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Carrying a handgun in public vs. taking a handgun to school among youth: An exploration of the predicting power of risk factors related to delinquency, aggression, and victimization
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Carrying a handgun in public vs. taking a handgun to school among youth: An exploration of the predicting power of risk factors related to delinquency, aggression, and victimization

Hasan Buker, Ihsan E. Buker and Bailey Bullion
Security journal
02/09/2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-023-00368-3
Web of Science ID: WOS:000928985300001

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4 Times Cited - Web of Science

Abstract

Gun violence in school settings has recently been of great concern in the US. However, research on youth carrying a gun to school is limited in numbers and scope. This study strove to improve the understanding of the risk factors associated with gun carrying in the general public and taking a gun to school among middle- and high-school students. Based on a dataset collected from rural, urban, and suburban schools in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (n = 5648), this study explored the predictor value of several potential risk factors derived from two prominent theoretical frameworks: "crime facilitation" and "fear and loathing" on two major outcome variables; carrying a handgun in public, and taking a handgun to school. The predictor variables included measures of bullying, violence against a dating partner, and non-gun delinquency. The bivariate analysis (group comparisons) indicated no significant difference between the likelihood of carrying a hand gun in public and taking a handgun to school among participants. The multivariate analysis indicated that non-gun delinquency was the most important risk factor increasing the likelihood for carrying a hand gun in public and taking a handgun to school. How future risk/threat assessment efforts should interpret these findings is discussed, along with the implications on how taking a gun to school is an extension of general gun carrying and may primarily be shaped by the presence of a delinquent lifestyle, rather than any other possible predictors examined.

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