attending a school with a serious gun problem were about three
3 times more likely to report having frequently carried a weapon to school, repeatedly having been threatened or injured with a weapon at school, and chronically having engaged in fights at school. Only about 10 percent of students at schools with a minor gun problem reported not feeling safe at school, compared to almost 27 percent of students at schools with a serious gun problem. Students at schools with a serious gun problem were also much more likely to report having not gone to school because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to school. More than nine percent of students in schools with serious gun problems missed school at least one day within the schoolnew legislation, however, a large percentage of youth believed that their parents would catch them, indicating that prevention efforts would be more effective if focused on the family. The results here illustrate that community, family, and school factors all influence gun carrying among Arizona's youth.
4
Introduction
Guns in the hands of delinquent youth has become an issue of national concern as juvenile violence increased dramatically, culminating in several high profile school shootings and other crimes of magnitudes generally not associated with juvenile offenders. In a study by the National Institute of Justice in 1998, 29 percent of males between the ages of 16 and 18 reported possessing a gun in the previous year. Of these youth, 43 percent cited a need to protect themselves as their primary reason for carrying