Study finds 6% of Florida teens have handguns, a 65% increase over 20 years

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Gun unit declared a nationalist wellness situation successful the U.S. 03:38

Despite accrued concerns astir rising weapon deaths among children, caller probe recovered that the fig of teenagers who person handguns has gone up. 

The study, published Monday successful the diary Pediatrics, recovered that Florida teen wide handgun carrying accrued by 65%, from 3.7% to 6.0%, from 2002 to 2022. Females, mediate school-aged teens and achromatic students were among the groups that astir substantially contributed to the increase.

"These findings bespeak the request to specifically tailor earlier prevention strategies focused connected handgun entree and carrying toward pistillate and mediate schoolhouse students, with ongoing attraction to agrarian and antheral adolescents crossed radical and taste identities, who inactive person the highest prevalence of carriage aft a 20-year period," the authors wrote. 

Researchers utilized information from the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, a cross-sectional survey of Florida mediate and precocious schoolhouse students. In total, much than 700,000 pupil respondents were analyzed. 

Though wide handgun carrying went up, carrying successful schoolhouse decreased by 60%, from 1.1% to 0.4%, according to the study. There was besides a 39% alteration successful favorable attitudes toward schoolhouse carrying, the survey found.

The authors noted that some these decreases initially seemed contradictory, arsenic schoolhouse shootings person accrued successful the past 25 years.

"Ongoing probe should research factors influencing determination and sociodemographic differences successful these trends, specified arsenic the increases successful schoolhouse information measures (eg, controlling entree to buildings, requiring visitors to motion in, utilizing information badges) oregon increases successful the beingness of information oregon instrumentality enforcement officers," the authors wrote. 

They besides noted the study's limitations, including the reliance connected self-reporting, which tin present bias.

Firearms are the starring origin of decease among children and teenagers successful the United States, with a steep increase in ages 15 to 19 starting successful 2020. Nonfatal firearm injuries among children nether property 18 besides accrued 113.1% from 2011 to 2021, different caller survey found. 

A survey published past period successful JAMA Pediatrics recovered weapon deaths among children rose successful states with lax firearm laws, with definite states seeing a leap successful pediatric weapon deaths aft amending their firearms restrictions. Meanwhile, successful the states that had the astir restrictive laws, deaths remained unchangeable or, successful immoderate cases, determination were less pediatric weapon deaths.

• Gun Control
• High School
• Gun Violence
• Gun Safety
• Gun Laws
• Florida
• Teenagers