Drug Activity and Firearms Possession and Use by Juveniles

Abstract

Despite considerable public attention to the issue, little has occurred in the way of a systematic assessment of the gun-possession and gun-use profiles of young persons involved in the use and distribution of drugs. This article reports the results of an analysis of survey data collected from juveniles incarcerated in maximum security reformatories. The data pertain to firearms possession, carrying, and use, use of heroin, cocaine, and crack, the sale of drugs, and involvement in armed robbery. The findings offer no evidence of a progressive, linear relationship between level of drug use and gun possession (including number of guns owned and the routine carrying of guns) and use. However, disregarding level of drug use, when nonusers were compared with users who did not sell drugs, significant differences in involvement in gun possession and use did appear. Also, when we separated users who did not sell drugs from users who did, the latter generally displayed higher involvement in gun possession and use. Drug selling clearly increased gun-related behavior. Finally, drug users who also committed robberies exceeded drug users who did not in involvement in gun possession and use. Drug sellers who robbed similarly were higher in the same activities than sellers who did not.