Data were collected during January-April 1991. The analysis focused on the youths' exposure to guns, crime, and violence; the youths' criminal activities; and their drug activity and gang membership profiles. Data were also collected on gun possession and carrying patterns; the number and types of firearms that juveniles possess; and where, how, and why they acquire and carry guns. Findings confirmed the prevalence of firearms in these populations, but challenged some common stereotypes concerning gun possession and use by juveniles. Findings indicate that juveniles arm themselves due to fear, rather than to the needs of criminal activity, drug trafficking, and gang affiliations. Guns, drugs, gangs, crime, and violence are all expressions of a pervasive alienation of certain inner-city youth from the conventions of larger society; the perception that firearms are necessary to survival in the inner city will endure unless attention is given to the conditions that promote insecurity and fear and that breed hostility, estrangement, futility, and hopelessness. Tables, chapter notes, author and subject indexes, and 190 references