More and more adolescents are buying guns, both for protection and for status reasons. Many are involved in gangs, and participate in gang-related crime, but others use their guns to implement impetuous plans of revenge or to show their power. As more teenagers obtain firearms, drive-by shootings and juvenile homicides have become familiar occurrences. The article documents changes in American adolescent culture, and emphasizes how dangerous the streets and schools have become, even in smaller cities and rural areas.