White male teens most likely carry weapon

LOMA LINDA , Calif., July 30 (UPI) -- A U.S. study found that overall, 10.2 percent of males and 2.6 percent of females report carrying a weapon on school property, researchers said.

However, the study, published in the journal Annals of General Psychiatry, also found an estimated 29.8 percent of males and 19.3 percent of females had carried weapons elsewhere.

Emmanuel Rudatsikira of Loma Linda University, in California, and his colleagues showed that the variables most associated with the carrying of weapons were being male and being a member of certain self-selected racial groups. Pupils who identified themselves as white were more likely to carry weapons than those who identified themselves as black.

More than 13,000 students participated in the study, 50.5 percent were male and 49.5 percent were females.

The authors said the results were surprising because the poor are likely to live in violent neighborhoods, they would be more likely to feel unsafe and therefore carry weapons to school.

Other factors associated with weapon carrying were substance use, depression, having been a victim of theft or property damage at school, having been raped, having been threatened with a weapon or having been involved in a physical fight.