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

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.