Factors Preventing Gun Acquisition and Carrying Among Incarcerated Adolescent Males

Abstract

Context: Despite the wide availability of guns in the United States, not all delinquent adolescents own guns and not all adolescent gun owners carry them at all times. Research about the factors that prevent high-risk youth from acquiring and carrying guns is limited.Objective: To determine, from the perspective of incarcerated adolescent males, factors that prevent acquiring or carrying guns, either on a temporary or permanent basis. Design and Setting:In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with randomly selected incarcerated adolescent males at a residential juvenile justice facility from January to May 1998. Transcribed interviews were examined for recurrent themes.Participants: Forty-five incarcerated adolescent males.Main Outcome Measures: Reported factors limiting gun acquisition and carrying.Results: Seventy-one percent of the sample had either owned or carried a gun out of their home. We identified 6 recurring themes that, at least on occasion, prevented or delayed delinquent youth from acquiring or carrying guns. The most commonly cited factors were fear of being arrested and incarcerated and lack of perceived need for a gun. Other themes included not wanting to hurt oneself or others, respect for the opinions of others, inability to find a source for a desired gun, and lack of money to acquire a desired gun.Conclusions: We identified 6 factors that limited gun acquisition and carrying among a sample of incarcerated male adolescents. Knowledge of these factors should inform intervention efforts to reduce youth gun acquisition and carrying.Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:335-341

How Delinquent Youths Acquire Guns: Initial Versus Most Recent Gun Acquisitions

“…Some youths reported that they would only buy or borrow a gun from a small circle of trusted friends and family members. 12 As more law enforcement agencies begin to question youths arrested on gun charges about where they obtained their guns, 11 this research serves as a potential reality check. If our data are reasonably generalizable, police should be suspicious of claims that a youth acquired a gun from a total stranger.…”

“…The most common reason respondents offered for their preference for new guns was to avoid the risk of having a gun that could be linked to other crimes. 12 New guns were also perceived to be less likely to jam than used guns, a factor that was very important to some youths.…”

“…15 Youths often reported stashing their guns close to where they were selling drugs to avoid enhanced prison sentences for possessing a gun during the commission of a drug crime. 12 Therefore, police searches in and around open-air drug markets, or in other areas where suspects have been pursued by the police, may lead to many gun seizures from high-risk settings.…”

“…12 The current study used data from this same project to examine how criminally involved youths acquired guns and addressed the gaps in current research described above.…”

Youth violence: What we know and what we need to know.

“…Youth report that their awareness of these police practices curtail their gun carrying (Freed, Webster, Longwell, Carrese, & Wilson, 2001). Targeted initiatives with relatively…”