Reducing Youth Gun Violence:. An Overview of Programs and Initiatives Program Summary Shay Bilchik, Administrator Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention May 1996 The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime. ------------------------------ Foreword Gun violence in the United States has become an epidemic. From the Civil War to the present, 567,000 Americans have died in combat; but since 1920, over 1 million American civilians have been killed by firearms (Pacific Center, 1994). Among teenagers 15 to 19 years old, the problem of gun violence is particularly alarming: one of every four deaths is attributable to a firearm injury. What is causing this epidemic of violence, and how can we stop it? To better focus U.S. Attorneys' violence prevention efforts and help States and jurisdictions respond more effectively to this national crisis, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has developed this report. The first of two reports assessing innovative and effective violence prevention programs across the country, Reducing Youth Gun Violence discusses a wide array of strategies -- from school-based prevention to gun market interception. Relevant research, evaluation, and legislation are included to ground these programs and to provide readers a context for their successful implementation. Reducing Youth Gun Violence is divided into four sections: an executive summary, a directory of youth gun violence reduction programs, a directory of youth gun violence prevention organizations, and a bibliography of research, evaluation, and publications on youth and guns. A description of each section follows. I. Executive Summary To encourage communities plagued by youth gun violence to adopt effective and proven prevention strategies and to spur better collaboration between government agencies and community organizations, Section I: o Describes state-of-the-art approaches to youth gun violence prevention and intervention. o Reviews the status of prevention programs across the country and makes recommendations on how they can be more effective. o Suggests Federal and local partnerships to implement youth gun laws and programs. o Summarizes current Federal and State legislation to reduce youth gun violence and references extensive documentation on this subject by the National Criminal Justice Association. o Assesses promising research on the incidence and context of youth gun violence, as well as potential solutions, from the fields of public health, criminology, and sociology. o Discusses important new findings on youth violence from OJJDP and the National Institute of Justice that will expand our understanding of youth violence and its consequences. II. Directory of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs Section II lists currently operating programs, contact information, program descriptions, and, when available, program evaluations. Readers are encouraged to use this directory to assess the state of the art in reducing youth gun violence, examine in detail programs being implemented in specific States or local communities of interest, and contact individuals to share information with those in need of support, resources, and program guidance. III. Directory of Youth Gun Violence Prevention Organizations Section III lists organizations working to get guns out of the hands of young people, contact information, and descriptions of current activities. The directory includes names of individuals who can provide advice, resources, or additional contacts to readers interested in establishing or expanding youth gun violence prevention programs in their communities. IV. Bibliography of Research, Evaluation, and Publications on Youth and Guns Section IV summarizes abstracts of research on guns and youth. The research discussed here is an important resource for expanding public policy, developing public information campaigns, and informing other initiatives in the area of youth gun violence. Reducing Youth Gun Violence synthesizes work from a wide range of sources representing law enforcement, public health, academia, and youth service providers. It was compiled by OJJDP staff. Contributors included the National Institute of Justice, United States Attorneys, Partnerships Against Violence: Promising Programs (PAVNET), Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Developmental Research and Program, Inc., Educational Development Center, Inc., International Association of Chiefs of Police, Joyce Foundation, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Criminal Justice Association, National Governors' Association, National School Boards Association, National School Safety Center, Pacific Center for Violence Prevention, Violence Policy Center, and many others. This report incorporates written documentation (status reports, research, newsletters, and other written materials) from organizations listed in Sections II and III, and, through followup interviews with program directors and staff, researchers, practitioners, and other experts, attempts to present the most current and complete information available in the United States on reducing youth gun violence. It is the first phase of a broader OJJDP project to collect and disseminate descriptions and evaluations of the Nation's most promising youth gun violence reduction programs. Reducing Youth Gun Violence is a broad look at youth gun violence prevention in the United States. Many of the programs it discusses have not been evaluated; others are narrow in scope or just beginning to operate. Yet all of the programs reviewed here clearly point States and jurisdictions in the right direction. The report is designed to give readers the ability to identify programs best suited to the needs of their target areas. OJJDP's second report on youth and guns will present guidance on implementing model youth gun violence reduction programs. It will highlight feedback from U.S. Attorneys and others, site visits to selected programs, and a survey of State youth program coordinators conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. I want to thank the staff of OJJDP, the Offices and Bureaus of the Office of Justice Programs, the U.S. Attorneys, and the significant number of staff from other U.S. Department of Justice components who contributed to the development of this document. A special commendation is extended to Sarah Ingersoll, Special Assistant, OJJDP, and primary author of Reducing Youth Gun Violence, for her outstanding work on this publication. Shay Bilchik Administrator Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention ------------------------------- Table of Contents Foreword I. Executive Summary Youth Gun Legislation Youth Gun Research The Incidence and Prevalence of Youth Gun Violence Youth Gun Violence and Preventive Solutions and Interventions The Context of Youth Gun Violence Analysis of Increased Youth Gun Violence Preventive Solutions Interventions Further Research Technological and Environmental Interventions The Role of Federal Law Enforcement Prevention and Intervention Programs Focus on Prevention Curriculums Trauma Prevention Gun Buy-Back Programs Public Education Campaigns Focus on Intervention Community Law Enforcement Gun Market Disruption and Interception Diversion and Treatment Programs Gun Courts Alternative Schools Comprehensive Initiatives Summary of Comprehensive Initiatives Conclusion II. Directory of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs III. Directory of Youth Gun Violence Prevention Organizations IV. Bibliography of Research, Evaluation, and Publications on Youth and Guns ------------------------------ I. Executive Summary The Nation's juvenile justice system is at a crossroads. We face a disturbing increase in violent crimes committed by American juveniles, and an alarming rise in abuse, neglect, and gun violence perpetuated against this country's youth. In light of this emerging crisis and its complexity, we can no longer afford to focus narrowly on individual disciplines. To seriously address the rising levels of juvenile crime across the United States, especially youth gun violence, all members of the community, including specialists in relevant policy and academic areas, must participate. Reducing violence and building healthier and safer communities requires planning that is collaborative and comprehensive. Collectively, we must launch a two-pronged assault on juvenile delinquency and youth gun violence. Both a commitment to prevention and early intervention and a strong focus on law enforcement and a comprehensive system of graduated sanctions are crucial to this battle. A number of programs to reduce young people's access to and dangerous use of guns have been initiated by individuals and organizations across the country that others should support and emulate. These interventions fall into seven categories: (1) legislation, (2) research, (3) technological and environmental changes, (4) Federal law enforcement, (5) prevention programs, (6) intervention programs, and (7) comprehensive initiatives. Youth Gun Legislation Legal measures that limit access to firearms strive to reduce the number and type of people eligible to own or possess firearms, as well as the types of firearms that can be manufactured, owned, and carried. Gun violence reduction legislation addresses both firearm availability and societal norms to reduce crime and violence. Recent Federal legislation makes a strong statement that guns in the hands of young people will not be tolerated and represents a critical step toward making our schools and neighborhoods safer: o The Youth Handgun Safety Act (Title XI, Subtitle B), passed in August 1994 as part of the Omnibus Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, prohibits the possession of a handgun or ammunition by a juvenile, or the private transfer of a handgun or ammunition to a juvenile. The law includes a number of exceptions, such as possessing a firearm for farming, hunting, and other specified uses. o The Gun-Free Schools Act took effect on March 31, 1994, amending the current Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 (20 USC 2701 et seq.). It stipulates that any local educational agencies (LEA) receiving ESEA assistance must have a policy requiring the expulsion -- for a period of not less than 1 year -- of any student who brings a firearm to school. The LEA's chief administering officer, however, may modify the expulsion requirement on a case-by-case basis. o A second Gun-Free Schools Act, enacted in October 1994, requires LEA's to implement a policy of "referral to the criminal justice or juvenile delinquency system of any student who brings a firearm or weapon to a school served by such agency." Although this legislation is enacted by the Federal Government, it is State and local law enforcement officials who can deal most effectively with juvenile gun violations. The role of the Federal Government is to support State and local efforts in doing so. Indeed, in approximately half of the States, statutes exist that are at least as stringent as the Youth Handgun Safety Act. The National Criminal Justice Association, under a grant from OJJDP and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), has produced a guide, Compilation of State Firearm Codes That Affect Juveniles, that contains most State firearm code provisions that might be applied to juveniles relating to the ownership, purchase, receipt, handling, carrying, and holding of firearms. The guide reported that all 50 States and the District of Columbia have prohibitions or restrictions on juveniles' possession and use of firearms or handguns. It also reported the percentage of States that have codes affecting juveniles relevant to each of the following areas: possession of a firearm (75 percent), possession of particular types of firearms (90 percent), parental consent (at least 50 percent), safety training (10 percent), special prohibitions relating to adjudicated delinquents (more than 20 percent), juveniles addicted to alcohol or drugs (more than 33 percent) or committed to mental institutions (35 percent), firearms in schools (more than 67 percent), waivers to criminal court (18 percent), and detention (2 percent). It also describes juvenile firearm- related provisions enacted by State legislatures in 1994. Even though reducing youth gun violence is a Federal priority, the battle to stop violence by and against juveniles must be fought at the State and local levels. Federal agencies can be most effective by providing support to States and communities, particularly by disseminating sound information gathered nationally on effective approaches to intervention, rehabilitation, and prevention. Youth Gun Research The extensive research on youth gun violence that has been conducted by criminologists, public health researchers, and sociologists should guide all State or local prevention or intervention initiatives. Research on gun deaths affecting both adult and child populations is extensive. Literature focusing exclusively on guns and youth overlaps with the broader body of gun literature, but is even more extensive in the areas of incidence and prevalence of gun deaths. The Incidence and Prevalence of Youth Gun Violence Most studies of youth and guns focus on homicide, suicide, or accidental death by firearms. Briefly stated, this research shows increasing numbers of homicides and deaths by firearms, especially among the population of young African-American males. Suicides. A total of 1,899 youth ages 15 to 19 committed suicide in 1991, a rate of 11 per 100,000 youth in this age group. Between 1979 and 1991, the rate of suicide among youth this age increased 31 percent and in 1989, among those suicides 6 out of 10 were committed with firearms (Allen-Hagen, Sickmund, and Snyder, 1994). Research has also found that the presence of firearms in the home is associated with increased risk of adolescent suicides (Brent, Perper, and Allman, 1987). Murder rates. Homicide rates for youth 18 and under have more than doubled between 1985 and 1992, while there has been no recent growth in homicide rates for adults 24 and older. Following a period of relative stability from 1970 to 1985, the rate of murder committed by young people (ages 15 to 22) increased sharply. It is estimated that for this age group 18,600 murders were committed from 1986 to 1992, or 12.1 percent of the annual average of 22,000 murders reported in those years. In one year alone (1991), this age group generated an excess of 5,330 murders, or 21.6 percent of the 24,703 murders reported in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) 1991 Uniform Crime Report. The murder rate for 16-year-olds, for example, which, prior to 1985, was consistently about half that of all other age groups, increased 138 percent from 1985 to 1992. Even the murder rate for 13- to 14-year-olds, which is still low enough to not be a significant contributor to the total murder rate, doubled between 1985 and 1992 (Blumstein, 1994). Homicides with guns. The number of homicides juveniles commit each year with guns has more than doubled between 1985 and 1992, while there has been no change in nongun homicides. From 1976 to 1985, the number of homicides committed by juveniles involving a gun remained steady at 59 percent; the other 41 percent involved some other form of weapon. Beginning in 1985, and especially in 1988, there was a steady growth in the use of guns by juveniles, with no corresponding upward trend in nongun homicides (Blumstein, 1994). Homicide victims. For victims over age 30, the percentage killed by guns declined a small but statistically significant amount from 1976 to 1991. But for victims 15 to 19 years old, that rate rose from an average of 63 percent from 1976 to 1984, to a level of 85 percent in 1992. For younger victims, the homicide rate has risen even higher, from 49 percent to 72 percent. More than 70 percent of these teenage victims were shot to death (Blumstein, 1994). From 1979 to 1989, firearm homicide rates were highest for black males and lowest for white females in all five urban populations studied (Fingerhut et al. 1992b). Teenage boys in all racial and ethnic groups are more likely to die from gunshot wounds than from all natural causes combined (Jones and Krisberg, 1994). This report, however, does not emphasize the body of literature on the incidence and prevalence of gun death and murder rates among children and youth, but rather highlights the much smaller body of literature on this epidemic's context, analysis, and potential solutions. The research cited here relies less on traditional crime study sources such as police reports; it instead uses sources more relevant to youth, including opinion polls, self- reported surveys, epidemiological analysis, and criminological research. Youth Gun Violence and Preventive Solutions and Interventions Research on the contexts that lead to youth involvement with guns, analysis of the reasons for youth involvement with guns, and preventive solutions and interventions to this problem are much more sparse than the literature on the incidence of gun violence. It is in these areas, however, that researchers have found the most useful information relating to policies and methods for reducing youth gun violence. The Context of Youth Gun Violence Research on the context of youth gun violence provides information beyond the numbers of deaths. It indicates the circumstances and broader significance surrounding the incidence of youth gun violence, including young people's access to and use of guns; the role of drugs and drug dealing; the importance of gun dealers and types of guns; the level of youth gun deaths associated with domestic arguments, suicide, and accidents rather than criminal behavior; and the effect of young people's social maladjustment or lack of training in proper gun handling. In general, the context of youth gun violence explains many interrelated factors that must be addressed in an intelligent approach to this crisis. Access. Increased availability of guns makes youth violence more lethal (American Psychological Association, 1993; Elliott, 1994; Jones and Krisberg, 1994; McDowall, 1991). A trend analysis of juveniles committing homicide shows that since the mid-1970's the number of homicides in which no firearm was involved has remained fairly constant. However, homicides by juveniles involving a firearm have increased nearly threefold. In addition, during this same period the number of juvenile arrests for weapons violations increased 117 percent. o In a 1992 study documenting self-reported handgun access and ownership in Seattle, Washington, 34 percent of students reported easy access to handguns (47 percent of males and 22 percent of females), and 6.4 percent reported owning a handgun (Callahan and Rivera, 1992). o A 1993 national study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that 21 percent of New York City public high school students reported carrying a weapon, such as a gun, knife, or club (7 percent identified a handgun), within a 30-day period. o The ongoing Rochester Youth Development Study found that 10 percent of 9th- and 10th-grade boys in Rochester public schools owned a firearm and that 7.5 percent carried them regularly (Lizotte et al., 1994). o A 1993 national opinion poll of youth in grades 6 to 12 showed that 59 percent of the 2,508 children surveyed said they could "get a handgun if they wanted"; 35 percent maintained that it would take less than an hour to acquire a firearm; and 15 percent reported carrying a handgun in the last month (Louis Harris, 1993). o A 1993 study of seventh-grade males in an inner- city high school found that 48 percent carried knives and 23 percent carried guns. Among eighth- grade males, 45 percent carried knives regularly and 40 percent frequently carried a gun (Webster et al., 1993). Use and lethality. Although guns are more available today, youth also now show an increasing tendency to use them to settle disputes. When youth who are already predisposed to violence have easy access to guns, they may be more likely to become violent (American Psychological Association, 1993). Low prices (Pacific Center, 1994) and technological innovations in firearm and ammunition manufacturing (Jones and Krisberg, 1994) have further increased the lethality of youth gun violence. Despite advances in the medical field, the invention of rapid-fire assault weapons and bullets designed to explode within the human target is always one step ahead, making death a more likely outcome of shootings. Drugs and firearms. Goldstein (in Blumstein, 1994) indicates three ways drugs and crime are connected: (1) pharmacological/psychological consequences, in which drugs are linked directly to violent activity, (2) economic/compulsive crimes, or crimes committed by drug users to support their habit, and (3) systemic crimes, or crimes committed regularly as part of doing business in the drug industry. With respect to the pharmacological effect of drugs, it is estimated that drugs, and most commonly alcohol, are a factor in a significant number of firearm-related deaths (Pacific Center, 1994). However, given the relative decline in the past few years of illegal drug use among young people, particularly African-American youth, the extent of economic and compulsive crimes related to sustaining drug habits within this population is likely to be less significant. With respect to systemic drug crime, on the other hand, it is clear that firearms are more prevalent around illicit drugs (American Psychological Association, 1993) and that this is particularly true for young people. A longitudinal study of 1,500 Pittsburgh male youth showed that the frequency of carrying a concealed weapon increased in the year concurrent with the initiation of drug selling. Among drug sellers, the rates for gun use steadily increased while the rates for other weapons decreased. This relationship was even more significant among drug sellers who sold hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD (Van Kammen and Loeber, 1994). Crack cocaine. On the basis of drug arrest rates and other data, Blumstein (1994) hypothesizes that the increase in the recruitment of juveniles, primarily nonwhites, into the drug markets began with the introduction of crack cocaine to the inner cities. In addition to crack cocaine's addictiveness, there are a number of reasons why youth, especially nonwhite youth, may have been brought into the crack drug market. According to police, their recent "war on drugs" has focused on nonwhites much more than whites because black drug sellers tend to sell in the street, whereas white sellers are much more likely to operate indoors. As a result, black drug dealers are more vulnerable to arrest and more inclined to recruit young people, who are less vulnerable to punishments imposed by the adult criminal justice system. In addition, young people work more cheaply than adults, tend to be more daring and willing to take risks, and may see no other comparable satisfactory route to economic sustenance. These factors are undoubtedly enhanced by young people's pessimism as they weigh their opportunities in the legitimate economy, which increasingly demands that workers be highly skilled to gain entry. This economic reality makes youth in low-income neighborhoods particularly amenable to recruitment by drug dealers. It also makes them more likely, as with all participants in the illicit drug industry, to carry guns for self- protection. These hypotheses are consistent with aggregate national data showing that with the introduction of crack cocaine youth gun homicides increased rapidly at different times in different cities, particularly in New York City and Los Angeles, and later in Washington, D.C. (Blumstein, 1994). Criminal behavior, arguments, suicide, accidents, and gun deaths. Though often portrayed as a consequence of criminal activity, firearm deaths occur more often as a result of violent arguments than as a result of robberies, fights, and rapes combined (Pacific Center, 1994). One study in King County, Washington, found that guns kept at home were involved in the death of a household member 18 times more often than in the death of a stranger. These deaths included suicides, homicides, and unintentional fatal shootings (Kellermann, 1993). Obtaining guns from gun dealers. Duker's report on gun dealers (1994) looked at the relationship between gun use among juveniles and State-, county-, and city-licensed gun dealers. Areas of research included: (1) where adolescents who carry and use guns get those guns, (2) the number of gun dealers youth are aware of in their city, county, or State, (3) detailed information on the names and addresses of gun dealers and stores youth may use to obtain firearms in their city, county, or State, and (4) laws, regulations, and preemptions relating to gun dealers. This report also provides State-by-State data on the geographical distribution, concentration, and regulation of gun dealers. Maladjusted youth. Handguns are more likely to be owned by socially maladjusted youth, dropouts, drug dealers, and individuals with a prior record of violent behavior than by more socially adjusted youth, even in those sections of the country in which firearms and hunting are fairly common (American Psychological Association, 1993; Elliott, 1994; Huizinga, 1994; Lizotte et al. 1994). In a study by Webster et al. (1993), gun carrying among seventh and eighth graders at an inner-city school was associated with having been arrested, knowing victims of violence, starting fights, and being willing to justify shooting someone. Illegal guns, in particular, are more likely to be owned by delinquents or drug users. For example, 74 percent of illegal gun owners commit street crimes, 24 percent commit gun crimes, and 41 percent use drugs (Huizinga, 1994). Types of guns. In one study of serious juvenile offenders and students from high-risk areas in four States, the firearms of choice were high-quality, powerful revolvers, followed closely by automatic and semiautomatic handguns, and shotguns (Sheley and Wright, 1993). Gun socialization. According to one researcher, gun ownership by adults and the introduction of their children into recreational gun culture appears to reduce problems associated with teenage violence (Blackman, 1994). Research by Huizinga (1994) and Lizotte et al. (1994) also shows that for legal gun owners, socialization appears to take place in the family. For illegal gun owners, however, socialization comes from peer influences "on the street." Analysis of Increased Youth Gun Violence The following hypotheses and explanations on the increase in youth gun violence have been posited in research literature. They are based on the previous section's examination of the context of youth gun violence. A cycle of fear. To the taxonomy of drug/crime connections described earlier, Blumstein (1994) adds a fourth way in which drugs and gun violence are related: the community disorganization effect of the drug industry. The community disorganization theory explores the influence of the prevalence of guns among drug sellers as a stimulus to others in the community to arm themselves for self-defense, to settle disputes that have nothing to do with drugs, or just to gain respect. Blumstein posits a "diffusion" hypothesis to explain the increase in firearm homicides among youth. He suggests that as juveniles become involved in the drug trade, they acquire guns to protect themselves. In turn, other young people obtain guns to protect themselves from these drug-involved, gun-carrying juveniles. Disputes that previously would have ended in fist fights now have the potential to lead to shootings. Elliott's research on the increased lethality of youth violence (1994), Fagan's forthcoming research on the "ecology of danger," and the Louis Harris poll (1993) showing that 35 percent of children ages 6 to 12 fear their lives will be cut short by gun violence, support Blumstein's hypothesis. Lack of opportunity. Blumstein (1994) and Pacific Center (1994) further hypothesize that high levels of poverty, high rates of single-parent households, educational failures, and a widespread sense of economic hopelessness exacerbate the diffusion phenomenon and increase the use of guns by young people. Culture of machismo and violence. Fagan (forthcoming) suggests that, in addition to the environment of fear in which young people live, youth violence is affected by cultural dynamics related to the illicit gun trade that has popularized guns and made "backing down" from arguments and "losing face" difficult for young people. Elliott's (1994) and Anderson's (1994) work also indicates that an element of showing off and ensuring respect and acquiescence from others is a method of self-defense that contributes to youth gun violence. In addition to the drug trade, criminogenic neighborhoods and media violence are also factors contributing to the use of guns by young people (Pacific Center, 1994). Shapiro et al. (undated) pinpoints grades five and six as a particularly "gun-prone" time and suggests that youth, responding aggressively to shame, finding guns exciting, feeling comfortable with aggression, and believing that guns bring power and safety, are most likely to engage in gun violence. Lack of faith in law enforcement. Elliott (1994) suggests that youth violence may be a response to the perception among many violence-prone youth that public authorities cannot protect them or maintain order in their neighborhoods. Youth perspective. The dramatic increase in murders by the very young raises concerns that a "greater recklessness" may be associated with teenagers than with adults. Guns in the hands of young people can engender fear that young people are less likely to exercise the necessary restraint in handling dangerous weapons, especially rapid-fire assault weapons (Blumstein, 1994). Young people often have an underdeveloped sense of the value of life, their own as well as others. They may not have the ability to understand how one seemingly isolated act can in turn impact an entire community. This developmental issue, when combined with access to guns and the other factors described above, may contribute to youth gun violence (Pacific Center, 1994). Preventive Solutions With a fuller understanding of the factors contributing to youth gun violence, it is possible to identify ways to confront this national crisis. The following types of prevention activities address problem areas early on in the lives of violence-prone children, and must be included in any truly comprehensive strategy to reduce youth gun violence in the United States. Preventive services. Identifying children at risk and referring them to appropriate services are important first steps to reducing youth gun violence (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1992; Blumstein, 1994). These services should include teaching parenting skills and teaching children how to manage their anger nonviolently (Henkoff, 1992). Violence-prone attitudes seem to increase between grades five and six and then stabilize. Prevention programs that identify, address, and change attitudes, motives, and beliefs that contribute to violent behavior should be initiated at such ages (Shapiro et al., 1993). Programs for at-risk youth should focus on changing individual behavior and decision-making processes, and they should address alternative ways to express cultural pride and strength (Fagan, forthcoming). Working with witnesses to violence. It is important to offer young perpetrators, victims, and witnesses of violence adequate psychological health services (American Psychological Association, 1993; Collison et al., 1987). A survey of 582 Cook County, Illinois, Department of Corrections detainees found that 51 percent had previously entered hospitals for violence-related injuries, and that 26 percent had at one time survived gunshot wounds. Those with prior firearm injuries shared other violence- related factors such as witnessing a shooting at an early age and having easy access to a semiautomatic weapon (1995). Public education. To encourage and support nonviolent attitudes and behavior among youth, long-term public and family education programs and gun safety curriculums in school must be included in violence reduction strategies (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1992; CDC, 1991; Christoffel, 1991; Fingerhut et al.,1991; Sugarmann and Rand, 1994; Treanor and Bijlefeld, 1989). Involving youth (Treanor and Bijlefeld, 1989) and developing community consensus on the use and possession of weapons are particularly important to developing an effective public education process (Fingerhut et al., 1991). Reducing fear. Because the fear of assault is often claimed as the reason for carrying a firearm, programs should be implemented that address the risk of victimization, improve school climate, create safe havens, and foster a safe community environment (CDC, 1991; Fagan, forthcoming; Kennedy, 1994; Sheley and Wright, 1993). According to Sheley and Wright, "the fundamental policy problem involves convincing youths that they can survive in their neighborhoods without being armed" (1993). Accomplishing this public policy goal means reducing both perceived environmental dangers and reducing actual opportunities for weapon-associated violence (Fingerhut et al., 1991). Making guns safer. Safer gun design, regulation, product liability, increased sales tax, firearm registration and licensure, background checks, and ammunition modification are ways to regulate the dangers of guns (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1989; Christoffel, 1991; Sugarmann and Rand, 1994). Reducing availability and stricter regulation. Nationwide, domestic manufacturing and foreign importation of handguns reached an all-time high in 1992 (Pacific Center, 1994). Stricter legislation and bans on assault weapons and handguns are approaches unanimously suggested by the research as ways to limit the accessibility of guns to youth (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1989; American Psychological Association, 1993; Christoffel, 1991; Fingerhut et al., 1991; Henkoff, 1992; Kennedy, 1994; Lawyers Committee, 1994; Pacific Center, 1994; Smith and Lautman, 1990). The National Rifle Association (NRA) favors regulations on access to and misuse of firearms by minors, particularly at the State level, as long as these regulations do not impinge on adults' rights (Blackman, 1994). A review of preliminary evaluations of the effectiveness of local gun laws and policies (Brewer et al., 1994) showed that mandatory sentencing laws for felonies involving firearms show promise in preventing gun-related violent crime. Research indicates that restrictive handgun laws may also be effective (Elliott, 1994; Lofton et al., 1991). Other types of laws have not been evaluated adequately to permit classification as either effective or ineffective. Enforcing laws. The Brewer et al. review of prevention strategies (1994) suggests that enforcement of laws may be a key to reducing violent juvenile acts. The Lawyers Committee on Violence, a consortium of legal advocates, also espouses such a strategy (1994). Drug treatment and prevention. Additional investments in drug treatment and reducing juvenile alcohol and drug use are also effective prevention strategies (American Psychological Association, 1993; Blumstein, 1994). Reducing the illicit drug trade would reduce drug-related violence as well as drug-induced violence. In addition, as Van Kammen and Loeber's (1994) research shows, a reduction in juvenile drug dealing would likely reduce their need to carry concealed weapons, particularly guns. Improving opportunities. Strategies that address structural problems in the family, community, and society should complement any intervention focused on individual perpetrators. The culture of violence and lack of opportunity in inner cities, in particular, should be addressed (Ruttenberg, 1994; Sheley and Wright, 1993). Interventions Whereas preventive approaches seek to minimize factors associated with youth gun violence, interventions are needed for young people already engaged in high-risk activities. Getting guns out of the hands of kids. To reduce the environment of fear in which violence-prone children live, and to achieve the greatest reduction in the number of weapon-carrying youth, research suggests that efforts be directed at youth who frequently carry weapons (Blumstein, 1994; CDC, 1991). This approach must be designed carefully to respect young people's civil liberties (Northrop and Hamrick, 1990). Kennedy (1994) suggests that youth gun reduction and fear reduction should reinforce one another. He advocates a "market disruption" approach such as that used to fight street drug markets. By using community allies to report new dealing sites, making buyers feel vulnerable by publicizing reverse sting operations in which police pose as dealers and arrest buyers, and interfering with business by loitering around dealer sites, police have been successful in reducing drug trafficking in communities. Community support is critical for such an operation to be effective. A recent NIJ-sponsored evaluation of the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department's "Weed and Seed" initiative found that the program's success in getting guns off the street in one neighborhood reduced gun crimes there by almost 50 percent during a 6-month period. Significantly, the decline in gun use and crime in the target area did not appear to cause a displacement of crime to adjoining neighborhoods. Reducing the supply of guns. The Lawyers Committee on Violence, on the other hand, proposes that legal burdens associated with gun violence fall not only on those who use guns to commit crimes, but also on gun owners, sellers and suppliers, and manufacturers, as well as the parents of the perpetrator if he or she is a minor. Reporting and detection. The National School Safety Center found that one of the most effective interventions encouraged students to report weapon- carrying classmates to teachers or administrators (Butterfield and Turner, 1989). They also suggest the use of metal detectors, unannounced sweeps, and searches of lockers (Butterfield and Turner, 1989; Lawyers Committee, 1994). Using a broad coalition of advocates and experts. In almost every piece of literature addressing youth gun violence, the authors agree that the activities suggested above should be accomplished by a broad coalition of concerned individuals and organizations (Advocacy Institute, 1994; American Academy of Pediatrics, 1989; American Psychological Association, 1993; Becker, Olson, and Vick, 1993; May, 1995; Price et al., 1991; Smith and Lautman, 1990; Sugarman and Rand, 1994; Treanor and Bijlefeld, 1989). Crime control professionals, public health and health professionals, victim's families, educators, lawmakers, criminologists, gun control groups, community-based organizations, community members, the armed services, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Civil Rights Commission can all advocate and help save our youth from gun violence. Effective strategies include young people and disinvested people and provide legitimate activities and opportunities for them (Blumstein, 1994). Further Research Experts in the field of youth gun violence have posited that further research in the following areas would help ground future youth firearms policy and practice: o The magnitude, characteristics, and cost of morbidity and disability caused by firearms and other weapons (Northrop and Hamrick, 1990; Sugarmann and Rand, 1994; Zimring, 1993). o The number, type, and distribution of firearms and other weapons in the United States (Northrop and Hamrick, 1990). o The reasons young people carry guns (American Psychological Association, 1993). o The role violent gangs play in increased urban violence. It is unclear if the growth in urban violence is due to gangs, other law-violating groups of youth, or nongang youth (Howell, 1994). o Epidemiological studies on the precursors and correlates of firearm deaths and nonfatal firearm assaults (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1992; Northrop and Hamrick, 1990; Pacific Center, 1994). o The effectiveness of gun control policies (Elliott, 1994; Northrop and Hamrick, 1990; Zimring, 1993). NIJ is currently taking steps to address these research gaps. Ongoing and recently funded studies in NIJ's Office of Criminal Justice Research include the following: o A national survey of private firearms ownership and use. o A study of firearms prevalence in and around urban, suburban, and rural high schools. o A study applying the principles of problem- oriented policing to the interruption of illicit youth gun markets in Boston and Washington, D.C., combining prevention strategies with policing strategies used against illegal drug markets. o Research in conjunction with OJJDP and CDC evaluating the effectiveness of a comprehensive strategy to reduce juvenile gun violence in the Atlanta metropolitan region. o A study of youth violence, guns, and links to illicit drug markets. OJJDP is funding ongoing and new research that addresses different aspects of the gun problem, including the following: o An examination of the interrelationship of guns, violence, drugs, and gangs in Rochester, Pittsburgh, and Denver by OJJDP's Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency. o Studies of youth violence trends and characteristics in Los Angeles, Milwaukee, the District of Columbia, and South Carolina. These studies focus specifically on homicides and the use of firearms. o Research on juvenile gang involvement, including information on gang members who are homicide perpetrators. A national assessment of the scope and seriousness of gang violence will also be conducted. Technological and Environmental Interventions Although technological changes are not the subject of this document, it should be noted that they are an important approach to reducing youth gun violence and the extensive use of guns against their owners. Firearm design requirements are both a technological and a legal intervention. Firearm standards that have been proposed include designing guns to be less concealable; producing guns with trigger safeties, fingerprint identification, and loading indicators; and regulating the appearance of toy guns and handguns made of plastic. Ammunition design is also being explored because bullet shape, consistency, and composition determine the severity of a gunshot injury. The U.S. Department of Justice is supporting research and demonstrations in the area of technological and environmental interventions. BJA, for example, has awarded a grant to the Chicago Police Department to work with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to increase the solution rate of firearm-related violent crime through an innovation called Ceasefire. An automated projectile comparison system that stores the images of unique rifling marks found on bullet surfaces, Ceasefire will allow firearms technicians to work more efficiently and compare cartridge casings. NIJ and the FBI are also involved in the effort to examine technological solutions to youth gun violence. Through an interagency agreement, the two organizations are conducting a study of the penetration effects on human targets of fired handgun bullets of various calibers and types. Analysis will cover different geographical patterns of shootings and identify significant correlations between projectile characteristics and resulting trauma. The Role of Federal Law Enforcement Although it is yet to be determined what the impact of Federal law enforcement will be with respect to prosecuting juvenile handgun violations under the Youth Handgun Safety Act, it is likely to supplement rather than supersede State and local law enforcement efforts. Instead, the Federal Government and the U.S. Department of Justice, in particular, will intensify efforts to support State and local law enforcement activities. In addition to their supportive role, Federal prosecutors and law enforcement will fill voids in law enforcement strategies and provide support when State laws inadequately address the broader impact of youth violence. Through technical assistance, identifying resources, interstate gun tracing, national data collection and surveillance, facilitating information sharing, highlighting law enforcement and prevention strategies to address youth gun violence, and funding demonstration projects, the Federal Government can help States and local jurisdictions implement gun safety legislation. All citizens have a stake in protecting America's communities and providing safe places for businesses to grow and youth to develop into healthy, productive citizens. The following are a few examples of cooperative efforts spearheaded by BJA or the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS): o BJA is funding the development of a Computerized Information System for the Pittsburgh Police Department Gun Task Force that will connect multiple Federal and local law enforcement agencies via a local area network (LAN) and remote communications lines to gather and exchange firearms and related information, including applications for firearms purchases, carriage, dealership licenses, and police reports on stolen, confiscated, and pawned firearms within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. o With CDC, BJS is analyzing data relating to intentional injury -- including firearm injury -- through a National Electronic Injury Surveillance System fielded by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This data collection effort will produce detailed information about the types of injuries that are treated in hospital emergency rooms, and will compile the first national data about nonfatal firearm injuries. o BJA is funding a model Firearms Licensee Compliance demonstration project in New York City. The project is a joint effort by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and ATF designed to enhance the ability of the NYPD Pistol License Division to conduct thorough background investigations on Federal Firearms License applicants. o BJA is also funding a number of demonstration projects in Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, and California. In Oakland and Berkeley, California, and Richmond, Virginia, BJA is collaborating with State and local police and ATF to identify, target, investigate, and prosecute individuals and illicit organizations engaged in the unlawful use, sale, or acquisition of firearms. o BJA is supporting the North Carolina Violent Career Criminal Task Force, which operates throughout the State and involves ATF and North Carolina's three U.S. Attorneys. The project is designed to target, arrest, and convict violent predatory criminals throughout the State and will develop a model procedure to disrupt the flow of firearms to violent offenders. o BJA will fund, in concert with ATF, a national law enforcement organization to provide training and administrative support to the 14-State Interstate Firearms Trafficking Compact. The project will inform State and local law enforcement officers about existing Federal and State firearms- related statutes and publicize the goals of the Compact to Federal, State, and local criminal justice officials, public officials, and the general public. In a 1994 report to the Attorney General and the President of the United States, the U.S. Attorneys outlined ways they could support State and local efforts to get guns out of the hands of young people. Their plans involved six strategies: o Prosecution and enforcement of the ban on juvenile handgun possession: -- Disruption of the markets that provide guns to youth. -- Taking guns out of the hands of kids through coordination with State and local prosecutors. o Working with State and local officials to enhance enforcement of their laws. o Encouraging and providing financial support for State and local efforts to trace the sources of guns taken from juveniles. o Launching targeted enforcement efforts aimed at places where young people should feel safe (e.g., at home, at school, and in recreation centers). o Actively participating in prevention efforts aimed at juveniles in our communities through mentoring programs, school adoption, and neighborhood watch. o Working to promote increased personal responsibility and safety through public outreach on the consequences of juvenile handgun possession. These approaches endorsed by U.S. Attorneys and supported by the U.S. Department of Justice are critical components of any comprehensive youth gun violence reduction strategy. Prevention and Intervention Programs Thus far, this report has examined the incidence of youth gun violence, its context, an analysis of the causes, and a range of solutions, from technological interventions to Federal law enforcement approaches. It will now address individual programs that seek to incorporate those lessons by broadly summarizing the various violence reduction strategies that have been implemented by organizations across the country. Detailed descriptions of these programs can be found in the Directory of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs. (See Section II beginning on page 25.) Although youth can now easily obtain firearms, and see them used frequently in films and on television as a method for solving problems, few violence prevention programs for youth focus specifically on preventing violence with guns (American Psychological Association, 1993). The programs that do exist can be divided into the nine basic categories listed below. Programs in the first four categories are generally preventive in nature while those in the last five categories rely primarily on interventions: o Curriculums o Trauma Prevention o Gun Buy-Back Programs o Public Education Campaigns o Community Law Enforcement o Gun Market Disruption and Interception o Diversion and Treatment Programs o Gun Courts o Alternative Schools In the Directory of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs, OJJDP has identified 51 programs that fall into these 9 categories. In addition, 34 institutes and organizations that support these types of programs or that have been instrumental in their development are listed in the Directory of Youth Gun Violence Prevention Organizations. (See Section III beginning on page 45.) The following are summaries of the critical programmatic information provided in these directories. Most of the programs described below can be found in Section II. However, a few are included in Section III. Focus On Prevention Curriculums The majority of youth gun violence reduction programs are curriculums carried out in schools, community-based organizations, and physicians' offices. They emphasize the prevention of weapon misuse, the risks involved with the possession of firearms, and the need for conflict resolution and anger management skills. Educational programs often use videotapes to support their presentation of the tragic results of gun violence. They may also include firearm safety instructions, public information campaigns, counseling programs, or crisis intervention hotlines. Law enforcement-based curriculums. Police and sheriff departments have been instrumental in supporting violence prevention curriculums. As part of drug education, public safety, and violence prevention efforts, police officers and sheriffs across the Nation have worked collaboratively with schools to present critical information on gun violence to young people and, simultaneously, to develop more effective and personable relations with young people. Examples of gun violence reduction curriculums used by law enforcement include the Gun Safety Awareness Program in Dade County, Florida; Guns, Teens, and Consequences in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and the Handgun Violence Reduction Program in Towson, Maryland. In Dade County, the Gun Safety Awareness Program, a districtwide effort for K-12 students and their parents, began in November 1988, featuring a comprehensive curriculum and a Gun Safety Awareness Week in November. The Gun Safety Awareness Program examines causes of handgun violence in the community and educates youth and parents on how to prevent gun-related violence, encourages anonymous reporting of guns, and teaches the consequences of being arrested. Dade County's violence prevention curriculum is supplemented by area Youth Crime Watches, school resource officers, and police officers. A Youth Crime Watch program was mandated for students in 1984 to extend the neighborhood watch concept to schools. Training workshops for parents on handgun safety awareness have been conducted in each school by Parent Education Department staff. Metal detectors are used unannounced at selected schools, and students caught with guns are referred to juvenile or adult court and recommended for expulsion to an alternative school. Awareness levels among youth and parents about the need to prevent handgun violence have increased as a result. School-based curriculums. The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence has developed a school-based curriculum used extensively across the country that has been evaluated with positive results. The Straight Talk About Risks (STAR) program is a comprehensive school-based program designed to reduce gun injuries and deaths with prevention activities for children and their families. Through STAR, students also learn how to make better, safer decisions, and how to resolve conflicts without violence through role playing, goal setting, and developing leadership skills. The NRA program Eddie Eagle; the Firearm Injury Prevention Curriculum in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Solutions Without Guns in Cleveland, Ohio; and WARN (Weapons Are Removed Now) in Reseda, California, are other examples of gun safety curriculums. Physician-based curriculums. A number of curriculums are used by physicians to instruct parents about the dangers of guns in the home. STOP -- Steps To Prevent Firearm Injury -- is a collaborative effort of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence and the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is the first national educational program designed for pediatricians to use when counseling parents on the risks of keeping a gun in the home as well as the dangers guns pose to the community. Materials include (1) a monograph addressing the scope and circumstances of gun injuries and deaths affecting children and teens, (2) an audiotape that models dialog between pediatricians and parents, (3) a counseling tip sheet for quick reference, (4) a bibliography for further reading, (5) brochures providing facts and prevention steps, and (6) posters for offices and waiting rooms. Posters and brochures are also available in Spanish upon reorder. Other similar physician-based curriculums include the Educational Development Center's Firearm Injuries program and materials produced by the Injury Prevention and Control Unit in Trenton, New Jersey. Trauma Prevention A second category of programming involves peer education for young people injured by gun violence. These programs usually emanate from a public health project or hospital. Youth Alive in San Francisco, California, sends young counselors into a hospital to persuade teenage gunshot victims to avoid further violence by not retaliating. Counselors emphasize that all revenge is going to do is destroy another life and put friends (who are doing the retaliating) at risk of being locked up. Young gunshot victims share their experiences with kids involved in gang behavior. The Shock Mentor program is another trauma prevention initiative. Recently developed by Prince George's County, Maryland, Hospital Center and Concerned Black Men, Inc., a mentoring group of African-American professionals, it brings high school students into the shock trauma and emergency rooms to watch doctors patch together the victims and perpetrators of violence. The program is part of a larger county violence prevention initiative that includes a schoolwide conflict resolution program, peer mediation training program, black male achievement program, and countywide forum on violence prevention. Students visit the trauma center throughout the school year and are accompanied by members of Concerned Black Men. Their role is to provide support and show violence-prone youth that there is an alternative to becoming a statistic in a trauma unit. Other examples of trauma prevention programs include the Hospital-based Youth Violence Prevention Program in Camden, New Jersey, People Opening the World's Eye to Reality (POWER) in New York City, and Southeastern Michigan Spinal Cord Injury System in Detroit, Michigan. Gun Buy-Back Programs Many gun buy-back programs are now operating across the country. These initiatives are precipitated by diverse events and show varying degrees of success. This report does not present all of these programs, only those conducted as part of a wider gun violence prevention effort. The Prevention Partnership in Brooklyn, New York, for example, provides incentives for people to turn in guns for food vouchers, but also involves the Center for Substance Abuse and Prevention Community Partnership and two police precincts. Weapon Watch is another example of a more comprehensive gun turn-in program. Organized by the mental health center of the Memphis School District, the Memphis Police Department, and Crime Stoppers, a group that financially rewards citizens for calling in tips about crimes, Weapon Watch was implemented to get children involved in ridding their schools of weapons. Instead of buying metal detectors, Memphis officials decided to get students involved in weeding out the weapons. A hotline was established for students to call anonymously with information about classmates who bring weapons to school. Students who call in are given a secret code number. Once the call is received, police are dispatched to the school and officers conduct an investigation. Students are rewarded if the information leads to the confiscation of weapons and arrests of weapon- carrying students on campus. Citizens for Safety (CFS), a program in Boston, Massachusetts, has pulled together a community- based coalition to reduce violence in Boston. CFS' membership includes 50 neighborhood and youth organizations as well as over 500 citizens from across the city. In 1993 CFS organized a gun buy- back program that removed 1,302 guns from circulation. Ongoing activities include expanding the buy-back program, conducting "Guns Kill" workshops for teenagers, and sponsoring an annual 24-hour Soccer Marathon for Peace and the Peace League, a summer educational and recreational program for gang members. Public Education Campaigns A number of campaigns to educate communities and families about youth violence are currently being conducted nationally and at the State and local levels. These campaigns tend to be directed at young people or women and address the dangers of guns and the unacceptability of using guns to solve problems. The Children's Defense Fund Cease Fire campaign advocates 10 steps to stop the war against children in America, including removing guns from homes, creating opportunities, providing safe havens, being informed about media violence and real violence, and resolving conflicts peaceably. The campaign features television public service announcements and the Wall of Names, a print presentation of more than 600 children in 39 States killed by gunfire in 1993 and 1994. The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence recently collaborated with Disney Educational Productions to produce a gun violence prevention video, Under the Gun, that challenges the glamorization of guns and the notion that guns make families and youth safer. Disney plans to market the video to schools, recreation centers, police departments, juvenile justice facilities, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and other educational organizations. Other public education programs include the Hands Without Guns and Words Not Weapons campaigns in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Fresno (California) Youth Violence Prevention Network. The Youth Violence Prevention Network campaign is unique because it uses young people to deliver anti-gun violence messages, and is especially geared to reach Fresno's at-risk, Spanish-speaking residents. Known previously as Radio Bilingue, the network is the result of a collaboration by Chicano Youth Center, House of Hope, Save Our Sons and Daughters, and End Barrio Warfare. The program works to strengthen the programs that serve at-risk youth, thereby empowering young people and communities of color to work together to reduce violence in their neighborhoods. Violence prevention activities include developing gun-free zone programs in city parks and neighborhoods, school emergency response and mediation teams led by directors of organizations that serve high-risk youth, youth conferences, and youth leadership programs. A key participant in the coalition is the Radio Bilingue, a Hispanic-controlled, noncommercial radio station serving the San Joaquin Valley. Radio Bilingue broadcasts anti-violence and anti-drug public service announcements and sponsors Paz, a unique violence prevention radio program targeted to at- risk youth, educating them about the causes of violence and the impact of gun violence. The program features local speakers, including police officers, school officials, and community citizens. By far the most extensive public education campaign against youth gun violence is the California Wellness Foundation's Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence Against Kids, a $2 million statewide public education effort that has conducted extensive research, surveys, polling, focus groups, and analysis of the target audience; produced multiple 30-second television public service announcements that run on prime time in both English and Spanish; communicated critical information on youth gun violence through its "First Aid" portfolio to more than 8,000 elected officials, key media leaders, and public agencies; received more than 75,000 calls and 11,000 supporters through its 1-800-222-MANY hotline and information service; organized a women's coalition against gun violence; and developed a video teleconference town hall meeting throughout the State to unveil its policies on handguns and firearms. The California Wellness Campaign is linked to a broader $30 million, 5-year, statewide initiative to reduce youth violence in California that includes the Pacific Center for Violence Prevention, the policy branch of the initiative; a leadership program; a community action program that has funded 10 pilot projects to form broad-based violence reduction coalitions of major local public and private entities; and a research program. Focus on Intervention Because intervention programs target a more at- risk, delinquency-involved population, they tend to be more intensive, are implemented after patterns of delinquency and violence are established, and more actively engage law enforcement and the juvenile justice system. Programs that intervene with young people who use guns or have been caught with guns unfortunately are rare and in dire need of further development. Although a number of informal interventions exist that sheriffs, police officers, probation officers, and others have developed to reach the population actively involved in handgun violence, the majority of these efforts have yet to be formalized into systematic protocols and have not yet been rigorously evaluated. Given new Federal legislation, however, the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services are particularly interested in developing and supporting innovative and effective ways to intervene with young people who have been caught with guns or are at great risk of being involved in gun violence. A widely used intervention that has received some evaluation -- and demonstrated mixed results -- is the use of metal scanners to detect firearms. According to the National School Safety Center, 70 percent of the Nation's 50 largest districts have installed scanners in the schools. The New York City Metal Detector Program is one of the best known of these programs. Because the use of scanners, book bag bans, and locker searches is now so common, these approaches are not covered here. Community Law Enforcement The Illinois State Police School Security Facilitator Program identifies local jurisdictions in which levels of school violence are causing wide concern. Representatives from private, government, and nonprofit programs that play a role in addressing youth violence in their community are invited to attend an intensive 5-day team- building/education program at Illinois State Police training academy. A typical team includes: o Law enforcement personnel o School administrators and teachers o Local State's attorney and public defender o Local prevention and treatment program staff o Court officials o Concerned community members Community teams range in size from 5 to 15. Each member is expected to live at the academy (in trooper dorms) with team members throughout the training program. Courses are divided between youth violence education and violence reduction strategies, including the interdiction of guns brought into schools. Trainers highlight identification of situations in which violence may escalate to use of a weapon, investigative techniques to acquire secondary and tertiary source information on weapons carried at the school, and strategies for weapon removal and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. Additional programs such as locker searches, canine searches, and metal detectors are also discussed. School administrators are cautioned about direct intervention with an armed student. Teams then return to their communities to educate others on youth violence issues and to implement violence reduction strategies. No short- or long-term evaluation of this program has been conducted. Anecdotal information from prior participants would indicate some degree of success. The University of Virginia Youth Violence Project focuses on reducing youth violence through a team approach. Staff bring together a multidisciplinary team of experts on youth aggression and violence in the fields of education, psychology, law enforcement, planning, and crime prevention and present 4- to 45-hour instruction courses in selected Virginia cities. Cities that have participated in the program include Falls Church, Newport News, Roanoke, Richmond, and Virginia Beach. Participants in the Youth Violence Project -- primarily school and law enforcement officials from target jurisdictions -- are exposed to a variety of issues (risk factors for violence, multicultural dynamics, etc.) and are asked to implement a series of actions in their schools, including initiating security assessments and peer mediation. Many of the program's instructors are local police officers with extensive experience in weapon detection and interdiction. The program also emphasizes school collaboration and cooperation because school officials typically are not trained in defensive weapon removal and disarming tactics. In 1994 the project will expand its reach through a televised version of the program, School Safety and Youth Aggression, to be downlinked to 24 sites across Virginia. No short- or long-term evaluation of this program has been implemented. Anecdotal information from prior participants would indicate some degree of success. University of Virginia staff would support any credible outside evaluation effort. Gun Market Disruption and Interception Police weapons searches are another important means of stemming youth gun violence. If civil rights are respected and communities are supportive, these approaches can effectively communicate a message of strong societal opposition to youth involved in gun violence. The Gun Recovery Unit in Washington, D.C., is a specially trained squad of officers assigned to a part of the city with an unusually high rate of firearms crimes. While patrolling the area, the squad identifies and frisks individuals who raise a reasonable suspicion of being armed. Most frisked individuals are under 22 years of age, and about 40 percent are minors. The Howard University Violence Prevention Project offers an afterschool middle school program, a preschool program, and a summer camp that provide social support, tutoring, esteem building, and cultural enrichment for children who have been exposed to serious incidents of violence, including gun violence. The program's services give children an opportunity to reduce the probability of their continuing the cycle of violence they are struggling to escape. The Kansas City Weed and Seed program is a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney, and the Kansas City Police Department. They have pulled together a working group consisting of law enforcement, human service agencies, and community organizations, including the regional office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Small Business Administration, the Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance, and the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime. The program has focused its policing strategy in high-crime neighborhoods on using every opportunity, including traffic and curfew violations and other infractions, to get guns off the street. During these routine stops, police look for infractions that give them the legal authority to search a car or pedestrian for illegal weapons. Special gun-intercept teams have also been used in these neighborhoods, and studies indicate that they are 10 times more cost-effective than regular police patrols. In an 80-block neighborhood with a homicide rate 20 times the national average, the program reduced crime by at least 50 percent during a 6-month period. These initiatives did not displace crime to other locales -- gun crimes did not increase significantly in any of the patrol beats surrounding the area. Despite the fact that previous police campaigns in Kansas City have drawn protests of discrimination from members of the community, residents have supported the gun- intercept program. Police have involved community and religious leaders in initial planning, and neighborhoods have made requests for greater police activity. Diversion and Treatment Programs Diversion and treatment programs provide some of the most promising examples of violence prevention techniques that work with youth involved in gun violence. In Pima County, Arizona, the Juvenile Diversion Program has set up a firearms prevention course for youth who are not hardcore delinquents but who have been referred to juvenile court for firing or carrying a gun. The program also serves young people at risk of becoming involved with guns. At least one parent is required to attend monthly sessions, during which the assistant prosecutor informs juveniles and their parents about gun laws. In addition, parents are instructed on safe gun storage. By agreeing to take the course, juveniles avoid having their case adjudicated and are not placed on probation. They do, however, acquire a juvenile record. Project LIFE (Lasting Intense Firearms Education), operated by the Indiana Juvenile Court, is a diversion program for juveniles arrested on gun charges. As in the Juvenile Diversion Program in Pima County, Arizona, parental participation is required. Project LIFE is designed to help youth and their parents learn about the effects of gun violence and accidents through an experiential exercise. Children and their parents first prepare papers on the effect of guns. A discussion based on these papers opens the education session, and after the discussion footage of an actual accidental shooting is shown. Participants and their parents then discuss how they would have felt had they been victims of gun violence or accidents. They imagine and discuss, for example, getting a call from a morgue rather than from a jail. The majority of families participating in Project LIFE do not return to juvenile court on gun charges. Cermak Health Services of Cook County works with Cook County, Illinois, jail inmates, the majority of whom have been involved in gun violence, using a culturally sensitive curriculum that addresses the inmates' risk factors for continued involvement in gun violence. Although these inmates do not technically represent a juvenile population, they tend to be young. The program is therefore being considered for broader use by juvenile offenders. Barron Assessment and Counseling Center is a Boston public school system project for elementary, middle, and high school students found carrying weapons on school property. Under the program, students are charged according to the school district's disciplinary code and given a hearing with the community superintendent. If the weapons charges are substantiated, parents are notified and the students are referred to the counseling center. At the center, students receive academic, psychological, and social assessments, as well as crisis intervention counseling. They also continue to receive assignments from school. Working with the juvenile court, probation officers, and the Departments of Youth Services, Social Services, and Mental Health, staff prepare service delivery plans for each client, including aftercare services. Special workshops on alternatives to violence are provided by staff of Northeastern University School of Law, Office of Emergency Medical Services, and by staff of Vietnam Veterans Against Violence. Gun Courts A special court was recently established in Providence, Rhode Island, to focus on gun crimes. In this system, all gun crimes are referred to a single judge who processes cases on a fast track that has cut the life span of gun crime cases in half. Of the 18 cases heard to date, 15 defendants have been sent to jail. Many defendants, instead of taking their cases to trial, are now pleading guilty in exchange for a reduction of up to 2 years in the State's mandatory 10-year sentence. The gun court model has received support both from gun control advocates and the NRA. Legislators in Texas and court administrators in Louisiana and Illinois are proposing that their States implement programs modeled after the Providence court. Dade County is also looking at the model, but administrators there are concerned about the county's capacity to handle potential caseloads. In addition to expediting the handling of cases, these programs have the potential to address special treatment issues related to gun violence. Alternative Schools Zero tolerance school programs make a strong statement about keeping guns off school grounds, but they often do not provide violence-prone youth opportunities for alternative placement or education. More effective are programs that attend to youth through swift and strict sanctions as well as treatment and viable academic and employment opportunities. At Hazelwood Center High School in Florissant, Missouri, students suspended for assaults, weapons, or drugs are referred to a 4-week Student Intervention Program at a location away from their home school. In the program, students are required to complete 4 hours of individualized course work each day and participate in group counseling sessions. They also attend weekly individual counseling sessions that focus on issues such as conflict mediation, habits and addictions, and communication. Parental participation is mandated for the three sessions that examine family history, parenting skills, and school-related family issues. After completing the program, students are evaluated by school administrators to determine if the remainder of their 90-day suspension can be served through in-school probation. Second Chance School in Topeka, Kansas, is a similar program, with half-day instruction for voluntary students who have been expelled for possession of weapons or assaulting a staff member. Students study math, social sciences, and language skills; participate in recreational activities; and are required to perform community service. Depending on the seriousness of their offense, participants attend the program for 1 semester or 1 year. Students who finish the program and meet its requirements are readmitted to their home schools. To date, 90 percent of students enrolled in the Second Chance School have successfully completed the program. Second Chance has been operating for 3 years and has a maximum capacity of eight students. The program has developed partnerships with the juvenile court, public schools, the police department, and the city's recreational department. Comprehensive Initiatives Programs in the Directory of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs (Section II) are listed alphabetically, and all programs, even those that have not been evaluated, have been listed to give the reader a sense of the types of approaches possible. Research outcomes are indicated for those programs that have been evaluated. Organizing the program directory in this way allows the reader to choose the type of programming best suited to the needs of their community or State. It is the belief of OJJDP, however, that any program in and of itself will not adequately address the myriad problems associated with youth gun violence. For example, ridding a public school of weapons cannot be achieved by simply installing a metal detector or conducting gun safety awareness programs. An effective response to youth gun violence that is sustainable must also include critical related issues: Time and again students say the primary reason they bring weapons to school is for self-protection traveling to and from school. Violence is a problem at schools, but principally it is a community problem. Many schools are surrounded by a 360- degree perimeter of community crime. Consequently, the strategies developed in response to school safety needs must go beyond the schools. The presence of weapons at schools cannot be separated from other community safety concerns. Each concern must be addressed in developing a comprehensive response (National School Safety Center, 1993). A comprehensive approach should be based on what we now know about increased access to and use of guns by juveniles since 1985. Through research we are beginning to understand young people's attraction to particular types of guns; the impact of cultural influences, particularly media violence and notions of manliness, on young people's behavior; the impact of drugs and the illicit drug market on youth gun violence; the effect of deviant behavior, gun socialization, and attitudes toward law enforcement on youth gun violence; the age when boys are most prone to the lure of guns; and the detrimental effect of the cycle of fear and lack of viable opportunities in many communities on youth gun violence. An approach to youth gun violence reduction that incorporates this research base, includes a combination of proven strategies, gains the support of a diverse group of youth-serving organizations, and involves the community and its youth is likely to be the most successful. An effective weapons reduction strategy will be multidisciplinary, comprehensive, politically sensitive, and practically relevant. An effective gun violence prevention program will be age-appropriate, target the age groups most likely to commit gun violence, and make the support and participation of parents and all sectors of the community a priority. Curriculums approaches are effective at delivering messages to young people, but they are limited unless they involve the development of consistent standards across the areas of children's lives, particularly family, media, recreation, and community. Curriculums approaches are also ineffectual if they fail to include real experiences with positive alternatives. Only a communitywide investment in all of the activities described above will begin to address the cycle of fear in which the victims and perpetrators of violence live and build a safe environment for all children. NIJ is supporting such comprehensive activities through its interagency project to reduce youth gun violence. In Atlanta, the Center for Injury Control at Emory University is working with the community, State and local governments, and Project PACT (Pulling America's Communities Together) to analyze youth firearms violence and to develop a broad- based strategy to address the problem. The program's intervention will use a three-part strategy: (1) reducing demand for firearms through a comprehensive community education program, (2) reducing supply by promoting safe storage of firearms and by law enforcement efforts to interdict the illegal gun market, and (3) prompting aggressive rehabilitation of juvenile gun offenders to decrease recidivism. The St. Louis Police Department has developed a similar comprehensive approach to reducing violence within these high-risk populations: African- American males between the ages of 15 and 29, younger males at risk of direct and indirect violence, and adolescent females at risk of family violence, sexual assault, and co-victimization. The project will employ two strategies: changing behavior to reduce gun-related fatalities, reduce the carrying of weapons, and lessen juveniles' risk of assault; and improving the criminal justice system in St. Louis to expand and refine local surveillance of violence, expand screening and treatment for violence within medical facilities, and establish assault crisis teams (ACT's). ACT's will operate in an emergency medical treatment center serving high-risk populations, in a juvenile detention facility, in an adult medium-security institution, and in neighborhoods with high levels of violence. At these locations, the crisis teams will monitor levels and patterns of violence, create mentoring and education programs for high- risk youth in nonviolent conflict resolution techniques, and mediate disputes with a high potential for violent outcomes. Other comprehensive initiatives also exist in communities across the Nation that involve more grassroots and youth participation and offer intervention services through public health services rather than through law enforcement. Some were inspired by legislative changes and social service system reform (e.g., Virginia); others emanated from university centers (e.g., The Harvard School of Public Health). Samples of such city and statewide youth gun violence reduction initiatives and their programmatic components follow. They are presented in a checklist format, organized by the types of strategies described above: legislation, research, intervention, prevention, hospital-based prevention, and public education. "Community involvement" and "collaborative governance and service delivery" have been added because they are essential to ensuring the success and long-term sustainability of any initiative. The checklist format is designed to help readers consider the strategy components they could implement or coordinate in their State or community. Detailed program descriptions can be found in the Directory of Youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs. (See Section II beginning on page 25.) Boston, Massachusetts Legislation: Not applicable. Research: Harvard Project on Guns, Violence and Public Health. Intervention: Boston Gun Reduction Program and Barron Assessment and Counseling Center. Prevention: Violence Prevention Curriculum and Conflict Resolution. Hospital-Based Prevention: Identification and Prevention of Youth Violence: A Protocol Package for Health Care Providers, and Firearm Injuries. Public Education Campaign: Hands Without Guns and Words Not Weapons. Community Involvement: Citizens for Safety. Collaborative Governance and Service Delivery: Boston Violence Prevention Project. CALIFORNIA Legislation: A minor may not possess a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person. It is unlawful to possess a firearm in a school zone without the written permission of school authorities. Research: Pacific Policy Center. Intervention: Not applicable. Prevention: WARN curriculum. Hospital-Based Prevention: Teens on Target and Youth Alive. Public Education Campaign: Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence Against Kids and The Fresno Youth Violence Prevention Network. Community Involvement: Fresno Youth Violence Prevention Network. Collaborative Governance and Service Delivery: The Oakland Corridor; California Wellness Violence Prevention Grants; Policy, Action, Collaboration, and Training (PACT); Violent Injury Prevention Program; and Contra Costa Continuum of Care. Chicago, Illinois Legislation: The handgun ammunition law makes it illegal to sell, offer for sale, barter, or give away the kinds of ammunition most commonly used in gang warfare. Research: Not applicable. Intervention: The Chicago Ordinance, State Police Security Facilitator Program, and Cermak Health Services of Cook County. Prevention: UHLICH Center. Hospital-Based Prevention: STOP. Public Education Campaign: Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. Community Involvement: Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. Collaborative Governance and Service Delivery: Chicago Partnership for the Prevention of Violence. New Jersey Legislation: Proposed State legislation includes the following bills: o a2557 -- Increases penalties for unlawful possession of firearms in schools. o a1082 -- Mandates waivers to adult court for any cases involving juveniles 14 years old or older who commit serious offenses with a firearm. o s732 -- Strengthens current laws regarding access to loaded firearms by minors. o P.L. 1990, Chapter 31 -- Bans the sale and severely restricts possession of assault weapons; a model assault firearms law. Research: Not applicable. Intervention: Not applicable. Prevention: Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Hospital-Based Prevention: Injury Prevention and Control Unit and Hospital-Based Youth Violence Prevention Program. Public Education Campaign: Injury Prevention and Control Unit. Community Involvement: Not applicable. Collaborative Governance and Service Delivery: State Attorney General's Law Enforcement and Educational Task Force, and School Based Youth Service Program -- Students Against Violence and Victimization of Youth. Virginia Legislation: The juvenile possession of handguns law prohibits the possession of handguns by juveniles except within their homes, while engaged in lawful hunting or supervised target shooting, or when serving in the military. The Firearms Dealers: Record Keeping/Penalty Enhancement bill requires gun dealers to submit to State police the type and number of firearms sold to each client, allowing State police to track gunrunners. The bill also increases the time police are required to keep this record from 30 days to 12 months. Gun dealers who illegally sell, rent, or transfer firearms would be charged with a felony instead of a misdemeanor if they violate this law. Research: The Department of Criminal Justice Services' Criminal Justice Research Center, in collaboration with the Virginia Commonwealth University Survey Research Laboratory, conducted a statewide survey of 815 residents in which 83 percent of respondents agreed that there should be a limit on the number of handgun purchases per month; and 63 percent thought strict gun control laws would reduce violent crime. Intervention: University of Virginia Youth Violence Project and Juvenile Criminal History Records. Virginia is one of the first States to have a computerized system operated by the State police, the Central Criminal Records Exchanger, that informs gun dealers if a prospective buyer has a criminal record. Prevention: Not applicable. Hospital-Based Prevention: Not applicable. Community Involvement: Enough is Enough, Inc. Collaborative Governance and Service Delivery: In June 1992 the Governor's multi-disciplinary Commission on Violent Crime was convened to study the problem and propose solutions. The Comprehensive Services Act also provides for better coordinated delivery of social services to at-risk youth and their families. Summary of Comprehensive Initiatives Even a cursory review of these initiatives reveals that multiple efforts are often under way in the same cities, but that they are uncoordinated. The next steps in any youth violence reduction strategy should be to facilitate interagency coordination at the State and community levels and to evaluate the need for Federal support. In particular, most youth violence reduction initiatives could benefit greatly by including a public housing component. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Operation Safe Home program is an obvious link. Another program, Keep Our Kids Alive, targets public housing youth in New York City who carry and use guns. The program trains housing youth officers to identify kids who fit a gun carrier profile and then work as mediators, and trains resident youth to implement an antigun violence education program for other young residents. This program would complement school-based strategies and public education campaigns. Initiatives also need to focus on building economic opportunities for low-income youth and linking job training, neighborhood restoration, and economic development to youth gun violence reduction programs. Young people need to be involved in positive practical experiences that develop their ability to contribute to society and improve their ability to recognize the sanctity of life and the great risks associated with delinquent behavior. Conclusion This report has discussed the body of research on juvenile violence with which we can now begin to understand the epidemic of youth gun violence confronting our Nation. It has also presented a range of violence prevention and reduction strategies being implemented in cities across this country that can serve as models for other communities. An examination of these preliminary efforts, however, clearly indicates that comprehensive violence reduction initiatives need to provide youth a continuum of care and sanctions to consistently attend to the safety of children and families throughout their lives. Because many city and statewide initiatives have developed out of diverse sectors of the community and are often synthesized from isolated projects, gaps that can cripple their overall effectiveness are not uncommon in the delivery of services or the development of sanctions. With all comprehensive efforts, a combination of strategies must be employed. For initiatives attempting to reduce youth gun violence to be successful, an approach incorporating the strategies laid out in this document will likely be most effective. From legislative mandates to further research, from intervention to prevention and alternative treatment programs, from hospital- based prevention programs to grassroots and youth- based collaborative efforts, each holds the key to making our homes, streets, and neighborhoods safe for our children. ------------------------------ II. Directory of youth Gun Violence Reduction Programs This directory summarizes promising programs across the country that seek to reduce youth gun violence. Programs noted with an asterisk are part of a citywide violence reduction strategy -- in some cases delivery of these programs' services is coordinated at the State and community level; in other cases, they simply exist in the same city or State and need to be coordinated. Adolescent Wellness Program 1010 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, MA 02118 tel: 617/534-5196 fax: 617/534-5358 Nia Sue Mitchum, Director The Adolescent Wellness Program is a multi- institutional, community-based initiative designed to reduce the incidence of interpersonal violence among adolescents, as well as the social and medical hazards associated with that violence. The major intervention used to conduct this project is a violence prevention curriculum designed for adolescents that focuses on conflict resolution. The program has also developed, in collaboration with the Educational Development Center, a resource called Identification and Prevention of Youth Violence: A Protocol Package for Health Care Providers. Published in 1992, the protocol guides providers in addressing and responding to young patients at high risk of engaging in violent behavior. It is currently used in several Boston neighborhood health care centers. Assault Crisis Teams St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department 1200 Clark Street St. Louis, MO 63103 tel: 314/444-5620 fax: 314/444-5958 Colonel Clarence Harmon, Chief of Police The National Institute of Justice has recently funded the St. Louis Police Department to reduce violence within the following at-risk populations: African-American males between the ages of 15 and 29, younger males at risk of direct and indirect violence, and adolescent females at risk of family violence, sexual assault, and co-victimization. The project will employ two strategies: changing behavior to reduce gun-related fatalities, reduce the carrying of weapons, and lessen juvenile's risk of assault; and improving the criminal justice system in St. Louis to expand and refine local surveillance of violence, expand screening and treatment for violence within medical facilities, and establish assault crisis teams (ACT's). ACT's will operate in an emergency medical treatment center serving high-risk populations, in a juvenile detention facility, in an adult medium-security institution, and in neighborhoods with high levels of violence. At these locations, the crisis teams will monitor levels and patterns of violence, create mentoring and education programs for high- risk youth in nonviolent conflict resolution techniques, and mediate disputes with a high potential for violent outcomes. *Barron Assessment and Counseling Center Boston Public Schools 25 Walk Hill Street Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 tel: 617/635-8123 fax: 617/635-8117 Raffael DeGruttola, Acting Director Begun in 1987 by Frank Barron in response to a dramatic increase in student violence at Boston's public schools, the Barron Assessment and Counseling Center is an intervention service for elementary, middle, and high school students found carrying weapons on school property. Under the program, students are charged according to the school district's disciplinary code and given a hearing with the community superintendent. If the weapons charges are substantiated, parents are notified and the students are referred to the counseling center. At the center, students receive academic, psychological, and social assessments, as well as crisis intervention counseling. They also continue to receive assignments from school. Working with the juvenile court, probation officers, and the Departments of Youth Services, Social Services, and Mental Health, staff prepare service delivery plans for each client, including aftercare services. Special workshops on alternatives to violence are provided by staff of Northeastern University School of Law, Office of Emergency Medical Services, and by staff of Vietnam Veterans Against Violence. Although outside evaluation has not yet been completed, internal evaluation indicates a recidivism rate of 5 percent for first-time offenders from 1987 to 1993. Second- time offenders are now also being served. Build the Missing Peace (formerly Enough is Enough, Inc.) 708 Cloverly Street Suite 202 Cloverly, MD 20905 tel: 301/879-0561 fax: 301/879-0562 Julie A. Elseroad, Founder Build the Missing Peace, founded in 1991 as the Enough is Enough, Inc., program, is a community- based effort to combat violence. It currently functions with eight volunteers and a five-member board of directors. The program, which is based in suburban Maryland, has sponsored 4 successful gun turn-in campaigns, which removed more than 600 guns from the streets, and a White Ribbon Campaign. Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence Against Kids California Wellness Foundation 454 Las Gallinas Avenue, Suite 177 San Rafael, CA 94903-3618 tel: 415/331-3337 fax: 415/331-2969 Yvette Martinez, Project Director By far the most extensive public education campaign against youth gun violence is the California Wellness Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence Against Kids, a statewide effort that has conducted extensive research, surveys, polling, focus groups, and analysis of target audiences; produced multiple 30-second television public service announcements that run on prime time in both English and Spanish; communicated critical information on youth gun violence through its "First Aid" portfolio to more than 8,000 elected officials, key media leaders, and public agencies; received more than 75,000 calls and 11,000 supporters through its 1-800-222- MANY hotline and information service; organized a women's coalition against gun violence; and developed a video teleconference town hall meeting throughout the State to unveil its policies on handguns and firearms. The California Wellness Campaign is linked to a broader $35 million, 5-year, statewide initiative to reduce youth violence in California that includes the Pacific Center for Violence Prevention, the policy branch of the initiative; a leadership program; a community action program that has funded 10 pilot projects to form broad-based violence reduction coalitions of major local public and private entities; and a research program. *Cermak Health Services of Cook County 2800 South California Avenue Chicago, IL 60608 tel: 312/890-7488 fax: 312/890-7792 Michael Puisis, Director According to a 1993 survey of 582 inmates at Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois, one in every four men in the facility had been shot at least once in his life. Involvement in the criminal justice system may be the single best predictor of a person becoming injured through violence. Presently, nearly 20 million people move in and out of jails in the United States each year. Many have past violence-related injuries and are at high risk of violent injuries or death in the future. Health care service providers in jails such as Cook County have opportunities and obligations to intervene in both health risk situations and medical problems that might otherwise impact the community. Multidisciplinary strategies are needed to reduce risks of violence in this population. These strategies include treating the emotional trauma of a witnessed or experienced violent event, removing gang tattoos, providing hope for a future, reducing criminal recidivism through carefully evaluated reintegration programs, and reducing the accessibility of firearms. *Citizens for Safety 100 Massachusetts Avenue, Fourth Floor Boston, MA 02115 tel: 617/542-7712 Diedre Butler-Henderson, Director Citizens for Safety (CFS) is a community-based coalition working to reduce violence in Boston. CFS' membership includes 50 neighborhood and youth organizations as well as over 500 citizens from across the city. In 1993 CFS organized a gun buy- back program that removed 1,302 guns from circulation. Ongoing activities include expanding the buy-back program, conducting "Guns Kill" workshops for teenagers, and sponsoring recreation programs for at-risk youth, including an annual 24- hour Soccer Marathon for Peace and the Peace League. Eddie Eagle Elementary Gun Safety Education Program National Rifle Association of America 11250 Waples Mill Road Fairfax, VA 22030 tel: 703/267-1000 Melinda Bridges, Program Manager The National Rifle Association's Eddie Eagle program is designed to make children in grades K-5 aware that guns are not toys and teaches children proper safety steps if they see a gun. The program's message is: "Stop, Don't Touch; Leave the Area, and Tell an Adult." Program materials and activities may be covered in either a single class period or in two or more class periods and are geared for two age levels. Each child receives a copy of the NRA's gun safety guide for parents to reinforce the program's message at home. Firearm Injuries Educational Development Center, Inc. 55 Chapel Street Newton, MA 02158-1060 tel: 617/969-7100, ext. 2331 fax: 617/244-3436 Christine Bennett A program developed by the Educational Development Center is one of the Educating Professionals in Injury Control (EPIC) resources. It describes the public health approach to firearm injury prevention, the magnitude and cost of the problem, the epidemiology of intentional and unintentional firearm injury and death, the ballistics of firearm injury, and strategies for prevention. Firearm Injury Prevention Curriculum New Mexico Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMS-C) Project University of Mexico School of Medicine Emergency Medical Department 2211 Lomas NE. Ambulatory Care Center 4 West Albuquerque, NM 87131 tel: 505/272-5062 fax: 505/272-6503 Lenora Olsen, Program Manager Firearm Injury Prevention is a recently published K-8 curriculum created by the EMS-C Firearm Injury Prevention Taskforce. It is one of several Taskforce injury prevention activities developed as part of a 3-year grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Other activities include development of posters, public service announcements, and tags on guns for sale warning parents about the risk of unsecured loaded weapons. The 110-page curriculum began as a pilot program in the Albuquerque Public Schools during the 1992- 93 academic year. It includes a discussion of the importance of involving youth in the project's formative stage; accounts of firearm fatalities involving children in New Mexico; lesson plans on problem solving, peer refusal skills, and strong self-esteem; creative exercises emphasizing hands-on application of interdisciplinary lessons; and drawings, stories, and comments of youth who participated in the program's pilot project. *Firearms and Violence: Juveniles, Illicit Markets, and Fear Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management 79 John F. Kennedy Street Cambridge, MA 02138 tel: 617/495-5188 fax: 617/496-9053 Susan Michaelson, Assistant Director In Boston, the city's police department has teamed up with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University to implement a gun market disruption and youth gun violence prevention project based on David Kennedy's research. Called the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, it assists the Boston Police Department in analyzing its juvenile gun problem and designing an intervention. Particular attention in the problem-solving process is given to strategies to disrupt the local black market in firearms and to reduce fear that drives juveniles to acquire and carry firearms. *Fresno Youth Violence Prevention Network Radio Bilingue, Inc. 1111 Fulton Mall, Suite 700 Fresno, CA 93721 tel: 209/498-6965 fax: 209/498-6968 Nora Benavides, Project Director Fresno Youth Violence Prevention Network, previously known as Radio Bilingue, is the result of a collaboration by Chicano Youth Center, House of Hope, Save Our Sons and Daughters, and End Barrio Warfare. The Network campaign is unique because it uses young people to deliver anti-gun violence messages to Fresno's at-risk, Spanish- speaking residents. The program works to strengthen the programs that serve at-risk youth, thereby empowering young people and communities of color to work together to reduce violence in their neighborhoods. Violence prevention activities include developing gun-free zone programs in city parks and neighborhoods, school emergency response and mediation teams led by directors of organizations that serve high-risk youths, youth conferences, and youth leadership programs. A key participant in the coalition is Radio Bilingue, a Hispanic-controlled, noncommercial radio station serving the San Joaquin Valley. Radio Bilingue broadcasts anti-violence and anti-drug public service announcements and sponsors Paz, a unique violence prevention radio program targeted to at- risk youth, educating them about the causes of violence and the impact of gun violence. The program features local speakers, including police officers, school officials, and community citizens. Gun Court 250 Benefit Street Providence, RI 02903 tel: 401/277-3250 Judge Robert Krause A special court was recently established in Providence, Rhode Island, to focus on gun crimes. In this system, all gun crimes are referred to a single judge who processes cases on a fast track that has cut the life span of gun crime cases in half. Of the 18 cases heard to date, 15 defendants have been sent to jail. Many defendants, instead of taking their cases to trial, are now pleading guilty in exchange for a reduction of up to 2 years in the State's mandatory 10-year sentence. The Gun Court model has received support both from gun control advocates and the NRA. Legislators in Texas and court administrators in Louisiana and Illinois are proposing that their States implement programs modeled after the Providence court. Dade County is also looking at the model, but administrators there are concerned about Dade County's capacity to handle potential caseloads. In addition to expediting the handling of cases, these programs have the potential to address special treatment issues related to gun violence. Gun Recovery Unit 1624 V Street NW. Washington, DC 20009 tel: 202/673-3506 fax: 202/673-2154 Lieutenant Richard Hobson Washington, D.C.'s Gun Recovery Unit is a specially trained squad of officers assigned to a part of the city with an unusually high rate of firearms crimes. While patrolling the area, the squad identifies and frisks individuals who raise a reasonable suspicion of being armed. The large majority of individuals who are frisked are under 22 years of age, and about 40 percent are minors. Gun Safety Awareness Program Safety and Driver Education Dade County Public Schools 6100 Northwest Second Avenue Miami, FL 33127 tel: 305/757-0514 fax: 305/757-7626 Stephanie Harrington, Division of School Police In Dade County, a Youth Crime Watch program was mandated for students in 1984 to extend the neighborhood watch concept to schools. The Gun Safety Awareness Program, a districtwide effort for K-12 students and their parents, began in November 1988, featuring a comprehensive curriculum and a Gun Safety Awareness Week in November. The Gun Safety Awareness Program examines causes of handgun violence in the community, educates youth and parents on how to prevent gun-related violence, encourages anonymous reporting of guns, and teaches the consequences of being arrested. Dade County's violence prevention curriculum is supplemented by area Youth Crime Watches, school resource officers, and police officers. Training workshops for parents on handgun safety awareness have been conducted in each school by Parent Education Department Staff. Metal detectors are used unannounced at selected schools, and students caught with guns are referred to juvenile or adult court and recommended for expulsion to an alternative school. Awareness levels among youth and parents about the need to prevent handgun violence have increased as a result. Guns, Teens, and Consequences Tulsa Public Schools 3027 South New Haven, P.O. Box 470208 Tulsa, OK 74147-0208 tel: 918/746-6450 fax: 918/746-6521 Jack Arnold To keep all schools in the Tulsa public school district free of weapons, the district mailed a summary of relevant State laws to families with students enrolled in its schools. One of the city's police officers, who is also a Drug Awareness Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) officer, produced a video, Guns, Teens, and Consequences, that has been shown to more than 6,000 middle and high school students. Handgun Intervention Program 36th District Court Madison Center 421 Madison Avenue Detroit, MI 48226 tel: 313/965-3724 Terrence Evelyn, Program Coordinator Gun violence, especially involving youth and young adults, is increasingly recognized as both a serious crime problem and a threat to the Nation's public health. Traditional criminal justice responses, while an important component of the national response, have proven insufficient for solving the problem. In turn, the stubbornness of gun violence in the face of increasingly severe punishment has drawn attention to the possibility of preventing incidents of gun violence before they occur. The lack of success in preventing gun violence is in part a matter of insufficient knowledge. Perhaps even more problematic is a policy dilemma that quickly confronts the promoters of most preventive measures. Focusing on some "high-risk" population raises concerns about stigmatizing an entire group because of the behavior of a few. The Handgun Intervention Program (HIP), a Detroit- based intervention program operated by volunteers in the State of Michigan's 36th District Court, seeks to avoid these problems. HIP educates and confronts defendants charged with carrying a concealed weapon (CCW) with the consequences of gun violence, the personal risks of gun carrying, the importance of nonviolence and personal responsibility in African-American heritage, the realities of prison life, and alternatives to violence. In this way, the HIP intervention program treats CCW violations as both an occasion for arrest and an opportunity for prevention of future violent events. Handgun Violence Reduction Program Baltimore County Police Department 700 East Joppa Road Towson, MD 21286-5501 tel: 410/887-5846 fax: 410/887-5955 Sergeant Karen Sciascia The Handgun Violence Reduction Program is a project of the Baltimore County Police Department that emphasizes public education and handgun safety. The program's public information campaign consists of a hotline, public service announcements, and presentations in the community that provide information on safe storage of guns, the legal issues and liabilities of gun ownership, and the limitations of guns as personal protection. Baltimore County police also collaborated with the Baltimore public school system to design gun safety curriculums for the third, seventh, and ninth grades that teach children the dangers of handgun misuse. Uniformed police officers make presentations in schools about gun safety and violence prevention. These curriculums seek to deglamorize handguns and to provide children information on how they should respond when threatened by or coming into contact with a gun. A 3-year evaluation that studied student response to scenarios involving guns indicated that the program improved students' attitudes, knowledge, and behavior. Hands Without Guns Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence 100 Maryland Avenue NE., Suite 1102 Washington, DC 20002 tel: 202/544-7227 fax: 202/544-7213 Josh Horowitz, Executive Director Hands Without Guns is a collaborative project of six organizations -- Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence, National Institute for Violence Prevention, Harvard Injury Control Center, Citizens for Safety, New England Medical Center, and 2 PM -- to reduce gun violence in Boston through public health education. The effort will develop a model public education campaign with the following elements: o A unique partnership among health care providers, community advocates and leaders, public health experts, victims, and a CDC-funded research center. o A clearly defined public health focus and innovative multimedia techniques. o Grassroots community organization focused on empowering youth, families, and neighborhoods. o National visibility through the networking leadership of the Educational Fund. o Evaluation by the multidisciplinary research center based at the Harvard School of Public Health. o A program capable of replication in cities throughout the United States. Hazelwood Center High School Student Intervention Program 15955 New Halls Ferry Florissant, MO 63031 tel: 314/839-9500 fax: 314/839-9524 Nancy Snow or Mike Adam, Counselors At Hazelwood Center High School in Florissant, Missouri, students suspended for assaults, weapons, or drugs are referred to a 4-week Student Intervention Program at a location away from their home school. In the program, students are required to complete 4 hours of individualized course work each day and participate in group counseling sessions. They also attend weekly individual counseling sessions that focus on issues such as conflict mediation, habits and addictions, and communication. Parents' participation is mandated for the three sessions that examine family history, parenting skills, and school-related family issues. After completing the program, students are evaluated by school administrators to determine if the remainder of their 90-day suspension can be served through inschool probation. *Hospital-based Youth Violence Prevention Program (Trauma Unit Tour) Camden County Prosecutor's Office 25 North Fifth Street Camden, NJ 08102 tel: 609/225-8400 fax: 609/963-0083 Michael Olsefski The Hospital-based Youth Violence Prevention Program is based at Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center (Trauma Center) in Camden, New Jersey, and targets children who have been charged or convicted of crimes and referred to the Intensive In-House Supervised Detention Program. The program's objectives are to present a realistic portrayal of the trauma resuscitation process; to discuss the emotional, social, and physical impacts of violent crime injury; and to discuss alternative solutions to avoid or minimize violent behavior. Program activities include tours of the resuscitation area, audiovisual aids, graphic depictions of the physical effects of violence, closeups of bullet and stab wounds, and tours of the hospital morgue and trauma intensive-care unit. In the intensive-care unit, patients' conditions, life support equipment, pain, and prognoses are discussed. Howard University Violence Prevention Project 525 Bryant Street NW. Washington, DC 20059 tel: 202/797-0723 Hope Hill, Director The Howard University Violence Prevention Project offers an afterschool middle school program, a preschool program, and a summer camp that provides social support, tutoring, esteem building, and cultural enrichment for children who have been exposed to serious incidents of violence, including gun violence. The program's services give children an opportunity to reduce the probability of their continuing the cycle of violence they are struggling to escape. *Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence 202 South State Street, Suite 1100 Chicago, IL 60604 tel: 312/341-0939 fax: 312/341-9770 Dan Kotowski, Project Coordinator The Council has helped law enforcement officials ban "Cop Killer" bullets in Illinois, raised public awareness of the proliferation of handguns in the streets, monitored judicial action regarding firearm offenders, and formed ONTARGET, a 200- member coalition of law enforcement and elected officials, health care professionals, community groups, and professional organizations working to reduce gun violence in Illinois. The Council has a membership base of 5,000. Coalition members are also fighting for a tax on firearms and ammunition to pay for trauma care, seeking to hold manufacturers legally responsible for death and injuries caused by "Saturday Night Specials" and assault weapons, urging stricter regulation of the 10,000 federally licensed gun dealers in Illinois, and developing public education campaigns. *Illinois State Police School Security Facilitator Program Illinois State Police Training Academy Springfield, IL 62707 tel: 217/786-6902 fax: 217/786-7208 Linda Lange The Illinois State Police School Security Facilitator Program identifies local jurisdictions in which levels of school violence are causing wide concern. Representatives from private, government, and nonprofit programs that play a role in addressing youth violence in their community are invited to attend an intensive 5-day team building/education program at the Illinois State Police training academy. A typical team includes: o Law enforcement personnel. o School administrators and teachers. o Local State's attorney and public defender. o Local prevention and treatment program staff. o Court officials. o Concerned community members. Community teams range in size from 5 to 15. Each member is expected to live at the academy (in trooper dorms) with team members throughout the training program. Courses are divided between youth violence education and violence reduction strategies, including the interdiction of guns brought into schools. Trainers highlight identification of situations in which violence may escalate to use of a weapon, investigative techniques to acquire secondary and tertiary source information on weapons carried at the school, and strategies for weapon removal and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. Additional programs such as locker searches, canine searches, and metal detectors are also discussed. School administrators are cautioned about direct intervention with an armed student. Teams then return to their communities to educate others on youth violence issues and to implement violence reduction strategies. No short- or long-term evaluation of this program has been conducted. Anecdotal information from prior participants would indicate some degree of success. *Injury Prevention and Control Unit Health Promotion and Disease Prevention New Jersey Department of Health 50 East State Street, CN-364 Trenton, NJ 08625-0364 tel: 609/984-6137 fax: 609/292-3580 Liz Congdon, Program Manager The Injury Prevention and Control Unit supports youth violence prevention initiatives in Camden, Newark, and Paterson -- urban areas with the highest rates of gunshot wound deaths in New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH), an active participant on the Medical Society of New Jersey's Subcommittee on Violence -- which represents 9,500 New Jersey physicians -- has identified preventing violence and helping victims of violence as major public health priorities. The subcommittee has developed and distributed model medical policies for use by physicians in identifying and properly handling or referring cases of violence. Other activities have included national lobbying for restrictive gun legislation, educating the medical community on gunshot injuries and prevention, and involving youth in making videos on guns. NJDOH is also involved in a number of interagency efforts. It is represented, for example, on the Violence and Vandalism Task Force, a U.S. Department of Education working group developing recommendations to reduce school violence and vandalism. Juvenile Diversion Program Pima County Attorney's Office and Juvenile Court 2225 East Ajo Way Tucson, AZ 85713 tel: 602/740-5089 fax: 602/770-9212 Clint Stinson, Assistant County Attorney In Pima County, Arizona, the Juvenile Diversion Program has set up a firearms prevention course for youth who are not hardcore delinquents but who have been referred to juvenile court for firing or carrying a gun. The program also serves young people at risk of becoming involved with guns. At least one parent is required to attend monthly sessions, during which the assistant prosecutor informs juveniles and their parents about gun laws. In addition, parents are instructed on safe gun storage. By agreeing to take the course, juveniles avoid having their cases adjudicated and are not placed on probation. They do, however, acquire juvenile records. Kansas City Weed and Seed Program 1201 Walnut Street, Suite 2300 Kansas City, MO 64106 tel: 816/426-3122 fax: 816/426-4176 Steven Hill, United States Attorney The Kansas City Weed and Seed Program is a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney, and the Kansas City Police Department. They have pulled together a working group consisting of law enforcement, human service agencies, and community organizations including the regional office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Small Business Administration, the Kansas City Neighborhood Alliance, and the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime. The program has focused its policing strategy in high-crime neighborhoods on using every opportunity, including traffic and curfew violations and other infractions, to get guns off the street. During these routine stops, police look for infractions that give them the legal authority to search a car or pedestrian for illegal weapons. Special gun-intercept teams have also been used in these neighborhoods, and studies indicate that they are 10 times more cost-effective than regular police patrols. In an 80-block neighborhood with a homicide rate 20 times the national average, the program reduced crime by at least 50 percent during a 6-month period. These initiatives did not displace crime to other locales -- gun crimes did not increase significantly in any of the patrol beats surrounding the area. Despite the fact that previous police campaigns in Kansas City have drawn protests of discrimination from members of the community, residents have supported the gun intercept program. Police have involved community and religious leaders in initial planning, and neighborhoods have made requests for greater police activity. Keep Our Kids Alive 216 East 99th Street New York, NY 10029 tel: 212/410-8505 fax: 212/996-0137 Detective Frank Agayo The Keep Our Kids Alive program targets public housing youth who carry and use guns. The program trains housing youth officers to identify kids who fit a gun carrier profile and then work as mediators. The program also trains resident youngsters to implement anti-gun violence education programs for other young residents. MAD DADS (Men Against Destruction -- Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder) 221 North 24th Street Omaha, NE 68110 tel: 402/451-3366 fax: 402/451-3500 Edward Staton, President The Omaha, Nebraska-based MAD DADS program is a member of the nationwide coalition of community fathers who offer violence prevention through community service. Using community policing strategies, MAD DADS assists law enforcement agencies by providing weekend street patrols in troubled areas; reporting and videotaping crime, drug sales, and other destructive activities to authorities; painting over gang graffiti; and challenging drug dealers and gang members to leave the area. Community activities offered for youths include chaperoning community events and providing counseling services. Members also make quarterly visits to local jails and prisons to counsel and encourage youth and adults to join the program. MAD DADS also has conducted successful gun buy-back programs with city police departments and sponsored gun safety classes with local law enforcement officials and the Omaha office of the FBI. The program sponsors an annual citywide Drug Treatment Awareness Week with the Omaha Community Partnership and a citywide youth Anti-Violence Task Force with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Pizza Hut Restaurants of Omaha. MAD DADS operates in communities in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska; Houston, Texas; Denver, Colorado; 23 cities in Florida; Greenville, Mississippi; New York City; Baltimore, Maryland; Columbus, Ohio; and Council Bluffs, Iowa. The gun buy-back programs have resulted in the collection of more than 2,500 guns since 1991. New York City Metal Detector Program New York City Public Schools Director of School Safety 600 East Sixth Street New York, NY 10009 tel: 212/979-3311 fax: 212/979-3283 Lt. Dario Negron In 1988, as part of a broader violence prevention program that included curriculums, peer mediation, and crisis intervention teams, the New York City school system instituted a metal detector program. The 16 schools chosen to participate (out of a total of 125 schools in the system) were schools in which the highest numbers of weapons were being found. School security staff began using hand-held metal detectors to conduct unannounced lobby searches of students at the start of the day. The program required a mobile staff of 120 and cost $300,000 per year per school. According to school system personnel, aside from removing more than 2,000 weapons, weapon-related incidents of all types decreased in 13 of 15 schools. Attendance also improved as a result of the program, and many students expressed an increased sense of security. Since that time, the number of New York City schools with metal detectors has risen to 41. *PACT (Policy, Action, Collaboration, and Training) Violence Prevention Project Contra Costa County Health Services Department 75 Santa Barbara Road Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 tel: 510/646-6511 Larry Cohen, Project Director PACT is a collaboration among the Contra Costa County Health Services Department Prevention Program, West Contra Costa County organizations, and the California Department of Health Services. A coalition of 10 local agencies guide implementation of activities to identify causes of violence, study strategies for reducing violence, and advocate for solutions. The cornerstone of PACT is violence prevention leadership training for African- American, Laotian, and Latino youths. Training and followup activities help youth focus on issues of violence and develop their own strategies for violence prevention. Youth outreach is supported and enhanced by neighborhood partnerships involving business, schools, government, neighborhood residents, and community organizations. PACT's multicultural collaboration promotes awareness and respect for West Contra County's diversity through activities such as community forums, parent councils, and cultural festivals. PACT staff have also compiled a set of resources for a public health policy response to gun violence in local communities for use by policymakers, media representatives, and other health department personnel working to prevent gun injuries and deaths. Most recently, the project developed an action plan for preventing violence in Contra Costa County. The plan was placed on the November 1994 ballot by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. The plan is supported by a "Framework for Action" that enumerates many of the specific activities local communities and governmental bodies can undertake to reduce and prevent violence. The project has an evaluation component to assess the degree of involvement by community organizations, the relationship between county government and community organizations, and changes in youth attitudes about violence. People Opening the World's Eye to Reality (POWER) Goldwater Memorial Hospital Roosevelt Island New York, NY 10044 tel: 212/318-4361 fax: 212/318-4370 Samuel Lehrfeld, Program Director POWER members are patients at Goldwater Memorial Hospital in New York City who are disabled and sometimes dependent on respirators. All were seriously injured as a result of drugs or street violence. They range in age from 19 to 44. Confined to wheelchairs, POWER members pay visits twice a week to high schools, correctional facilities, probation agencies, and community centers to tell their stories to youth of similar ages and circumstances. Because some members were incarcerated due to their involvement with drugs and substance abuse, they are in a unique position to warn their peers about the hazards of drugs. Their message to violent youth is simple: "Put down the guns and drugs and pick up the books, because drugs, guns, and violence have only three results: jail, paralysis, or death!" The Prevention Partnership Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Grant 139 Menahan Street Brooklyn, NY 11221 tel: 718/574-5100 fax: 718/574-6090 Hilda Roman-Nay, Executive Director This program in Brooklyn, New York, gives incentives to people to turn in guns. It includes the Fighting Back community partnership, a local high school, and two police precincts. Guns are exchanged for food vouchers. Project LIFE (Lasting Intense Firearms Education) Training and Alternative Programs Marion Superior Court, Juvenile Division 2451 North Keystone Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46218 tel: 317/924-7440 fax: 317/924-7508 Stacia Lozer, Director of Hiring, Training and Alternative Programs Project LIFE is a diversion program for juveniles arrested on gun charges operated by the Indiana Juvenile Court. Parental participation is required. Project LIFE is designed to help youth and their parents learn about the effects of gun violence and accidents through an experiential exercise. Children and their parents first prepare papers on the effect of guns. A discussion based on these papers opens the education session, and after the discussion footage of an actual accidental shooting is shown. Participants and their parents then discuss how they would have felt had they been victims of gun violence or accidents. They imagine and discuss, for example, getting a call from a morgue rather than from a jail. The majority of families participating in Project LIFE do not return to juvenile court on gun charges. Second Chance School Topeka Schools USD 501 423 South East Norwood Topeka, KS 66607 tel: 913/233-0313 fax: 913/575-6161 Rome Mitchell, Director The Second Chance School is a half-day instructional program for voluntary students expelled for possession of weapons or assaulting a staff member. Students engage in studies of math, social sciences, and language skills; participate in recreational activities; and are required to perform community service. Depending on the seriousness of their offense, students attend the program for 1 semester or 1 year. Upon successful completion of the program, grades are sent to the home schools and students are readmitted. To date, 90 percent of enrolled students have successfully completed the program. The program has been operating for 3 years and has a maximum capacity of eight students in the morning class and eight in the afternoon class. In addition, the program has developed partnerships among the juvenile courts, the public schools, the police department, and the recreational department. Shock Mentor Program Prince George's Hospital Center 3001 Hospital Drive Cheverly, MD 20785 tel: 301/618-2100 fax: 301/618-3966 Allan E. Atzrott, President The Shock Mentor program was recently developed by Prince George's Hospital Center and Concerned Black Men, Inc., a District of Columbia-based mentoring group of African-American professionals. The program brings Prince George's high school students into the hospital's shock trauma and emergency rooms to watch doctors patch together the victims and perpetrators of violence. It is part of a larger county violence prevention initiative that includes schoolwide conflict resolution programs, peer mediation training programs, black male achievement programs, and countywide forums on violence. Students visit the trauma center throughout the school year and are accompanied by members of Concerned Black Men. Their role is to provide support and show violence-prone youth that there is an alternative to becoming a statistic in a trauma unit. Solutions Without Guns Gun Safety Institute 320 Leader Building Cleveland, OH 44114 tel: 216/623-1111 fax: 216/687-1482 Dr. Joseph D. Claugh, Founder and President The Solutions Without Guns program is a multimedia education curriculum designed to address four factors that students have identified as the main cause of handgun violence among youth: (1) guns and the people who use them are exciting, (2) guns provide safety and power, (3) aggression is a response to shame or disrespect, and (4) children are comfortable with aggression. A substantial increase in gun-prone activity occurs between fifth and sixth grade, and the program is based on the view that students, teachers, and parents must understand what these factors are and that children must learn to choose positive alternative behaviors when faced with situations that have the potential to result in gun violence. The program's goals are geared toward prevention, not interdiction, providing students with skills to identify the four gun-proneness factors in themselves and others. The program also identifies and emphasizes alternative positive behaviors, resisting negative peer pressure in regard to the four factors, and practicing appropriate prosocial behavior. The curriculum is language arts-based but is meant to be integrated into other daily classroom lessons through academically oriented activities and exercises. Teachers and students have been enthusiastic about the program's potential to reduce violence at school. Southeastern Michigan Spinal Cord Injury System Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan 261 Mack Avenue Detroit, MI 48201 tel: 313/745-9740 fax: 313/993-0812 Marcel Diskers, Director The Southeastern Michigan Spinal Cord Injury System provides high school students a video, Wasted Dreams, and discussion guide on gunshot victims and injuries. Produced by the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan and distributed by Film Ideas, Inc. (800-475- 3456), the video explores the effects of violence on seven young men. This group of teenagers and one young man, who can breathe only with the help of a respirator, describe how they were shot and how they could have avoided becoming victims. *State Attorney General's Law Enforcement and Educational Task Force Division of Criminal Justice 25 Market Street, CN085 Trenton, NJ 08625-0085 tel: 609/292-4925 fax: 609/292-3508 Deborah Poritz, State Attorney General The State Attorney General's Law Enforcement and Educational Task Force is an interagency effort to lower the incidence of school violence in New Jersey. In 1993, the task force signed agreements regarding students who carry guns on school grounds with all school superintendents in the State. This agreement between the State department of education and law enforcement officials includes provisions for dealing with weapons on school property and establishes reciprocal rights and responsibilities for teachers, parents, and law officials. *STOP -- Steps To Prevent Firearm Injury American Academy of Pediatrics 141 Northwest Point Boulevard, P.O. Box 927 Elk Grove Village, IL 60009 tel: 800/433-9016 fax: 708/228-5097 Michelle Esquivel, Director STOP -- Steps To Prevent Firearm Injury -- is a collaborative effort of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence and the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is the first national educational program designed for pediatricians to use when counseling parents on the risks of keeping a gun in the home as well as the dangers guns pose to the community. Materials include (1) a monograph addressing the scope and circumstances of gun injuries and deaths affecting children and teens, (2) an audiotape that models dialog between pediatricians and parents, (3) a counseling tip sheet for quick reference, (4) a bibliography for further reading, (5) brochures providing facts and prevention steps, and (6) posters for offices and waiting rooms. Posters and brochures are also available in Spanish upon reorder. This package, which has been disseminated to more than 700 AAP members, is currently being evaluated. Preliminary findings show that, after receiving prevention materials, pediatricians are more willing to talk about firearm injuries and fatalities. Straight Talk About Risks Center to Prevent Handgun Violence 1225 Eye Street NW. Washington, DC 20005 tel: 202/289-7315 fax: 202/962-4601 Nancy Gannon, Director of Education Straight Talk About Risks (STAR) is a comprehensive school-based violence prevention curriculum for four grade clusters (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) designed by the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. Through STAR, students learn how to make better, safer decisions and resolve conflicts without violence through role playing; how to resist peer pressure to play with or carry guns; how to distinguish between real life and TV violence; goal setting; and the development of leadership skills. The program includes curriculums in English and Spanish, training, technical assistance, and safety information for parents. The curriculums provides a flexible format: activities may be taught alone, through a health or social skills class, or can be taught over several weeks. Many of the activities are suitable for use in English, mathematics, science, and visual and performing arts classes. A recent evaluation found that the program was most effective for students in grades 3 to 5 in terms of improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. *UHLICH Children's Home 3737 North Mozart Street Chicago, IL 60618-3689 tel: 312/588-0180 fax: 312/588-7762 Thomas VandenBerk, President The president of UHLICH Children's Home, Thomas VandenBerk, has developed a fact sheet on how child welfare agencies and child advocates can help stop handgun violence. Suggestions include providing parents with conferences, informational sessions, and programs about the risks of weapons in the home. *University of Virginia Youth Violence Project University of Virginia Hampton Roads Center Virginia Beach, VA 23462 tel: 804/552-1890 fax: 804/552-1898 Dyanne Bostain, Director The University of Virginia's Youth Violence Project focuses on reducing youth violence through a team approach. Staff bring together a multidisciplinary team of experts on youth aggression and violence in the fields of education, psychology, law enforcement, planning, and crime prevention and present 4- to 45-hour instruction courses in selected Virginia cities. Cities that have participated in the program include Falls Church, Newport News, Roanoke, Richmond, and Virginia Beach. Participants in the Youth Violence Project -- primarily school and law enforcement officials from target jurisdictions -- are exposed to a variety of issues (risk factors for violence, multicultural dynamics, etc.) and are asked to implement a series of actions in their schools including initiating security assessments and peer mediation. Many of the program's instructors are local police officers with extensive experience in weapon detection and interdiction. The program also emphasizes school collaboration and cooperation because school officials typically are not trained in defensive weapon removal and disarming tactics. In 1994, the project will expand its reach through a televised version of the program, School Safety and Youth Aggression, to be downlinked to 24 sites across Virginia. No short- or long-term evaluation of this program has been implemented. Anecdotal information from prior participants would indicate some degree of success. University of Virginia staff would support any credible outside evaluation effort. *Vehicle Impoundment in the City of Chicago Office of Building and Management City Hall, Room 604 Chicago, IL 60602 tel: 312/744-2604 fax: 312/744-0471 John Holden A 1992 Chicago ordinance empowers police officers to impound any car transporting illegal firearms or drugs. Once impounded, the vehicle can be reclaimed only through a $500 nonrefundable bond or, if the owner claims the seizure was improper, through a hearing before an administrative officer. Since October 1992, nearly 2,000 cars have been impounded, most from youth under 25. *Violent Injury Prevention Program Monterey County Health Department Injury Prevention Section 1000 South Main Street, #306 Salinas, CA 93901 tel: 408/755-8486 fax: 408/758-4770 Diana Jacobson, Chief The Violent Injury Prevention Program (VIPP), directed by a Violent Injury Prevention Coalition and a steering committee, seeks to prevent and reduce acts of violence in Salinas, California, through community unification and disseminating educational resources and information. The steering committee, composed of representatives from diverse sectors of the community (e.g., education, religious, criminal justice, health, and government), identified and prioritized violence issues in the Salinas community and then developed recommendations for the Violent Injury Prevention Coalition to implement. These issues ranged from alcohol and other drug abuse to a perceived need to take a firmer approach to violence. Recommendations to address these concerns included the creation of a community information hotline and the development of anti-violence weapon safety materials, and a discount trigger lock coupon program. The program sponsored a Stop the Violence Day that featured a variety of events, including a peace rally. In April 1992, as part of Violence Prevention Month, nearly 1,900 people pledged to stop violence. The program also aired violence prevention PSAs on local television stations. In addition, program staff distribute an information sheet for parents to fill out whenever their children visit friends. On this sheet, parents document where their children are, whether there are any guns in the house, and, if so, whether they are locked up. All information distributed by the program is printed in English and Spanish. Evidence of success is indicated by the institutionalization of this private-sector partnership in the community. *WARN (Weapons Are Removed Now) Reseda High School 18230 Kittridge Street Reseda, CA 91335 tel: 818/342-6186 fax: 818/776-0452 Jay Shaffer, Director WARN is an anti-weapons program designed to keep weapons off school campuses. The program's objective is to convince students that violence is an improper method for settling disputes; that weapons on campus are life threatening; and that informing on those who bring weapons on campus is a morally responsible act. The program trains high school students to visit their neighborhood elementary and middle schools and speak to students on the danger of weapons in school. Method of presentation is left to students' discretion, provided adult guidance is present. The administration of the high school assists students by confirming contacts with local feeder schools and by providing transportation if needed. Weapon Watch Mental Health Center Memphis City School District, Room 102 2597 Avery Avenue Memphis, TN 38112 tel: 901/325-5810 fax: 901/325-7634 Dr. Gerry Nichol, Director Weapon Watch was implemented to get children involved in ridding their schools of weapons. The Memphis City School District joined forces with the Memphis Police Department and Crime Stoppers, a group that financially rewards citizens for calling in tips about crimes. Instead of buying metal detectors, Memphis officials decided to get students involved in weeding out the weapons. A hotline was established for students to call anonymously with information pertaining to classmates who bring weapons to school. Students who call in are given a secret code number. Once the call is received, police are dispatched to the school, and officers conduct an investigation. Students are rewarded if the information leads to the confiscation of weapons and arrest of the carrier. *Words Not Weapons Office of Violence Prevention Massachusetts Department of Public Health 150 Tremont Street Boston, MA 02111 tel: 617/727-1246 fax: 617/727-6088 Salena Respass, Director The Words Not Weapons campaign is currently coordinated by the Massachusetts Office of Violence Prevention and is cosponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Massachusetts Committee on Criminal Justice, and the Governor's Alliance Against Drugs. Enrollment in the program is open to schools in cities and towns in all areas of the State. Massachusetts Governor William Weld has pledged to make personal visits to each participating school to meet students and staff. Plans include training for teachers and other school personnel and creating linkages among parents, the media, and community agencies. Although the initial efforts will focus on schools, the program's long-range goal is communitywide expansion that includes many segments of society -- law enforcement, criminal and juvenile justice, business, religious institutions, and health care and social service organizations. Youth, Firearms, and Violence in Atlanta Emory University School of Public Health 1599 Clifton Road, NE. Atlanta, GA 30329 tel: 404/727-5481 fax: 404/727-8744 Dr. Arthur Kellermann Dr. Arthur Kellermann of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, is working with the community, State and local governments, and Project PACT (Pulling America's Cities Together) to analyze youth firearms violence and to develop a broad- based strategy to address the problem. The intervention will employ a three-part strategy: (1) reducing demand of firearms through a comprehensive community education program, (2) reducing supply by promoting safe storage of firearms and supporting law enforcement efforts to interdict the illegal gun market, and (3) rehabilitating juvenile gun offenders to decrease recidivism. Zero Tolerance Program San Diego City Schools 4100 Normal Street San Diego, CA 92103-2682 tel: 619/293-8418 fax: 619/293-8067 Dr. Frank Till, Director The Zero Tolerance Program is targeted to middle, junior, and senior high school students in San Diego city schools. Under this program, students found in possession of a firearm, knife, explosive, or any other dangerous object at school are immediately suspended and recommended for expulsion. These students are given the option of attending a district Zero Tolerance Program for a minimum of one semester. If the student elects to attend the program, the expulsion is suspended. The Zero Tolerance Program was established to allow students disciplined for weapons offenses to continue their studies, receive counseling and more individual attention, work at their own pace, and complete as many courses as possible. The program considers all objects used in a threatening manner to be weapons. Trespassing on school grounds by students who are not enrolled and who have not been cleared by the school office is treated as a recorded, suspendable offense, and a third offense requires attendance at a Zero Tolerance Program. In every case in which students violate applicable Education and Penal Codes, they are charged and arrested and taken to a juvenile detention facility or county jail. ------------------------------ III. Directory of Youth Gun Violence Prevention Organizations Advocacy Institute 1730 Rhode Island Avenue NW., Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036-3118 tel: 202/659-8475 fax: 202/659-8484 Michael Pertschuk, Co-Director The Advocacy Institute is working to build an infrastructure for the movement against gun violence, including a computer network (Safety Net) to link advocates fighting gun violence. Its objective is to build a unified voice and alliance that can challenge and surpass the influence of the National Rifle Association and its allies in the arena of public policy and values. The Institute plans to develop a gun violence training program for community-based advocates, and provide researchers technical assistance on monitoring and timely dissemination of gun policy and policy- related research. American Academy of Pediatrics 141 North West Point Boulevard P.O. Box 927 Elk Grove Village, IL 60009-0227 tel: 800/433-9016 Dr. Joe M. Sanders, Jr., Director In 1985 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a policy statement encouraging its members to support gun control. In 1992, AAP recommendations on the issue extended beyond legislative and regulatory measures and included removing handguns from the environment in which children live and play, reducing the destructive power of ammunition, and reducing the romanticization of gun use in the popular media. AAP's membership has recommended that gun manufacturers and retailers develop and sell gun safety devices. For the long term, AAP advocates that legislative bans be placed on various firearms and the public be made aware of the prevalence of childhood gun injuries. American Bar Association 750 North Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL 60611 tel: 312/988-5109 fax: 312/988-5100 George E. Bushnell, Jr., President-Elect The American Bar Association (ABA) and its national membership of over 370,000 lawyers is engaged in a range of activities to reduce gun violence in our Nation. The ABA Legal Solutions to Gun Violence helps cities, counties, and States draft and enact ordinances and laws to regulate firearms, including legislation to ban the manufacture, sale, and possession of all assault weapons. Additionally, ABA is working with a broad coalition of law enforcement, medical and public health, victim advocacy, and community and locally based organizations in public education efforts related to the Constitution's Second Amendment, risks and costs of gun violence, and the impact of gun violence on children and youth. ABA supports the efforts of the recently formed bar advocacy groups in San Francisco (Legal Community Against Violence) and New York (Lawyers' Committee Against Violence), for the primary purpose of pursuing damage suits on behalf of victims of gun violence. American Psychological Association Commission on Violence and Youth 750 First Street NE. Washington, DC 20002-4242 tel: 202/336-5500 fax: 202/336-6063 Jackie Gentry, Director An American Psychological Association commission was created in 1991 to review current and past research on youth violence. In August 1993, the Commission released a report entitled "Violence and Youth: Psychology's Response." Next steps include a conference in January on the subject. Annie E. Casey Foundation 701 St. Paul Street Baltimore, MD 21202 tel: 410/547-6600 fax: 410/547-6624 Bart Lubow, Senior Associate The Annie E. Casey Foundation is considering the following issues in its work to develop a comprehensive strategy to protect children and youth from handgun violence. o Building a movement to end the political and cultural traditions that sustain unregulated handgun manufacture and distribution. o Avoiding and repealing regressive juvenile and adult justice system laws and policies that needlessly punish kids while consuming vast amounts of scarce tax dollars for practices that do not improve community safety. o Ensuring that, in terms of research and information system development, policies to prevent or reduce handgun violence are driven by data. o Focusing more attention in the gun violence arena on issues of importance to disadvantaged children and communities, and bringing community perspective and experience to violence prevention efforts. o Determining and employing state-of-the-art policies and programs to reduce violence, especially handgun violence. o Reforming initiatives to incorporate a message that supports both new policies and effective strategies to reduce handgun violence. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Division of Violence Prevention 4770 Buford Highway, NE., Mailstop K60 Atlanta, GA 30341-3724 tel: 404/488-4362 fax: 404/488-4349 Jim Mercy, Director The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently tracking baseline data and delineating strategies to address the "Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives," three of which concern firearm accessibility. Through extramural research grants, CDC is funding the State-based Firearm Injury Surveillance Projects to provide more complete epidemiologic descriptions of firearm injuries. This information will in turn be used to identify intervention points and design, implement, and evaluate prevention activities. Missouri, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin, and Colorado are collecting data from emergency rooms, police, newspaper accounts, and child fatality offices. These projects will help determine the most useful sources of data and the most efficient methods for combining information from those sources. The final goal is a system that will monitor the number, severity, cost, causes, and other epidemiologic characteristics of firearm injuries both locally and nationally. Cooperative agreements have been undertaken to evaluate specific interventions that may reduce injuries and deaths caused by interpersonal violence among adolescents and young adults. To date, 13 projects have been funded. CDC is also funding 5-year Community Demonstration Projects to determine the effectiveness of multiple interventions in a coordinated violence prevention program. The projects are designed to help communities design and implement multifaceted community youth violence prevention programs. Center for Injury Control Emory University School of Public Health 1462 Clifton Road, NE. Atlanta, GA 30322 tel: 404/727-9977 fax: 404/727-8744 Arthur L. Kellermann, Director Arthur L. Kellermann's research at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, focuses on guns in the home. In studies of gun deaths in Washington, British Columbia, Tennessee, and Ohio, his research has shown that guns kept at home are used far more often to commit suicide or to kill a family member than to fend off a potentially fatal criminal attack. His prevention strategy is based on public education much like that of early anti-smoking campaigns. The Center is also working with the community, State and local governments, and Project PACT (Pulling America's Communities Together) to analyze youth firearms violence and to develop a broad- based strategy to address the problem. Center to Prevent Handgun Violence 1225 Eye Street NW. Washington, DC 20005 tel: 202/289-7319 fax: 202/408-1851 Nancy Gannon, Director of Education Programs (HELP): 202/289-5769 The Center to Prevent Handgun Violence (CPHV) is a national, nonprofit organization created to help America understand the realities of handgun violence and the dangers posed by loaded, easily available handguns. CPHV educates the public about ways to reduce gun violence through partnerships with experts in medicine and public health, law, education, law enforcement, community groups, the media, and the entertainment industry. Its activities include legal action (e.g., amicus briefs on behalf of victims), primary prevention, education, and efforts to affect the way that entertainment media portray gun violence. The Center has developed programs for use in school and in law enforcement and health settings. CPHV has been involved as amicus curiae in United States v. Lopez, a United States Supreme Court case regarding the constitutionality of the Federal Gun- Free School Zones Act, which was enacted in 1990. The challenge to the Act is being brought by a 12th-grade student caught carrying a concealed .38- caliber handgun and five bullets at a San Antonio high school. He told police he was planning to deliver the gun to another student who intended to use it in a "gang war." The student argues that because possession of guns is a local matter, Congress lacks power under the Constitution to enact a law banning their possession in school zones. Joined by six national educational and seven national law enforcement organizations, CPHV argues that the possession of guns near schools, by fueling gun violence, has a substantial effect on interstate commerce. In addition to imposing enormous direct costs on society, gun violence in schools threatens the educational process with far- reaching consequences for the national economy. The result of the case may be that the possession and use of guns at schools may have to be regulated on a State-by-State basis. CPHV's Entertainment Resources Department staff work with individuals in the entertainment industry to ensure that their portrayal of gun violence is realistic and accurate. A recent collaboration with Disney Educational Productions produced a gun violence prevention video, Under the Gun, that challenges the glamorization of guns and the notion that guns make us safer. Disney plans to market the video to schools, recreation centers, police departments, juvenile justice facilities, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and other educational organizations. Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence University of Colorado, Boulder Campus Box 442 Boulder, CO 80309-0442 tel: 303/492-1032 fax: 303/443-3297 Laura Greiner, Project Coordinator The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) was founded in 1992 with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to provide assistance to professional groups committed to understanding and preventing violence, particularly adolescent violence. CSPV has a threefold mission. First, an Information House collects research literature on the causes and prevention of violence and provides direct information services to the public by offering topical bibliographic searches. Second, CSPV offers technical assistance for the evaluation and development of violence prevention programs. Third, CSPV maintains a basic research component through data analysis and other projects on the causes of violence and the effectiveness of intervention and prevention programs. Children's Defense Fund 25 E Street NW. Washington, DC 20001 tel: 202/628-8787 fax: 202/662-3540 Kim Wade, Assistant General Counsel The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a research and advocacy organization interested in all issues pertaining to children. Attorneys working for CDF write publications on reducing firearms, and CDF staff collect data on children who are victims of gun violence. CDF is addressing the problem of gun violence through multiple approaches: o Legislation addressing the epidemic of gun violence committed by and against children. o Community mobilization: The Children's Sabbath, Child Watch violence module, and Safe Start leadership training in cities across the country. o Data collection on gun fatalities among children. o Public education on violence issues for adults and teenagers. CDF's Cease Fire campaign involves 10 steps to stop the war against children in America. They include removing guns from homes, creating opportunities and safe havens, being informed about violence and media violence, and resolving conflicts peaceably. The campaign also features television public service announcements and the Wall of Names, a print presentation of more than 600 children from 39 States killed by gunfire in 1993 and 1994. Coalition to Stop Gun Violence 100 Maryland Avenue NE. Washington, DC 20002 tel: 202/544-7190 fax: 202/544-7213 Michael Beard, President, Founder, and Director The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) was founded in 1974, and is one of the Nation's oldest anti-gun lobbies. A coalition of citizens groups and religious, professional, labor, medical, and educational associations, CSGV has 120,000 members nationwide. The goal of the Coalition is to eliminate most handguns and assault weapons in the United States through bans on importation, manufacture, sale, transfer, ownership, possession, and use by the general public. Reducing weapons use would be accomplished by limiting the availability of gun dealers' licenses, increasing gun dealers' license fees, licensing gun users, increasing handgun ammunition taxes to offset health care costs, enforcing strict liability for gun manufacturers and dealers, and enacting a national one-handgun-a-month law. Exceptions would be made for police, military, security officers, and gun clubs. To accomplish these goals, CSGV vigorously lobbies Congress, counteracts the National Rifle Association, maintains an active legal program, initiates and assists litigation cases against manufacturers and dealers, conducts public education and awareness campaigns, and coordinates a network of grassroots activists across the country. The Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence is CSGV's educational arm. Communications Consortium 1333 H Street NW. Washington, DC 20005 tel: 202/682-1270 fax: 202/682-2154 Communications Consortium is developing a public policy and education campaign called Women's Voices on Gun Violence: Building New Alliances for Public Safety. The campaign's fundamental premise is that there are numerous precedents (e.g., cigarette smoking and reproductive rights) for redefining an issue in terms of how it affects women and families and women's role in making decisions that affect their lives. As part of this campaign, the Consortium has reviewed past polling and media trends to probe public perceptions on women and guns, identified at least 14 areas of the United States that are potential media markets for building new alliances among women for public safety, and assessed campaigns in American history that led to mobilization around social issues. Educational Development Center, Inc. Children's Safety Network Adolescent Violence Prevention Resource Center National Injury and Violence Prevention Resource Center 55 Chapel Street Newton, MA 02158-1060 tel: 617/969-7100, ext. 2359 fax: 617/244-3436 Beth Jacklin, Director The Adolescent Violence Prevention Resource Center was established to improve the science and practice of youth violence prevention. To accomplish this goal, the Educational Development Center is providing State Maternal and Child Health agencies with information, resources, materials, and technical assistance to encourage the development of new adolescent violence prevention programs and the improvement of current efforts. Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence 110 Maryland Avenue, NE., Box 72 Washington DC 20002 tel: 202/544-7227 fax: 202/544-7213 Josh Horowitz, Executive Director The Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence, a project of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, was founded in 1978 to advocate for stopping violence caused by firearms, disseminate research and scholarship, educate the public on gun control issues, and run a firearms litigation clearinghouse. The Fund's primary project is Hands Without Guns, a collaborative public education campaign. George Gund Foundation 1845 Guildhall Building 45 Prospect Avenue West Cleveland, OH 44115 tel: 216/241-3114 fax: 216/241-6560 The George Gund Foundation has funded several youth gun violence reduction programs, including the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, for its legal action project and Second Amendment media campaign; and Youth Alive, for a study of the use of local zoning and business codes to regulate firearms dealers. Gun Safety Institute The Leader Building 526 Superior Avenue, #338 Cleveland, OH 44114 tel: 216/574-9179 fax: 216/687-1482 Joseph B. Clough, Founder and President The Gun Safety Institute commissioned research from the Child Guidance Center of Greater Cleveland to measure attitudes toward guns and violence among urban youth. In a survey of 461 fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade students in the Cleveland Public School System, four factors were commonly cited as to why many youth are attracted to guns: youth perceive guns as fun, they believe safety is achieved through power, they have more confidence in aggression than in negotiation, and many youth believe that feelings of shame can be eliminated through aggression. Handgun Control Incorporated 1225 Eye Street NW., Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20005 tel: 202/898-0792 fax: 202/371-9615 Richard Aborn, Director As the lobbying branch of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, Handgun Control, Inc., has proposed comprehensive legislation to regulate every level of the gun industry. Proposed legislation would: o Require a license to buy a handgun, mandate fingerprint checks and safety training for license applicants, include a mandatory 7-day cooling off period, and require the registration of handgun transfers. o Prohibit gun possession by those convicted of violent misdemeanors, including spouse or child abuse, and require a special license for possession of a gun arsenal (20 guns or 1,000 rounds of ammunition). o Require gun dealers to pay an annual license fee of $1,000; prohibit the sale of more than one handgun a month to any individual, mandate a Federal license for ammunition dealers, and require background checks for gun store employees; ban firearm sales at gun shows; and create "a private cause of action" for gun law violations. o Ban semiautomatic assault weapons, Saturday Night Special handguns, and nonsporting ammunition; regulate gun safety; and increase the surtax on handguns and handgun ammunition. Handgun Epidemic Lowering Plan (HELP) Network of Concerned Professionals c/o The Children's Memorial Medical Center 2300 Children's Plaza, #88 Chicago, IL 60614 tel: 312/880-3826 fax: 312/880-6615 Amy Friedman, Director HELP is a new organization based at Children's Memorial Hospital (CMH) in Chicago composed of health professionals who work to reduce the handgun violence epidemic by addressing it as a public health problem. The HELP agenda calls for legislation to regulate handguns and handgun ammunition and increased surveillance of firearms deaths and injuries. Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, attending physician at CMH, serves as head of the project. The network publishes a quarterly newsletter, holds an annual national conference, operates a clearinghouse on information gathered from member organizations, and has a steering committee to guide network activities. Steering committee members include the National Association of Children's Hospitals, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, Dartmouth Medical Center, the Violence Policy Center, and the New York and Los Angeles City Departments of Health. Harvard Project on Guns, Violence, and Public Health Harvard Injury Control Center Harvard University School of Public Health 718 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115 tel: 617/432-0814 fax: 617/432-0068 Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Director Founded in 1987 with funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Harvard Injury Control Center is a multidisciplinary research center studying public health, medicine, epidemiology, program evaluation, violence prevention, criminology, economics, psychology, behavioral sciences, and statistics. The Center's goal to "promote injury control through public policy" is accomplished through applied research projects, training activities, and communications with professionals and the public. Injury Prevention Center Johns Hopkins School of Public Health 615 North Wolfe Street Baltimore, MD 21287 tel: 410/955-3555 fax: 410/614-2797 Stephen P. Teret, Director The Injury Prevention Center started working on the issue of handgun violence in the early 1980's and is working to redirect public attention from gun users to gun manufacturers by requiring manufacturers to make safer and fewer guns. The Center also advocates for holding gun manufacturers and sellers legally liable for harm their products do, educates the public about gun hazards, and lobbies for regulating gun advertising. International Association of Chiefs of Police 515 North Washington Street Alexandria, VA 22314 tel: 703/836-6767 fax: 703/836-4543 John Firman, Director The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is currently conducting research in the area of school violence, particularly guns in schools. The project, Reducing School Violence, is a joint effort of the University of Virginia and IACP. IACP, through retired chief John Granfield of the Alexandria, Virginia, Police Department, offers a course covering all aspects of weapon incidents in schools, including disarming suspects, weapon identification, and effective use of police resources when such incidents occur. The course has been presented at a number of area schools and has been well received. Joyce Foundation 135 South LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60603-4886 tel: 312/782-2464 fax: 312/782-4160 Deborah Leff, President The Joyce Foundation is committed to improving the quality of life in the Midwest, particularly for those programs with fewer resources and opportunities. It supports programs in conservation, culture, economic development, education, and the prevention of gun violence. Its current initiatives include: o Developing a major gun policy center through its board. o Funding Harvard University School of Public Health for two Louis Harris polls and establishing the Harvard Project on Guns, Violence, and Public Health. o Funding the Advocacy Institute to research and publish Toward a Gun-Safe Society: Movement Building Strategies. o Funding the HELP Network. o Funding the Children's Express Foundation for hearings on violence in the lives of children. o Funding the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. o Funding Cook County Hospital in Chicago to produce and distribute anti-violence posters on buses and in subways. o Funding the Communications Consortium to develop a public policy campaign addressing gun violence against women. o Funding the Hyde Park Bank Foundation to publish a book of essays, poems, and pictures on violence created by Chicago elementary school students. o Funding the Children's Defense Fund to launch its Gun Violence Prevention Campaign. o Funding the Childhood Firearm Injury Prevention Project. o Funding the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, to conduct analysis of firearm advertisements and to plan Safety Net, a data network on guns. o Funding the Violence Policy Center. o Funding the Medical College of Wisconsin to establish in Milwaukee County an integrated firearm injury reporting system that could serve as a national model. o Funding the Educational Broadcasting Corporation to create television programs on children and violence. Legal Community Against Violence A Fund of the San Francisco Foundation 101 California Street, Suite 1075 San Francisco, CA 94111 tel: 415/433-2062 fax: 415/433-3357 Barrie Becker, Executive Director The Bay Area legal community, with support from government and business leaders and The San Francisco Foundation, has created the Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV). LCAV is dedicated to ending the sale to the public of military-style assault weapons and ammunition and large-capacity magazines, and regulating the availability of other firearms and bullets to help protect our society from gun violence. LCAV's goal is to mobilize the legal community and other concerned citizens to work for gun violence prevention through legislative, legal, and education efforts. Its members support and draft gun control legislation, serve as a resource to elected officials, provide assistance and financial support to litigation against negligent gun dealers and manufacturers, and educate the public on gun control issues. LCAV also has provided funding to gun violence survivors to testify in Congress on behalf of the Brady Bill and the recent successful legislation to ban assault weapons. Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse 3000 Chestnut Avenue, Suite 203 Baltimore, MD 21211 tel: 410/889-1477 fax: 410/889-1480 Richard Willis, Executive Director In 1988 Marylanders Against Handgun Abuse (MAHA) spearheaded one of the Nation's most effective gun control campaigns, which resulted in the ban of Saturday Night Special handguns in Maryland. In 1993 MAHA kicked off a campaign to enact comprehensive gun control legislation in Maryland and to educate the public about the hazards of handguns. The key element of the campaign's success has been the creation of a statewide grassroots coalition known as Standing Together Against the Gun Epidemic (STAGE). MAHA has brought over 150 religious, community, law enforcement, and medical provider groups into the STAGE coalition. In 1994, MAHA and the STAGE coalition convinced the Maryland General Assembly to pass a ban on assault pistols, a victory that helped inspire subsequent passage in Congress of the assault weapons ban. National Association of Child Advocates 1625 K Street NW. Suite 510 Washington, DC 20005 tel: 202/289-0777 fax: 202/289-0776 Eve Brooks, President The National Association of Child Advocates (NACA) advocates for legislation on issues of importance to children. It provides technical assistance to State and community-based child advocacy organizations fighting ineffective punitive approaches to violence reduction and promoting alternatives to incarceration, particularly prevention, that are more effective. NACA's goals include lifting all children out of poverty and ending childhood hunger and homelessness. NACA also funds a Juvenile Justice Project that is a major focal point of nationwide information dissemination on Federal and State juvenile justice and youth crime prevention policy, and recently cosponsored a conference, "Framing the Message on Youth and Guns: A Dialogue on Juvenile Justice," with the Children and Family Justice Center. National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health 2000 North 15th Street, Suite 701 Arlington, VA 22201-2617 tel: 703/524-7802 fax: 703/821-2098 Rochelle Mayer, Director The National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health funds the Children's Safety Network and houses Biblio Alert! Focus on Firearms, a clearinghouse (703/821-8955, ext. 254) with an extensive bibliography of journal articles, reports, books, and other resources. National Association of Children's Hospitals 401 Wythe Street Alexandria, VA 22314 tel: 703/684-1355, ext. 265 fax: 703/684-1589 Stacy Collins, Assistant Director, Child Health Analysis At its 1993 annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, the National Association of Children's Hospitals (NACHRI) board of trustees issued a statement calling for actions to reduce children's access to firearms and the morbidity and mortality resulting from firearm use. In adopting this position, NACHRI joins the American Academy of Pediatrics and other child health advocates in approaching the issue of gun violence from a public health perspective. NACHRI advocates for: o Data collection and trend monitoring in children's hospitals on firearm injury and death. o Education strategies involving parents, school curriculums, and community coalitions. o Prevention strategies through identification of children most at risk for firearm violence and subsequent intervention services. o Public policy strategies with support for incremental gun control measures such as the Brady Bill, and a long-term goal of eliminating private use of handguns and other highly injurious firearms. National Association of State Boards of Education 1012 Cameron Street Alexandria, VA 22314 tel: 703/684-4000 fax: 703/836-2313 Jane Ascroft, Research Assistant The National Association of State Boards of Education is a membership group made up of State boards of education. The group develops policy recommendations on a variety of issues affecting schools, including protecting the right of students and staff to feel safe and secure in the classroom. To do so, State boards must assure that a continuum of sanctions is available for children and youth who have been disruptive or delinquent. Expulsion without alternatives is not a solution to youth violence. Efforts must be made to keep disruptive or delinquent students, to the maximum extent possible, in their neighborhood school. At a minimum, alternative programs with strong academic and counseling components should be provided. National Institute of Justice U.S. Department of Justice 633 Indiana Ave NW. Washington, DC 20531 tel: 202/514-4787 fax: 202/307-6394 Jeremy Travis, Director Current National Institute of Justice (NIJ) violence prevention initiatives include: o A survey of private firearm ownership. NIJ is sponsoring a national telephone survey of 3,000 households regarding private firearms ownership and use. The survey includes such issues as how, where, when, and why household members acquired handguns; the types of weapons owned; how weapons are stored, used, and disposed of; why nonowners do not own guns; previous victimization and arrest histories; and demographic characteristics. A final report is due March 31, 1995. Interim reports will be requested. o A survey of high school youth and weapons. This 2-year project began in January 1995, and includes a national survey of urban, suburban, and rural high school students about carrying and access to weapons in and around school and communities. Incidents of violence and victimizations, as well as gang- and drug-related behavior, will be measured. In addition, school administrators will be surveyed about their response to violence in their schools. o A study of juveniles' involvement in illicit gun markets. This 2-year project began in November 1994 and is testing the applicability of preventing juvenile gun violence through problem-solving policing focused on disrupting the illicit market in firearms. The project will assist the Boston Police Department in analyzing that city's juvenile gun problem and designing an intervention. Efforts will be made to disrupt the local black market in firearms and to reduce fear that may drive juveniles to acquire and carry firearms. The study will conduct a process and impact evaluation and will disseminate information on juvenile gun acquisition and use. o A demonstration on youth, firearms, and violence. NIJ is sponsoring a 2-year demonstration and evaluation program on youth, firearms, and violence in St. Louis that began in October 1994. Its purpose is to reduce morbidity and mortality of gun-related assaults, the frequency of carrying guns, and the frequency of assaults. The project involves the creation of Assault Crisis Teams that will work in an emergency medical treatment center serving high-risk juvenile populations. These teams consist of medical, social service, educational, and criminal justice personnel. o A study of youth violence, guns, and links to illicit drug markets. This 18-month project will study the recent growth in juvenile homicide rates by examining, by race and age, data on homicide rates, drug arrest rates, arrest rates for weapons offenses, fractions of homicides involving guns, and other variables that might explain the growth in juvenile homicide. Findings will test the theoretical link between participation in drug markets and gun ownership, and the diffusion of guns into the community. o A survey of police departments on violence prevention programs. NIJ is conducting a telephone survey of major police departments to collect information on programs and strategies their departments are implementing on youth and firearms. Status reports and findings are being requested. Delivery date is unknown. National School Boards Association 1680 Duke Street Alexandria, VA 22314 tel: 703/838-6722 fax: 703/683-7590 Tom Shannon, Executive Director The National School Boards Association (NSBA) recently conducted a survey on gun violence in schools and produced a booklet entitled Violence in the Schools: How America's School Boards are Safeguarding Your Children. The book catalogs programs by various topics related to school violence such as alternative school programs, gun- free school zones, suspension, and safe havens. National School Safety Center 4165 Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Suite 290 Westlake, CA 91362 tel: 805/373-9977 fax: 805/373-9277 Ron Stevens, Executive Director Sponsored by the U.S Departments of Education and Justice, the National School Safety Center focuses on school crime prevention throughout the country. Its programs emphasize ridding schools of crime, violence, and drugs, and improving student discipline, attendance, achievement, and school climate. The Center also provides technical assistance and training programs and publishes a news journal. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention U.S. Department of Justice 633 Indiana Avenue NW. Washington, DC 20531 tel: 202/307-5911 fax: 202/514-6382 Shay Bilchik, Administrator OJJDP is responsible for all issues pertaining to youth, justice, and delinquency prevention at the national level. Initiatives undertaken by OJJDP share a common purpose -- to have a positive and practical impact on the serious problems affecting youth today. This goal underlies OJJDP's efforts to prevent delinquency; improve the effectiveness of juvenile and family courts, detention, corrections, and aftercare; provide alternatives to youth at risk of delinquency; reduce the number of school dropouts; prevent child abduction, abuse, and exploitation; and provide appropriate sanctions for serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders. OJJDP's youth gun violence initiatives include: o A survey of juvenile handgun legislation and development of a model law. As mandated by the Youth Handgun Safety Act, OJJDP is funding a project to gather and analyze selected provisions of States' firearms codes. The project will develop a body of general information about key provisions of States' firearms codes (including local ordinances and relevant court decisions) that can be used by Congress in reviewing existing and proposed legislation to reduce juvenile handgun violence, by Federal agencies in implementing congressionally mandated firearms provisions, and by the States in formulating firearms laws and policies to address their unique objectives and circumstances. o A school violence reduction project. In September 1994, OJJDP began working with the International Association of Chiefs of Police to identify and document school violence reduction programs operating throughout the United States. The project will focus research on school-based, law enforcement-based, and community-based programs. Programs that emphasize reducing the number of weapons on school property will be of particular interest. An interim report is due in late November 1994, and the full report is due December 23, 1994. o A study of gun acquisition and possession. OJJDP and NIJ jointly funded a recent study of juvenile possession of firearms drawn from voluntary questionnaires completed by male students in inner- city high schools and male juvenile offenders incarcerated in juvenile correctional facilities. Issues studied were the number and types of firearms owned, and where, how, and why they were obtained. Findings indicated that the challenge of reducing youth gun violence is not simply getting guns out of the hands of juveniles, but reducing motivations for youth to arm themselves. To accomplish this goal, youth must be convinced that they can survive in their neighborhoods without being armed. An NIJ Research in Brief summarizing these findings was published in December 1993. o An interagency demonstration on youth, firearms, and violence. This project, awarded to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, is being conducted in collaboration with NIJ, CDC, and OJJDP. The study will employ a problem-solving approach to reducing youth gun violence in metropolitan Atlanta by working with the community and State and local governments to analyze the magnitude, extent, and characteristics of youth violence in the area. This information will then be used to implement a broad- based strategy to combat youth firearms violence. The intervention will employ three complementary tactics to break the link between youth and guns: (1) demand reduction, through a comprehensive community education program, (2) supply reduction, by promoting safe storage of firearms and interdicting the illegal gun market, and (3) recidivism reduction, by aggressively rehabilitating juvenile gun offenders. After implementation, repeat measures will be obtained to evaluate and refine the program. o Studies of juvenile violence. The 1992 Amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act require that four violence studies be conducted on improving the juvenile justice system and determining community violence patterns, with a particular focus on homicides and firearms. The mandated objectives of the studies are to (1) identify characteristics and patterns of behavior of juveniles who are at risk of becoming violent or victims of homicide, (2) identify indigenous factors in communities that contribute to violence, (3) determine the accessibility and use of firearms, (4) determine the conditions that cause juvenile violence to increase, (5) identify existing and new diversion, prevention, and control programs to ameliorate such conditions, (6) improve current systems to prevent and control juvenile violence, and (7) develop a viable plan to help State and local governments reduce homicides committed by or against juveniles. o Innovative firearms programs. This program will help State or local jurisdictions develop and implement projects to prevent the possession and use of firearms by juveniles and to control illicit firearm trafficking. Law enforcement, prosecutorial agencies, schools, community groups, and juvenile justice system representatives will be likely participants. The grantees, in cooperation with BJA, OJJDP, and ATF, will also work with U.S. Attorneys to develop and implement State and local projects related to the new Youth Handgun Safety Act. This law prohibits possession of a handgun or ammunition by juveniles or private transfer of a handgun or ammunition to juveniles. Pacific Center for Violence Prevention San Francisco General Hospital Building 1 San Francisco, CA 94110 tel: 415/821-8209, ext. 3 fax: 415/282-2563 Andrew McGuire, Executive Director The Pacific Center for Violence Prevention is the policy branch of the California Wellness Foundation's $30 million, 5-year Violence Prevention Initiative. The Pacific Center links leading organizations with a history of advocating for social change by blending science, community action, and politics into sound public health policy. The Center's goals include shifting society's definition of youth violence from a law enforcement model to a public health model, advocating for public policies that reduce the consumption of alcohol and other drugs contributing to youth violence, and advocating for public policies that reduce firearm injury and death among youth. To this end, the Center hopes that a proposition to eliminate preemption in California will be on the ballot by November 1996. If it passes, city and local governments will have an opportunity to pass laws controlling handgun sales and ownership. Violence Policy Center 1300 N Street NW. Washington, DC 20005 tel: 202/822-8200, ext. 3 fax: 202/783-7054 Josh Sugarmann, Executive Director The Violence Policy Center (VPC) is a national nonprofit educational foundation that conducts research on firearms violence in America. VPC works to develop violence-reduction policies and proposals. Past studies released by the Center include Deadly Odds: An Analysis of Handgun Justifiable Homicides Committed by Women in 1992, More Gun Dealers Than Gas Stations: A Study of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers in America, Firearms Industry Resource Guide, and Cease Fire: A Comprehensive Strategy to Reduce Firearms Violence. *Youth Alive Summit Medical Center South Pavilion, Fourth Floor 350 Hawthorne Avenue Oakland, CA 94609 tel: 510/444-6191 fax: 510/444-6195 Deane Calhoun, Director Youth Alive, a statewide nonprofit agency based in Oakland, California, provides expert testimony, presentations, and interagency communication to policymakers and the media about the incidence, cost, and impact of youth gun violence. Teens on Target (TNT) is a grassroots organization in Oakland, California, established by Youth Alive in 1988 after two junior high school students were shot in school. TNT was founded on the assumption that young people can address the problem of gun violence better than adults. Each year an Oakland teacher and a San Francisco Trauma Foundation staff member educate a group of high school students on gun violence. These students develop their leadership and public speaking skills, and then become violence prevention policy advocates, peer educators, and mentors for middle and elementary school students. Youth Alive also runs a program called Caught in the Crossfire that sends young counselors into Highland Hospital to persuade teenage gunshot victims to avoid further violence by not retaliating. Counselors emphasize that taking revenge will destroy another life and put friends at risk of arrest and incarceration. ------------------------------ IV. Bibliography of Research, Evaluation, and Publications on Youth and Guns The National Criminal Justice Reference Service's (NCJRS') Research and Information Center offers many Federal publications listed in Reducing Youth Gun Violence. NCJ (National Criminal Justice) numbers indicate that the document is maintained in the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse library. The NCJRS Research and Information Center makes many of the publications listed in this section available on microfiche, through paper reproduction, or through interlibrary loan. Advocacy Institute. (1994). Toward a Gun-Safe Society: Movement Building Strategies, Washington, DC. NCJ 158057 This report was developed as the result of two meetings attended by health professionals, children's advocates, and others. Its major points include: (1) a gun-safety movement should be developed; (2) the issues of a gun-safety movement should be reframed from crime control to the public health goal of violence prevention; and (3) concerned gun owners should be separated from individuals who profit from gun traffic. The report also discusses developing and disseminating science-based policy and policy-related research; developing a media advocacy campaign; building new alliances; developing a movement infrastructure; and developing a legislative strategy to define and mobilize the gun-safety movement. Allen-Hagen, B., M. Sickmund, and H.N. Snyder. (1994). Juveniles and Violence: Juvenile Offending and Victimization. Fact Sheet #19. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. NCJ FS009419 This fact sheet documents the increasing use of firearms in adolescent suicides. In 1991, 1,899 youth ages 15 to 19 committed suicide, a rate of 11 per 100,000 youth in this age group. Between 1979 and 1991, the rate of suicide among youth that age increased 31 percent, and, in 1989, firearms were used in 6 out of 10 suicides they committed. American Academy of Pediatrics. (1989). Report of a Forum on Firearms and Children. Sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, August 30 to September 1, 1989. Elk Grove Village, IL. NCJ 159314 This forum adopted a long-term goal of "getting guns out of the environments of children." Due to the way guns are used in the United States, accomplishing this objective would require banning handguns, assault rifles, and deadly airguns. A short-term goal was also adopted to develop safer guns. A suggestion was made to develop coalitions of groups including public health, victim's families, gun control groups, police, and others. American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Adolescence. (1992). Firearms and Adolescents. Pediatrics 89 (4): 784-787. NCJ 159315 This article identifies major issues concerning adolescent firearm use. The authors encourage a multifaceted approach to adolescent firearm use that includes more restrictive legislative and regulatory measures, a health care focus on creating gun-safe homes, identification and referral to appropriate services of children at risk, the development of community-based coalitions to address the broader needs of public education, a curriculum in schools that includes violence prevention lessons for children, and an increase in research on the precursors and correlates of firearm injuries and deaths among children and adolescents. Firearm morbidity and mortality, which stem largely from homicide and suicide, are a major adolescent health problem as well as a social problem. The scope of the problem involves all of American society. Pediatricians and other adolescent health care providers can make a critical contribution to specific intervention and prevention strategies. Firearms play a major role in childhood morbidity and mortality in the United States, particularly among adolescents. Reducing injuries and deaths from firearms is a critical priority for the health of adolescents. Eighty percent of firearm deaths occur in children ages 10 to 19. Firearms are involved in 70 percent of teen homicides and 63 percent of teen suicides, and are the second leading cause of death among all teenagers ages 15 to 19. Risk factors for firearm death seem related to age as rates of firearm violence peak in late adolescence (15 to 24 years old) and decrease in young adulthood (25 to 34 years old). Special characteristics of adolescent development must be considered in designing effective countermeasures to prevent injury and death. American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention. (1992). Firearm Injuries Affecting the Pediatric Population. Pediatrics 89(4): 788-790. NCJ 159316 This article proposes prevention strategies in the areas of firearm design, regulation, product liability actions, public and parent education, and legislative measures. American Psychological Association, Commission on Violence and Youth. (1993). Violence and Youth: Psychology's Response. Washington, DC. NCJ 147390 The commission recommended many specific steps to reduce and prevent youth violence that could be taken by American Psychological Association (APA) members and concerned parents, health care providers, educators, State and local agencies, the armed services, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. The commission's research and public policy recommendations were to: o Offer psychological health services to young perpetrators and victims and witnesses of violence. o Use education programs to reduce prejudice and hostility that lead to hate crimes and violence against social groups. o Involve community members in designing programs and scientific approaches to prevent violence. o Limit access to firearms by children and youth and teach them how to prevent firearm violence. o Reduce involvement with alcohol and drugs. Beginning in 1985, and particularly in 1988, there was a steady growth in the use of guns by juveniles. There was no corresponding upward trend, however, in nongun homicides committed by this age group. The Commission also concluded that: o The availability of guns makes youth violence more lethal. o Little research has been done to determine why young people carry guns. Handguns are more likely to be owned by socially deviant youth than by their more socially adjusted peers, even in those sections of the country in which firearms for recreation and hunting are fairly common. o When youth who are already predisposed to violence have easy access to guns, they may be more likely to become violent. o Although youth can easily obtain firearms, and see them used frequently in films and on television as a method of solving problems, few violence prevention programs for youth focus specifically on preventing violence with guns. o Firearms are more prevalent around illicit drugs. The general public is becoming more concerned about young people committing homicide with guns because they perceive that young people are less likely to exercise the necessary restraint in handling dangerous weapons, particularly when they are rapid-fire assault weapons. Anderson, Elijah. (1994). The Code of The Streets: How the Inner-City Environment Fosters A Need for Self-Respect and Self-Image Based on Violence. The Atlantic Monthly, May. NCJ 159317 Becker, T.M., L. Olson, and J. Vick. (1993). Children and Firearms: A Gunshot Injury Prevention Program In New Mexico. American Journal of Public Health 83 (2): 282-283. NCJ 159318 Health professionals should become involved in gun- safety counseling, education programs, and legislative efforts to reduce the number of loaded firearms in the home. Cooperative efforts should also be organized at the State or regional level. Blackman, Paul H. (1994). Children and Guns: The NRA's Perception of the Problem and Its Policy Implications. Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology, Miami, Florida, November 9-12, 1994. NCJ 159319 This paper summarizes the National Rifle Association's (NRA's) perception of issues concerning children and guns. NRA favors, particularly at the State level, regulations governing access and misuse of firearms by minors, as long as these regulations do not impinge on adult rights. This paper argues that there is no relationship between ordinary gun ownership and recent increases in gun-related violence involving children and teenagers. It further states that gun ownership by adults and the introduction of their children to gun culture appears to reduce problems associated with teenage violence and describes programs that introduce youth to legal gun use, such as shooting sports. Blumstein, A. (1994). Youth Violence, Guns, and the Illicit-Drug Industry. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University. NCJ 157411 This age-specific analysis shows the increasing incidence of firearm homicides among young persons. The author develops a "diffusion" hypothesis to explain the increase. He reasons that as juveniles became involved in the drug trade, they acquire firearms because of the dangerousness of the enterprise. In turn, other youngsters obtain firearms for protection. The result is that many disputes that typically end in fist fights now become shootings due to the presence of guns. This increased violence may also be exacerbated by high levels of poverty, high rates of single-parent households, educational failures, and a widespread sense of economic hopelessness. One solution to this problem would be to confiscate guns juveniles carry on the street. Greater investment in drug treatment, more effective prevention, or some other means of providing drugs to certified addicts would diminish the demand and volume of drugs. Also to be considered is the large number of people who see no hope for themselves in legitimate activities of society. Boston Commission Survey of Weapons-Carrying: The Boston Commission on Safe Public Schools. (1983). Making Our Schools Safe for Learning. NCJ 093633 Brent, D.A., J.A. Perper, and C. Allman. (1987). Alcohol, Firearms, and Suicide Among Youth: Temporal Trends in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. 1960-1983. Journal of the American Medical Association 275: 3369-3372. NCJ 159320 This study demonstrates that the presence of firearms in the home is associated with increased risk of adolescent suicides; it concludes that physicians should recommend that firearms be removed from the homes of at-risk adolescents. Brewer, D., J.D. Hawkins, R.F. Catalano, and H.J. Neckerman. (1994). Review of Prevention Programs: Community Laws and Policies Related to Weapons. Prevention of Serious, Violent and Chronic Juvenile Offending: A Review of Evaluations of Selected Strategies in Childhood, Adolescence and the Community. Seattle, WA: Developmental Research and Programs, Inc. NCJ 159321 Various laws, regulations, and policies have been enacted by communities to reduce firearm violence, including: restrictions on the sale, purchase, and transfer of guns; regulations on the place and manner of carrying firearms; mandatory sentencing laws for felonies involving firearms; mandatory firearm training for gun owners; and the use of metal detectors in schools. The risk factors of firearm availability and norms tolerant of crime as well as the protective factors of healthy beliefs and clear standards for behavior are addressed. The aim of restrictions on the sale, purchase, and transfer of guns is to reduce the number of guns that could be used by potential offenders. Several cities have enacted restrictive regulations on the sale, purchase, and transfer of handguns within city limits. Washington, D.C., and Morton Grove, Illinois, are two examples. An evaluation of the District of Columbia law suggested that the law reduced firearm homicides over an 11-year period. A comparison of firearms regulation in Seattle and Vancouver also suggested that laws restricting the sale and purchase of handguns prevented violent gun-related crime. Illinois did not show any reliable evidence of significant preventive effects on reported burglaries or gun-related crime, perhaps due to weak enforcement. Regulations on the place and manner of carrying firearms have been enacted by State and local governments to reduce the number of persons who carry and use firearms in public. Three laws regulating the place and manner of carrying firearms were evaluated. Overall, evidence of these laws' effectiveness is slight and mixed. The evaluations probably do not reflect the preventive potential of laws regulating place and manner of carrying firearms because important enforcement may have been lacking for two of the three laws. Mandatory sentencing laws for felonies involving firearms have been enacted at both the Federal and State levels. These laws impose stronger sentences for offenders who use or carry a firearm during the commission of a felony. Data suggest that mandatory sentencing laws for crimes involving firearms prevent firearm homicides. Two firearm training programs and one mandatory gun ownership law were evaluated. The training programs were designed to deter crime by increasing the number of citizens who know how to use guns properly. The second law required all homes to own a gun. None of the evaluations of firearm training programs or the mandatory gun ownership law demonstrated any significant intervention effects on crime or violence. Metal detector programs usually necessitate security personnel or school staff searching some or all students for weapons. These programs may have a site-specific impact on weapon availability, which may decrease the lethality of interpersonal conflicts at such sites. Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1992). A National Report: Drugs, Crime, and the Justice System. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. NCJ 133652 Assailants in drug-related homicides in New York City in 1984 were likely to have known their victims and to have used handguns to kill them. Butterfield, G.E., and J.L. Arnette (Editors). (1993). Weapons in Schools. NSSC Resource Paper. Sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. Malibu, CA: National School Safety Center. NCJ 121807 This paper describes the nature and extent of the problems associated with weapons in schools and discusses strategies for dealing with these problems. Effective strategies to deter and prevent weapons in school include training educators in weapon identification and detection, providing adequate supervision both in and outside of the classroom, teaching prosocial skills within the curriculum to promote a positive campus climate, and fostering interpersonal success in conflict resolution. Peer assistance programs have contributed to the reduction of assaults and cases of campus intimidation. Removing serious offenders from regular schools and providing them with a more secure educational placement is also effective. Keeping weapons off campus makes a safer and more productive environment for all children. Other strategies for keeping weapons out of schools were discussed. One of the most effective intervention tactics was to encourage students to report weapon-carrying classmates to teachers or administrators. Other intervention strategies included the use of metal detectors and unannounced sweeps and searches of lockers. Expulsion, alternative placements, and enhanced security are other alternatives. The paper also discussed strategies to prevent weapons from entering schools in the first place. The author discussed techniques to foster positive school climates. School districts should coordinate a local school security committee or task force composed of school officials, law enforcers, other youth-service providers, and parents and students, to plan and regularly update school safety and security measures. School site administrators must acquire "crime resistance savvy" and take greater responsibility in working with the school board and district to implement site security programs. Other strategies are also discussed. School officials are concerned with all weapons. Knives, guns, and explosive devices present the greatest threat to school safety. Of these three, firearms pose the greatest risk to students and school staff. Callahan, C.M., and F.P. Rivera. (1992). Urban High School Youth and Handguns: A School-Based Survey. Journal of the American Medical Association 267 (22): 3038-3042.NCJ 143422 This study documents self-reported handgun access and ownership among high school students in Seattle, Washington. The authors' research objective was to determine the prevalence of handgun ownership among urban high school youth and to investigate associations with socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and deviance. Thirty-four percent of the students reported easy access to handguns (47 percent of males, 22 percent of females) and 6.4 percent reported owning a handgun (11.4 percent of males, 1.55 percent of females). Centers for Disease Control. (1991). Weapon Carrying Among High School Students: United States, 1990. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 40 (40): 681-684.NCJ 144164 This study examined the incidence and prevalence of self-reported weapon carrying among high school students (grades 9 to 12) in the United States during 1990. Nearly 20 percent of surveyed students had carried a weapon at least once during the previous 30-day period (31.5 percent of males and 8.1 percent of females). To achieve the greatest reduction in the number of weapon-carrying youth, CDC suggests that efforts be directed at frequent weapon carriers and their peers and families. The report argues that programs should be implemented to address the actual or perceived risk of victimization. The 1990 Youth Risk Behavior Survey baseline data indicate that 71 weapon-carrying episodes occurred per 100 students during the 30 days preceding the survey. To achieve the year 2000 objective, the incidence rate must be reduced to 57 episodes per month. Centers for Disease Control (1993). Violence- Related Attitudes and Behaviors of High School Students -- New York City, 1992. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 42 (40). NCJ 147422 During the 1991-92 school year, 36.1 percent of all New York City public school students in grades 9 to 12 who were surveyed reported being threatened with physical harm. Twenty-one percent of students reported carrying a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club 1 or more days during the 30 days preceding the survey, with 7 percent reporting a handgun. Cheatwood, D., and K. Block. (1990). Black Homicides in Baltimore, 1974-1986: Age, Gender and Weapon Use Change. Criminal Justice Review 15: 192-207. NCJ 159322 Collison, B.B., S. Bowden, M. Patterson, J. Snyder, et al. (1987). After the Shooting Stops. Special Issue: Counseling and Violence. Journal of Counseling and Development 65 (7): 389-390. NCJ 110003 This article examines the impact of a fatal shooting spree on parents, students, and teachers in a small community school. Christoffel, K.K. (1991). Toward Reducing Pediatric Injuries From Firearms: Charting Legislative and Regulatory Course. Pediatrics 88 (2): 294-305. NCJ 145350 Pediatricians in the United States are focusing increasing attention on the problem of injuries from firearms in children and adolescents. They are motivated by their alarm at the degree to which the epidemic of injuries from firearms is intruding into the child and adolescent populations and by a sense that now is the time to undertake initiatives to reduce the frequency of injuries and deaths caused by firearms. Pediatricians have important roles in this process, including that of educators of parents, expert consultants in engineering efforts, and advocates for children in the political process. Some of the approaches to reduce pediatric injuries from firearms include enforcing existing laws, developing regulation under existing laws, holding owners liable for child gun use and resulting injuries, requiring gun safety education in schools, increasing sales taxes on firearms and ammunition, requiring firearm registration and licensure, performing background checks, modifying ammunition, modifying engineering design of guns, banning assault weapons ban, banning handguns where there are children, banning handguns in general, regulating long gun ownership and use, regulating toy gun construction, banning plastic handguns and other toy-like guns, developing legislation to reduce the deadliness of nonpowder firearms, and passing omnibus child firearm safety legislation. Cook, Philip (1990). The Effect of Gun Availability on Violent Crime Patterns. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. (May 1981) NCJ 079100; and in Federal Regulation of Firearms. (May 1982). Report prepared by Congressional Research Service for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. U.S. Government Printing Office, NCJ 089777; and in Weiner, N.A., M.A. Zahn, and R.J. Sagi, eds. (1990). Violence: Patterns, Causes, Public Policy. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Dougherty, D., J. Eden, K.B. Kemp, K. Metcalf, K. Rowe, K.G. Strobel, and A. Solarz. (1992). Adolescents' Health: A Journal of School Health 62 (5): 167-1674. NCJ 145348 This article reports findings and recommendations from an assessment by the U.S. Congress' Office of Technology Assessment of adolescents' access to firearms. Duker, L. (1994). With assistance from E. Bhatiia, D. Doherty, L. Gill, and C. Taylor. Gun Dealers, USA (14). NCJ 149391 This guide gives the reader information on gun dealers licensed in their State, county, and city. Contents include: (1) Where do adolescents who carry and use guns get them? (2) How many licensed gun dealers are in my city, county, or State? (3) Can I get the names, addresses, and phone numbers of licensed gun dealers in my city, county, or State? (4) How many gun stores are in my city, county, or State? (5) How many and what types of guns do licensed gun dealers in my city, county, or State sell? (6) Does my State have any laws or regulations regarding gun dealers? (7) What are preemption laws? If my State has one, how will it affect public policy approaches to restricting children's and adolescents' access to firearms in my area? (8) Is my State government currently considering any legislative or regulatory restrictions on gun dealers? and (9) Is my local government currently considering any regulations regarding gun dealers? This report also includes State-by-State data on the geographical distribution, concentration, and regulation of gun dealers. Edelman, Marian Wright. (1994). Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice, House Judiciary Committee. Hearing on the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Reform Act. (H.R. 3315). NCJ 159323 The author, Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund, requests that the House Judiciary Committee include prevention in its final crime bill, including funding for programs that offer youth safe and positive alternatives to the streets and develop restrictions on the private accessibility of nonsporting firearms. She discusses the incidence rate of gun murders and notes that an American child is killed with a gun every 2 hours, the equivalent of a classroom of children every 2 days. She notes that there are five nonfatal gunshot injuries for every fatal injury. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of children are scarred psychologically and emotionally by the pervasive violence around them. Elliott, Delbert S. (1994). Youth Violence: An Overview. Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, University of Colorado. NCJ 152908 The problem with youth violence in the 1990's is a lethality caused by juveniles' increased use of handguns. Not much is known about why today's youth are carrying guns. It could be to show off, to ensure respect and acquiescence from others, or for self- defense. It also may be a response to the perception that public authorities cannot protect youth or maintain order in high-crime neighborhoods. Dropouts, drug dealers, and those individuals with a prior record of violent behavior are more likely to own a gun than are other adolescents. The vast majority of guns used in crimes are obtained illegally by theft or in some other way. Little good research has been conducted on the effectiveness of gun control policies. There is some evidence, however, that restrictive handgun laws and mandatory sentences for firearm offenses work. Fagan, Jeffrey. (forthcoming). What Do We Know About Gun Use Among Adolescents? Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, University of Colorado. Based on gang literature, homicide data, and his own research on youth violence, the author uses a nuclear deterrent strategy to describe the "ecology of danger" that pervades the lives of many young people who carry guns. The continuous sense of danger affects how young people think about events as well as their decision making and behavior. Cultural dynamics, influenced by the gun trade, have popularized guns and made backing down from arguments and losing face difficult for kids. As a solution to these two dynamics, interventions should focus on behavioral change and building an ecology of safety. Fingerhut, L.A., D.D. Ingram, and J.J. Feldman. (1992a). Homicide Among Black Teenage Males in Metropolitan Counties: Comparison of Death Rates in Two Periods, 1983 Through 1985 and 1987 Through 1989. Journal of the American Medical Association 267 (22): 3054- 3058. NCJ 143424. Also in Fingerhut, L.A., D.D. Ingram, and J.J. Feldman. Forum on Youth Violence in Minority Communities: Setting the Agenda for Prevention. (1991). Report of the working group on weapons and minority youth violence. Public Health Reports 106 (3): 254-258. The authors suggest priority areas for intervention at the community level, including developing community consensus on the use of and possession of weapons; modifying the environment to reduce opportunities for weapon-associated violence; requiring a firearm safety course; banning the manufacture, sale, and importation of certain types of weapons; educating the community about the product liability litigation against gun manufacturers; and improving enforcement of laws against illegal gun trafficking. They also recommend priority areas for evaluation research. Fingerhut, L.A., D.D. Ingram, and J.J. Feldman. (1992b). Firearm and Nonfirearm Homicide Among Persons 15 through 19 Years of Age. Journal of the American Medical Association, 267 (22), 3048-3053. NCJ 143423 The 1989 firearm homicide rate in metropolitan counties was nearly five times the rate in nonmetropolitan counties. Firearm homicide rates were highest in core metropolitan counties (27.7 per 100,000 people) compared to nonmetropolitan counties (2.9 per 100,000 people). Firearm homicide rates were highest for black males and lowest for white females in all five urbanization strata for 1979 through 1989. Fingerhut, L.A., J.C. Kleinman, E. Godfrey, and H. Rosenberg. (1991). Firearm Mortality Among Children, Youth, and Young Adults 1-34 Years of Age, Trends and Current Status: United States 1979- 88. Monthly Vital Statistics Report 39. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. NCJ 144116 Examines racial and gender differences in homicide and suicide associated with firearms among males ages 15 to 34. Heide, K.M. (1993). Weapons Used by Juveniles and Adults to Kill Parents. Behavioral Science and the Law 11 (4): 397-406. NCJ 147141 Henkoff, R. (1992). Kids Are Killing, Dying, Bleeding. Fortune 126 (3): 62-69. NCJ 159324 This article reports a nonexperimental exploration of youth homicide, abuse, and suicide. The author suggests several strategies to reducing violence, including programs to help parents with parenting skills, programs that teach children how to manage anger nonviolently, and policies that increase gun control. Howell, J.C. (1994). Recent Gang Research: Program and Policy Implications. Crime and Delinquency 40 (4). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. NCJ 151535 The violent youth gang problem is growing. Gang members are committing more violent offenses, resulting in more serious injuries. Gang members are using more lethal weapons. It is unclear if the growth in urban violence is due to gangs, law- violating youth groups, or nongang youths. Further research is needed to determine what part the truly violent gangs have played in increased urban violence. Huizinga, David et al. (1994). Urban Delinquency and Substance Abuse. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. NCJ 143454 There is a strong relationship between owning illegal guns and delinquency and drug use. Seventy- four percent of illegal gun owners commit street crimes, 24 percent commit gun crimes, and 41 percent use drugs. Male adolescents who own legal guns have much lower rates of delinquency and drug use and are even slightly less delinquent than nonowners of guns. For legal gun owners, socialization appears to take place in the family. For illegal gun owners, it seems to take place on the street. Interdepartmental Working Group. (1994). Violence: Report to the President and Domestic Policy Council. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NCJ 159325 The United States has never attempted to implement a comprehensive approach to preventing firearm injuries. Federal laws regulating firearms are piecemeal, underenforced, and do not treat firearms as the dangerous consumer products they are. Rational public policy, well-executed science, and effective enforcement can help end this epidemic. Jones, M.A., and B. Krisberg. (1994). Images and Reality: Juvenile Crime, Youth Violence and Public Policy. San Francisco, CA: National Council on Crime and Delinquency. NCJ 149440 Over the last decade, the most important factor in the increase in youth violence in general and juvenile homicide specifically is the availability of firearms. Teenage boys in all racial and ethnic groups are more likely to die from gunshot wounds than from all natural causes combined. Both the availability and increasing lethality of firearms contributes to this violence. Kellermann, Arthur. (1993). Gun Ownership as a Risk Factor for Homicide in the Home. New England Journal of Medicine 329 (15). NCJ 146835 This study found that in King County, Washington, guns kept at home were involved in the death of a household member 185 times more often than they were involved in the death of a stranger. These deaths included suicides, homicides, and unintentional fatal shootings. Kennedy, David M. (1994). Can We Keep Guns Away From Kids? Working Paper 94-05-12, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University: Cambridge, MA. NCJ 152025 Market disruption approaches successfully utilized in fighting street drug markets may be useful in closing down illegal gun markets, particularly youth gun markets. These approaches are designed to interfere with street trafficking to the point that the drug trade is no longer able to survive. Police used market disruption techniques to cripple a street crack operation in Tampa, Florida. The disruption made it hard for buyers to find sellers as the police used heavy enforcement to keep the dealers moving around. The policy used community allies to report new dealing sites, made buyers feel vulnerable by publicizing reverse stings in which police posed as dealers and arrested buyers, and interfered with business by loitering around dealing sites. A trial using similar techniques applied to gun violence is currently underway in Boston. Some youth carry guns for self-protection. These youth might be more amenable to putting away their guns if they felt safer. Reducing the availability of firearms might make violent incidents less deadly. Gun strategies and fear-reduction strategies would reinforce each other. A comprehensive strategy is needed to solve the gun, youth, and fear problem, including changes in juveniles' living environments. Kleck, G. (1991). Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America. New York, NY: Aldine de Gruyter. NCJ 159326 Koop, C.E., and G.D. Lundberg. (1992). Violence in America: A Public Health Emergency. Journal of the American Medical Association 267: 3075-3076. NCJ 159327 This article discusses the need for a public health/medical approach to the problem of violence. The authors compare the responsibilities associated with owning and using a firearm to those associated with owning and using a motor vehicle, and suggest recommendations for action. Lacerva, V. (1990). Let Peace Begin With Us: The Problem of Violence in New Mexico. Santa Fe, NM: New Mexico Department of Health. NCJ 159328 Included in this report on violence in New Mexico are issues such as homicide, assault, suicide, drugs, violence, and firearms. Lawyers Committee on Violence. (1994). Gun Violence in New York City: Problems and Solutions. New York, NY: Lawyer's Committee on Violence, Inc. NCJ 159329 To reduce the number of guns already in circulation, several alternatives are proposed. The authors argue that penalties for carrying firearms should include fines and jail time without probation. They also suggest that landlords be required to prohibit firearms on the premises of their buildings for any period of time, no matter how brief. The authors advocate increased enforcement of existing laws in all public places and suggest that metal detectors be installed in more areas. Despite their popularity, the authors denounce programs that offer incentives to people who trade guns for goods (e.g. money, sports tickets) because they create the impression that illegal gun ownership is acceptable. The authors propose that legal burdens associated with gun violence fall not only on gun users, but also on gun owners, sellers and suppliers, manufacturers, and the shooters' parents if they are minors. The authors discuss detailed accounts of court cases to support the legality of their proposals. Lee, R.K., and J.J. Sacks. (1990). Latchkey Children and Guns at Home. Journal of the American Medical Association 264: 2210. NCJ 159330 Lizotte, A.J., J.M. Tesoriero, T.P. Thornberry, and M.D. Krohn. (1994). Patterns of Adolescent Firearms Ownership and Use. Justice Quarterly (11) 1. NCJ 150231 The authors report on the Rochester Youth Development Study, in which 10 percent of the 9th- and 10th-grade boys in Rochester public schools reported owning a firearm and 7.5 percent reported carrying them regularly. Factors leading to sport gun ownership are different from those leading to protective gun ownership. Socialization into sport gun use originates from the family. Socialization into protective gun use originates from peer influences outside the home. Youth who use guns for protection have significantly higher levels of delinquent behavior than youth who own guns for sport. Lofton, C., D. McDowall, B. Wierseman, T.J. Cottey. (1991). Effects of Restrictive Licensing of Handguns on Homicide and Suicide in the District of Columbia. New England Journal of Medicine 325 (23): 1615-1620. NCJ 133649 This evaluation of District of Columbia law banning the purchase, sale, transfer, or possession of handguns by civilians suggests that, on average, 47 deaths have been prevented each year since the law's implementation. Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. (1993). Prepared for the Harvard School of Public Health Under a Grant from the Joyce Foundation: A Survey of Experiences, Perceptions and Apprehensions About Guns Among Young People in America. New York, NY: Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., and LH Research, Inc. NCJ 144016 This study examines the results of two national polls of adults' and children's attitudes toward and experiences with guns. The polls underscored the deep fears and concerns that millions of Americans have about gun violence and their desire to do something about the epidemic. The first poll revealed that 78 percent of adults believe that concerns over physical safety change the lives of today's children, and that 77 percent believe that the prevalence of guns endangers the lives of young people. The second poll showed that 59 percent of the 2,508 children surveyed in grades 6 to 12 said that they "could get a handgun if they wanted," that 35 percent fear their lives will be cut short by gun violence, and that 15 percent had carried a handgun in the previous month. May, John P. (1995). Prior Nonfatal Firearm Injuries In Detainees of a Large Urban Jail. Presentation to Seventh National Conference on Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, Nashville, Tennessee. For subsequent publication in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 6 (3). NCJ 159331 Detainees of large urban jails have many health risks including injuries related to violence and firearms. A survey of 582 randomly selected detainees entering the Cook County Department of Corrections in Chicago, Illinois, during the summer of 1994 found that 51 percent had previously entered hospitals for violence-related injuries and that 26 percent were survivors of gun shot wounds. Patterns of firearm injuries were different from patterns of violence affecting the general population. Factors common to those with prior firearm injuries included witnessing a shooting at an early age, tattoos, previous sexually transmitted diseases, easy access to a semiautomatic weapon, and prior incarceration. The author suggests the development of multidisciplinary strategies to reduce risks of violence. McCarney, W.G. (1988). Crack Cocaine, Guns and Youth: An Extremely Lethal Mixture. Lay Panel Magazine 20: 6-8. NCJ 113884 McDowall, D. (1991). Firearm Availability and Homicide Rates In Detroit, 1951-1986. Social Forces 69 (4): 1085-1101. NCJ 136556 This study examined the relationship between firearm availability and homicide rates in Detroit, Michigan. The question of whether firearm availability may increase the use of guns in crimes was also a focus. In this study, gun density influenced homicides. Estimates indicated that changes in firearm availability altered the risk of homicide, but increases in gun density could not completely account for Detroit's high murder rate. Regression analysis was carried out using the Detroit homicide rate. National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. (1994). Where We Stand: An Action Plan for Dealing with Violent Juvenile Crime. Reno, NV: Midby-Byron National Center for Judicial Education. NCJ 149454 The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges believes that the following actions should be implemented by State and local governments with financial, technical, and research assistance from the State and Federal levels: assuring that juvenile courts can hold violent juvenile offenders fully accountable for their crimes; providing adequate resources to the juvenile courts to conduct thorough assessments of juveniles; and developing individualized dispositions for juveniles. Other actions include renewing the commitment to rehabilitation of violent juvenile offenders consistent with public safety and providing legislation -- with rational guidelines for the protection of public safety and individual rights under which State and local juvenile judges can transfer violent juvenile offenders to adult criminal courts. Northrop, D., and K. Hamrick. (1990). Background paper prepared for the Forum on Youth Violence in Minority Communities: Setting the Agenda for Prevention. Atlanta, Georgia, December 10-12, 1990. Weapons and Minority Youth Violence. Newton, MA: Education Department Center. NCJ 159332 This paper reviewed existing and potential strategies for reducing the misuse of weapons by American youth. The authors cite three issues that need to be addressed before effective interventions can be implemented in this area. The first issue was the inadequacy of research information on which to base firearms policy and practice. The authors recommend priorities for research, which include studies of the magnitude, characteristics, and cost of the morbidity and disability caused by firearms and other weapons; investigations as to the number, type, and distribution of firearms and other weapons in the United States; epidemiological studies of risks of injuries associated with firearms possession; and evaluation of regulations and other interventions that have been attempted in the area of firearm injury prevention. Second, there is a need for more discussion of how local communities can help prevent firearm injuries in minority youth. Third, there are ethical and philosophical issues that need to be resolved with respect to certain school-based interventions, such as the use of metal detectors, locker searches, and canine searches of properties, that are seen by some to conflict with students' civil liberties. The authors conclude that interventions that target the weapons themselves are more likely to produce immediate effects than are socioeconomic factors. They believe, however, that long-term solutions must address such factors as poverty and economic disparity. Pacific Center for Violence Prevention. (1994). Preventing Youth Violence: Reducing Access to Firearms. Policy paper funded by The California Wellness Foundation. San Francisco, CA: Pacific Center for Violence Prevention. NCJ 158365 The increased rate of violent youth crime in the decade is parallel to a period of decreased allocation of resources for youth. Some experts see increased violence to be associated with this resource allocation for young people. The public health model states that decreasing handgun availability is the most effective means of decreasing firearm-related injury and death, and that all assault weapons should be permanently banned. Communities should address local firearm issues by considering restrictions on ammunition availability, shifting the cost of firearm injury to manufacturers, and placing firearms under a regulatory agency. There is a need to know more about nonfatal assaults, which are estimated to occur 100 times more often than homicides. More money is spent on newspaper advertisements about gun control than on research about firearms and violence. The growth in the manufacturing of firearms can be attributed to protectionist legislation, lax or nonexistent regulation, and minimal industry oversight. Low prices, new designs, and ready availability contribute to youth's possession of firearms. Two psychosocial factors contributing to violence are the youth's incompetence -- an inability to understand the nature of one's acts -- and desensitization to the quality of one's acts through watching media. Price, J.H., S.M. Desmond, and D. Smith. (1991). A Preliminary Investigation of Inner City Adolescents' Perceptions of Guns. Journal of School Health 61 (6): 255-259.NCJ 159333 The authors suggest that schools and health educators become more aware and involved in the prevention of gun violence. Roth, Jeffrey A. (1994). Firearms and Violence. National Institute of Justice Research in Brief. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. NCJ 145533 Most murders involve firearms, and young minority men are at especially high risk of being murdered with a gun. Innovations in laws, law enforcement, public education, and technology all show promise of reducing gun murders by selectively making firearms less available to persons likely to use them. It is also important to make guns less accessible in situations where violence is likely to occur, or make guns less lethal. Evaluations are needed to test the effectiveness of these innovations. Ruttenberg, H. (1994). The Limited Promise of Public Health Methodologies to Prevent Youth Violence. The Yale Law Journal 103: 1885. NCJ 159334 This article notes that although the public health approach successfully changed the smoking behavior of the middle class, it did not change the smoking behavior of the lower class. Thus, the public health approach also may not change violent behavior in the lower class. Although the public health approach may reduce the lethality of violence, there is a question as to whether this approach will reduce the incidence of violence. To prevent youth violence, we instead need a national will to improve the circumstances of children, youth, and young adults. This commitment involves making fundamental changes in society. Shapiro, J.P., and B.M. Burkey. (1993). Final Report on a Project Performed for the Gun Safety Institute by Child Guidance Center of Greater Cleveland. Development of the Gun-Proneness Questionnaire: A Measure of Attitudes Toward Guns and Violence Among Urban Youth. Cleveland, OH: The Gun Safety Institute. NCJ 159335 The authors developed and tested a gun proneness questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to be used to assess attitudes on gun possession so that a curriculum can be developed that effectively targets these attitudes. Shapiro, J.P., R.L. Dorman, B.M. Burkey, C.J. Welker. (Undated). Attitudes Toward Guns and Violence in Third- through Twelfth-grade Youth. Cleveland, OH: The Guidance Center.NCJ 159336 To decrease young people's attraction to guns and violence, interventions should have an empirical basis and address the psychosocial factors that determine violence-related attitudes in youth. Handguns and hunting rifles appear not to have the same meaning for young people. Rifles seem to be mostly associated with hunting, and this relationship is only weakly linked to disposition toward interhuman violence. Handguns, however, seem to be clearly associated with a willingness to hurt people. Prevention programs do not need to make a priority of discouraging youth's interest in rifles or hunting. Violence-prone attitudes seem to increase between fifth and sixth grades and then stabilize. Prevention programs should be aimed at such ages. Interventions need to directly address the psychosocial factors that determine whether youth are violence-prone or nonviolent. Interventions need to identify, address, and change the attitudes, motives, and beliefs that are conducive to violent behavior. Youth responding aggressively to shame, finding guns exciting, feeling comfortable with aggression, and believing that guns bring power and safety are most likely to engage in gun violence. Interventions that change these attitudes may reduce violent behavior and increase the safety of young people. Sheley, J.F., and J.D. Wright. (1993). Gun Acquisition and Possession in Selected Juvenile Samples. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. NCJ 145326 This study focused on serious juvenile offenders and students from schools in high-risk areas and thus is not generalizable to the general population. The main reason given for owning or carrying a gun was self-protection. Eighty-three percent of inmates and students surveyed possessed guns. Fifty-five percent of inmates carried guns all or most of the time in the years immediately preceding their incarceration; 12 percent of students did so and another 23 percent carried guns now and then. The firearms of choice were high- quality, powerful revolvers, closely followed by automatic and semiautomatic handguns and then shotguns. Most of the youth surveyed thought it would be easy to acquire a gun, most likely by borrowing it from someone they knew; inmates, however, indicated that they could get a gun "off the streets." Drug use was moderately related to gun activity. The fundamental policy problem involves convincing youths that they can survive in their neighborhoods without being armed. The authors recommend that change must not be directed toward the individual, but toward the family, community, and society. The authors emphasize structural factors -- particularly the social structure of inner cities -- that have cultivated a culture of violence. Sloan, J.H., A.L. Kellermann, et al. (1988). Handgun Regulations, Crime, Assaults, and Homicide: A Tale of Two Cities. New England Journal of Medicine 319: 1256. NCJ 127644 The cities of Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia, were studied over a 7-year period to understand the relationship between firearm regulations and community rates of homicide. These two cities are similar demographically and geographically close to each other. The study suggested that a modest restriction of citizens' access to firearms is associated with lower rates of homicide. Decreased availability of handguns did not result in a direct shift to homicide by other means. Smith, D. (1990). Caught in the Crossfire: A Report On Gun Violence in Our Nation's Schools. Washington, DC: Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. NCJ 137427 Smith, D., and B. Lautman. (1990). A Generation Under the Gun: A Statistical Analysis of Youth Firearm Murder in America. Washington, DC: Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. NCJ 159337 The authors' analysis of expository data provides the basis for recommendations for reducing the availability of guns, especially in the home. They also recommend cooperation among parents, educators, lawmakers, and law enforcement officials to educate the public about the dangers of firearms, reduce the availability of firearms, and punish offenders quickly and severely. Stephens, R.D. (1992). Congressional Testimony: Weapons in Schools. Westlake Village, CA: National School Safety Center. NCJ 159338 The author makes the case that administrators need to be more aware of the significant increase in weapons at our Nation's schools. Sugarmann, Josh, and Kirstan Rand. (1994). Cease Fire. Rolling Stone 677: 30-42.NCJ 127644 A regulatory approach to reducing gun violence is suggested, requiring individuals to reassess their understanding of the issue and reorient the way it has been presented to the general public. Recommendations include establishing a long-term public education media campaign to change the public's perception of gun violence, supporting new and ongoing research into firearms violence, causes and effects, and its economic costs, and recruiting individuals and organizations not traditionally involved in the debate. Treanor, W.W., and M. Bijlefeld. (1989). Kids & Guns: A Child Safety Scandal. Washington, DC: American Youth Work Center and Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence. NCJ 111607 This booklet examines issues surrounding the problem of firearm and child safety, including statistics about the nature and prevalence of the problem and discussion of prevention issues. The authors present a number of suggestions to deal with the issue of children and guns: (1) Family discussion of gun ownership, including reason for the presence of a gun in the house, removal of guns from homes with children, locking up unloaded guns and putting them out of the reach of children, and practicing emergency plans on what to do if an intruder enters the house; (2) Student involvement in preventing gun violence by organizing groups against firearms, having firearm awareness programs, and inviting speakers to classes; (3) School encouragement of such student activity, including development of curriculums for firearms education and violence prevention designed specifically for children and adolescents; (4) Development of violence intervention programs by juvenile judges, social workers, police officers, and others who work with at-risk youth; (5) Publicizing the Surgeon General's 1981 report calling for handgun regulation and safety campaigns, as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics' call for handgun control; (6) Strict regulation of BB guns by the Consumer Product Safety Commission; (7) Provision of authority by Congress to either the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to regulate safety aspects of firearms; (8) Study of the issue of children and guns by State health departments, including recommendations for public policy regarding education and safety; and (9) Integration of gun-safety education into programs run by national and local student organizations, developed independently of the National Rifle Association. The authors conclude with the hope that the next biannual report will discuss positive initiatives that have been taken in the fight to prevent childhood death and injury due to firearm violence. Teret, S.P., G.J. Winemute, and P.L. Beilienson. (1992). The Firearm Fatality Reporting System: A Proposal. Journal of the American Medical Association 267 (22): 3073-3074. NCJ 159339 Van Kammen, W., and R. Loeber. (1994). Delinquency, Drug Use, and the Onset of Adolescent Drug Dealing. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. NCJ 159340 The authors analyzed data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study (OJJDP's Causes and Correlates Study), a longitudinal survey of boys in grades 1, 4, and 7 who were randomly selected from Pittsburgh public schools. Followup interviews were conducted with 1,500 subjects, their teachers, and parents. This particular analysis involved data from 6 years of followup interviews on a sample of boys who were in the 7th grade at the beginning of the study. The researchers found that the frequency of carrying a concealed weapon increased in the year concurrent with the initiation of drug selling. Among drug sellers, the rates for gun use steadily increased while the rates for other weapons decreased. This relationship was even more significant among drug sellers who sold hard drugs (heroin, cocaine, and LSD). Almost 80 percent of those who sold hard drugs at age 19 were carrying a gun. Finally, of the young men age 19 who carried a weapon, 64 percent were also involved in selling drugs. The authors conclude that a reduction in the number of juveniles selling drugs is likely to reduce the carrying of concealed weapons, particularly guns. Webster, D.W., P.S. Gainer, and H.R. Champion. (1993). Weapon Carrying Among Inner-City Junior High School Students: Defensive Behavior vs. Aggressive Delinquency. American Journal of Public Health 83 (11): 1604-1608. NCJ 159341 This study estimated associations between beliefs and experiences hypothesized to be related to weapon carrying among youths. Among 7th-grade males, 48 percent had carried knives, and 23 percent had carried guns. Forty-five percent of 8th-grade males carried a knife, and 40 percent carried a gun. Key risk factors for knife carrying were being threatened with a knife, getting into fights, and disbelief that having a weapon increases the carrier's risk of injury. Gun carrying was associated with having been arrested, knowing more victims of violence, starting fights, and being willing to justify shooting someone. Zimring, F.E. (1985). Violence and Firearms Policy. In Curtis, L.A. (Editor). American Violence and Public Policy: An Update of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. NCJ 097468 This paper describes what is known about guns and gun violence, particularly since the Violence Commission's report of 1968. Policy implications are also discussed. Using the last 30 years as a guide, the author argued that the future will bring a national handgun strategy composed of three parts:(1) Federal restrictions on handgun transfers that amount to permissive licensing and registration; (2) wide variation in State and municipal handgun possession and transfer regulation; and (3) increasing Federal law enforcement assistance to States and cities attempting to enforce more restrictive laws than the Federal minimum. The most important element of future handgun policy is the social notion of appropriate crime countermeasures. Gun proponents will continue to have strength if the handgun continues to be viewed as a necessary household defense. The author reviews the actions and beliefs of key opinion leadership groups. Women were most likely to be brought into the argument as those who need protection but are least likely to own a gun. If women's ownership of self-defense handguns increases dramatically, the basis for public opinion advocating drastic reduction of handguns could not happen. Blacks were found to play a minimal role in the argument over guns; in the future this role would be pro- or anti-gun control. Older Americans are thought to be a great potential lobbying force in the gun debate, though consensus was not found. The large number of females among this population could contribute to an anti-gun climate. Among the young, anti-gun sentiments must trickle down to working class and lower class youth before the young can provide a force in the potential arena. Zimring, F.E. (1993). Research on Firearms. Health Affairs. (Winter 1993). Bethesda, MD: The People to People Health Foundation. NCJ 148073 Research needed to formulate sound public policy is lacking in the area of firearm violence and control. This lack of research is due to the volatile nature of the topic and the political risks for policymakers of endorsing gun control. Some of the research questions that need to be answered include how much firearm use contributes to the death rate from violence; how successful particular gun control interventions can be; and to the extent to which the benefits of gun control are worth their cost to society. He suggests that public health professionals, in collaboration with social scientists and criminologists, can make a significant contribution to the research on firearm control.