data on teen gun possession. The researchers found in states with more strict gun regulations, 5.7% of the students surveyed said they had carried a gun in the past month compared to 7.3% of the youth in states with weaker gun laws.
“These findings are relevant to gun policy debates about the critical importance of comprehensive state-level gun law environment to prevent youth gun carrying,” the authors concluded.
Read a HealthDay article published Sept. 21, 2015 on Doctors Lounge: More Restrictive State Laws Reduce Youth Gun Carrying
Read a related Sept. 21, 2015 Newsweek interview with Prof. Hemenway on guns and suicide: America’s Biggest Gun Problem: Suicide
Learn more
The public health case for gun control
Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis (The Forum at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)