Patterns of adolescent firearms ownership and use

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Abstract
Recently a great deal of concern has been expressed in the media and in public opinion about adolescents' ownership and use of guns. The importance of understanding how youths come to acquire and use guns cannot be underestimated. Little research has been conducted on these issues, however, and the research that has been done is methodologically inadequate. This study avoids many problems contained in prior research by using individual-level data from the Rochester Youth Development Study. Results indicate that factors leading to sport gun ownership are largely different from those leading to protection gun ownership. Socialization into sport gun use originates from the family, whereas socialization into protective gun use derives primarily from peer influences outside the home. This study does not determine whether gun ownership precedes or is preceded by delinquent behavior. It suggests, however, that protective gun ownership is an adaptation to the dangerous associations and circumstances associated with criminal behavior. Boys who own guns for sport display only slightly higher levels of delinquent behavior than those who do not own a gun. In contrast, those who own guns for protection display significantly higher levels of delinquent behavior.