Search Results

Results: Trajectories of all the 4 forms of substance use were associated with handgun-carrying trajectories. Specifically, the risk of being in the declining trajectory of handgun carrying (compared with that of being in the very-low trajectory) was higher for participants who were in the decreasing trajectories of smoking, drinking, marijuana use, and hard drug use and lower for those who were in the increasing trajectory of drinking. Inversely, the risks of being in the low and high-increasing trajectories of handgun carrying (compared with that of being in the very-low trajectory) were higher for participants who were in the increasing trajectory of hard drug use.

Methods: Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we estimated longitudinal trajectories of handgun carrying among urban Americans, who carried a handgun at least once between 1997 and 2011 (N = 1,574). Multinomial logistic regression analyses examined risk factors associated with handgun-carrying trajectory groups during late adolescence (ages 16-20), emerging adulthood (ages 20-24), and young established adulthood (ages 24-28).

Methods: Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), we delineated age-specific patterns of handgun carrying in the urban United States and investigated how onset age, duration, and timing of handgun carrying affected criminal offending, substance use, police arrest, and educational and economic achievements in established adulthood.

Results: There is important heterogeneity in individuals' handgun carrying behavior over time in the urban United States. Developmental features of handgun carrying are significant predictors of negative life outcomes in a variety of domains.

Methods: We linked person-level gun carrying data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. youth and young adults with state-level gun policies over a 15-year period. Cross-classified mixed effects logistic regressions estimated the associations between state gun policies and handgun carrying and explored whether the associations varied by person-level demographic characteristics.

Results: Youth and young adults in states with a greater number of gun policies were less likely to carry a handgun than youth and young adults in states with fewer gun policies. Regulations on gun purchasing, concealed carrying permitting, and domestic violence-related laws were particularly important in reducing youth/young adult gun-carrying behavior. In addition, these associations varied by gender and race/ethnicity.

Discussion: State firearm legislation may be an effective mechanism to reduce youth and young adult gun carrying and ultimately mitigate gun-related mortality and morbidity.