Many rural American adolescents have experienced the threat of firearm violence and/or know someone killed or injured by firearms, according to a study published online Oct. 22 in Pediatrics.
Megan R. Sinik, M.D., from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and colleagues examined rural adolescents‘ personal experiences with firearm-related violence using a convenience sample of 2021 National FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) Convention & Expo attendees. Data were included for 3,296 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years.
The researchers found that 35% reported experiencing a school lockdown due to potential firearm violence concerns. The odds of experiencing a lockdown were 1.7-fold greater for participants from the South versus those from the Northeast. About 10% had seen someone threatened with a firearm, while 46% reported that they knew someone who had been killed or injured by gunfire; 46% of those knew someone with an unintentional injury/death.
The odds of knowing someone who was killed or injured by firearms were 1.6 times greater for respondents with a handgun in the home. The odds of agreeing with multiple firearm safety interventions were higher for adolescents who had experienced a school lockdown. More participants who knew someone who had been injured or killed by firearms believed firearms in the home made them safer.
“FFA members in the study who knew someone injured or killed by a firearm had greater agreement with the statement that firearms in the home make them safer—a belief not supported by research,” the authors write.
More information:
Megan R. Sinik et al, Rural Teen Exposure to Firearm Violence, Pediatrics (2025). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2024-070342
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