Students Carrying Weapons
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Headline

The percentage of high school students carrying weapons in the past 30 days declined from 26 percent to 17 percent between 1991 and 1999, and has remained stable at between 17 percent and 19 percent through 2007. ( Figure 1)

Importance

The presence of a weapon, such as a gun, knife, or club, increases the chances that violent behavior will have serious health consequences. Homicide is the second leading cause of death for teens ages 15 to 19, accounting for 15 percent of all deaths in 2005.¹

Of students carrying weapons, over one third report carrying guns,² while one third report carrying a weapon on school grounds.³ One national study found that 43 percent of high school students who reported carrying a weapon in the past year claimed that they carried weapons primarily for protection.⁴ Minor disputes, however, can quickly become much more serious when one or both of the parties involved is carrying a weapon.⁵ The presence of weapons at a school can create an atmosphere that makes both teaching and learning more difficult.⁶

Trends

The percentage of students who report they carried a weapon in the past 30 days decreased from 26 percent in 1991 to 17 percent in 1999. Since the late 1990's the percentage has been fairly stable, and was 18 percent in 2007. (Figure 1)

Differences by Gender

High school males are more than three times as likely as females to carry a weapon (29 percent versus 8 percent in 2007). This difference can be seen for all racial and ethnic subgroups, as well as at each grade. The incidence of both male and female students carrying a weapon, however, has decreased significantly between 1991 and 2007 (41 percent and 11 percent versus 29 percent and 8 percent, respectively). (Figure 1)

Differences by Race and Ethnicity⁷

In 2007, non-Hispanic white males were more likely to carry weapons than non-Hispanic black males (30 percent and 25 percent, respectively). Non-Hispanic white females, however, were less likely than both non-Hispanic black and Hispanic females to carry a weapon (six percent versus ten and nine percent, respectfully, in 2007). (Figure 2)

Differences by Age

For both males and females, the likelihood of carrying a weapon decreases slightly as students age. (Table 1) In 2007, 20 percent of ninth graders carried a weapon in the past 30 days, as compared to 16 percent of twelfth graders.

Related Indicators

Physical Fighting by Youth, Youth Who Unsafe at School, Violent Victimization of Youth, Teen Homicide, Suicide, and Firearm Death

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State and Local Estimates

2007 estimates are available for high school students (grades 9-12) by grade and sex for select states and cities from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).

International Estimates

None Available

National Goals

Through its Healthy People 2010 initiative, the federal government has set a national goal to decrease the number of adolescents who carry weapons at school from 6.9 percent in 1999 to 4.9 percent in 2010. To do this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages violence prevention programs for youth that focus on reducing both physical fighting at school and weapon carrying.

What Works: Programs and Interventions that may Influence this Indicator

Click here to view examples of programs and interventions that research has evaluated for this indicator. View programs

Research References

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). (2006). National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (producer). [Cited July 7, 2006].

²MMWR 2007; 57(No. SS-4): Table 7.

³MMWR 2007; 57(No. SS-4): Table 13.

⁴Garbarino J., Bradshaw, C.P., Vorrasi, J.A. (2002). "Mitigating the Effects of Gun Violence on Children and Youth." The Future of Children. Volume 12-Number 2, pages 73-85.

⁵Blumstein, Alfred. "Youth, Guns, and Violent Crime." The Future of Children. Volume 12-Number 2, pages 39-52.

⁶DeVoe, J.F., Peter, K., Noonan, M., Snyder, T.D., and Baum, K. (2005). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2005 (NCES 2006-001/NCJ 210697). U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

⁷Race/ethnicity estimates from 1999 and later are not directly comparable to earlier years due to federal changes in race definitions. In surveys conducted in 1999 and later, respondents were allowed to select more than one race when selecting their racial category. Estimates presented here only include respondents who selected one category when choosing their race.

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Definition

Youth were asked whether they had carried a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club on one or more occasions in the 30 days preceding the survey.

Data Source

Data for 1991: YRBSS: Youth Online, Comprehensive Results. Retrieved May 24, 2004. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance Summaries:
Data for 1993: March 24, 1995. MMWR 1995; 44(No. SS-1): Table 4.
Data for 1995: September 27, 1996. MMWR 1996; 45(No. SS-4): Table 4.
Data for 1997: August 14, 1998. MMWR; 47(No. SS-3): Table 4.
Data for 1999: June 9, 2000. MMWR 2000; 49(No. SS-5): Table 6.
Data for 2001: June 28, 2002. MMWR 2002; 51(No. SS-4): Table 6.
Data for 2003: May 21, 2004. MMWR 2004; 53(No.SS-2): Table 6.
Data for 2005: June 9, 2006. MMWR 2006; 55(No.SS-5): Table 6.
Data for 2007: June 6, 2008. MMWR 2007; 57(No. SS-4) Table 7.

Raw Data Source

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)

Approximate Date of Next Update

Summer 2010

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