Regardless of rising concern over gun violence involving youth, a brand new research revealed Monday within the journal Pediatrics has discovered a big enhance in handgun carrying amongst Florida adolescents over the previous twenty years.
In keeping with the analysis, common handgun carrying amongst Florida center and highschool college students rose by 65% — from 3.7% in 2002 to six.0% in 2022. The biggest will increase have been seen amongst females, center school-aged teenagers, and white college students.
“These findings point out the necessity to particularly tailor earlier prevention methods targeted on handgun entry and carrying towards feminine and center college college students,” the authors wrote. Additionally they emphasised the continued significance of specializing in rural and male adolescents, who nonetheless present the very best prevalence of carrying firearms.
The evaluation drew on information from the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, with greater than 700,000 pupil responses examined. Whereas common handgun carrying rose, the research discovered a 60% decline in college students carrying firearms on college grounds — from 1.1% in 2002 to 0.4% in 2022. Favorable attitudes towards bringing handguns to high school additionally dropped by 39%.
The authors famous that these declines might seem contradictory, given the rise in class shootings in current many years, however might mirror elevated college safety measures equivalent to entry management, customer check-ins, and extra legislation enforcement presence on campuses.
Florida has skilled a number of high-profile college shootings over the previous decade, together with the 2018 mass taking pictures at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty in Parkland, the place 17 individuals have been killed and 17 extra injured, and extra just lately, the mass taking pictures on the campus of Florida State University in April.
They acknowledged limitations to the research, together with the usage of self-reported information, which can be topic to bias.
The findings come amid broader considerations about youth gun violence. Firearms at the moment are the main reason behind dying amongst U.S. youngsters and youngsters, with deadly and nonfatal gun accidents spiking over the past decade. A separate research revealed in JAMA Pediatrics final month discovered that pediatric gun deaths rose in states with weaker firearm legal guidelines, whereas remaining secure or declining in states with stricter rules.
