@article{ref1,
title="Guns in young hands: a survey of urban teenagers' attitudes and behaviors related to handgun violence",
journal="Journal of trauma",
year="1996",
author="Ander, R. and Quaday, S. and Kennedy, Barrett and Hemenway, David A. and Bergstein, J. M.",
volume="41",
number="5",
pages="794-798",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To determine the nature and causes of gun violence among urban young people. METHODS: We conducted a confidential survey of 1,219 7th and 10th graders in Boston and Milwaukee, regarding their attitudes and behaviors toward violence and handguns. RESULTS: Twenty-nine percent have had a member of their immediate family shot, 42% could get a gun if they wanted, 28% have handled a gun without adult knowledge or supervision, 17% have carried a concealed gun, and 3% reported bringing a gun to school in the past 30 days. Nine percent admitted smoking cigarettes in the past week, 11% admitted smoking marijuana. Twenty-five percent were attacked or threatened within the past year. Reasons for gun carrying were mostly related to perceived safety/threats/revenge (73%), followed by casual handling (17%), hunting (4%), being cool (3%), target practice (2%), and gangs (1%). The following factors were significantly correlated with gun handling by chi 2 analysis, at p < 0.001 (percentage of respondents admitting unsupervised gun handling shown in parentheses): male (39%) versus female (19%); 10th graders (35%) versus 7th graders (24%) seat-belt nonusers (35%) versus users (20%); students who state they have poor grades (39%) versus good grades (26%); cigarette smokers (61%) versus nonsmokers (25%); have a gun in the home (46%) versus no gun in the home (23%). Also strongly correlated in multivariate analysis were violence exposure, having been arrested, and beliefs that &quot;gun carrying is a good idea,&quot; or that &quot;only cowards back down from a fight.&quot; CONCLUSIONS: Handgun availability and use are high among urban youth; gun carrying is mostly related to safety concerns and easy access, rather than to hunting or sport. This may be a cause of high handgun injury rates in this group. Gun injury prevention programs must address youth safety concerns along with handgun availability.",
language="",
issn="0022-5282",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}