‘I Gotta Protect Myself’: NYC Youths Explain Why They Carry Guns

A year-long study of young people living in at-risk neighborhoods in New York City found that fears for personal safety, and fears of police, were the primary motivations for carrying a firearm.

The recent study by the Center for Court Innovation surveyed 330 youth aged 16-24, a majority of them men of color.  Nine out of ten respondents admitted they either previous owned or currently carried a gun—even though at the time firearm possession without a permit was illegal.

“I know it’s against the law to have any type of weapon without a license,” said one 16-year-old respondent. “But at the same time, I just feel like I need to carry it to make sure generally I’m safe.”

None of the participants in the study were named.

[Since then, a Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen struck down the state’s requirement of a license to carry concealed guns as unconstitutional. Efforts to carve out public safety exceptions to the ruling are in litigation.]

The majority of the respondents said they felt the need to carry firearms for safety from gangs and other violent actors in their neighborhood—but also as “protection” from the police.

“You gotta protect your life because the cops might shoot you,” said a 24-year-old.

Some 78 percent of the respondents noted that crime was prevalent in their neighborhoods, and 70 percent said gunshots were a constant occurrence.  Over a third said they frequently heard people being threatened with a gun.

Some 81 percent of the participants said they had been shot at before. In addition, well over half also witnessed someone get shot and had a family or friend get shot.

About 90 percent of the participants had prior experiences with the law, most commonly for arrest charges for marijuana possession, robbery, assault and subway fare evasion. Just under 40 percent of them were arrested for firearm possession.

The disconnect between the police and the community—what some have called the “lack of legitimacy” of law enforcement—appeared to be a powerful catalyst for carrying firearms.

Only 35 percent agreed with the statement that the police try to protect the public from violent crime.

An anti-violence demonstration led by Save Our Streets, a youth group in New York. Courtesy of Center for Court Innovation.

“I gotta protect myself from the people who are made to protect and serve us,” said a 24-year-old respondent.  “And that is the most scariest thing in the world.”

The study is the first to access a significant number of young people in New York who carry or are at high risk for carrying guns, a demographic that is usually off-limits to researchers.

“Our data reveal that the youth in our study were mostly carrying to increase their feelings of safety,” the authors wrote. “Many had been shot or shot at, attacked physically with a non-firearm weapon, or had someone close to them shot.

“They held a widespread belief that they could be victimized at any time, and guns served to protect them from real or perceived threats from other gun carriers—rival gang members, residents of different housing projects, and the police.”

The perceived lack of public safety among young people in violent neighborhoods represents a serious “public health” challenge, the report authors concluded.

“The findings suggest public safety efforts centered on law enforcement are failing to make these young people feel safer.

“More effective strategies must begin with the perspectives of the young people themselves, build community trust and well-being, and account for the violence—both interpersonal and systemic—that shapes their daily lives.”

Bringing services like health and job counseling closer to the neighborhoods where they are needed is one solution, the report said.

Others include investing in youth job programs and conducting more research to try and limit the pervasiveness of firearms.

“Those who are most at risk live daily with the reality of their own mortality and are faced with a decision- making calculus not unlike soldiers at war.” the study’s authors wrote.

The authors /researchers on the report were: Rachel Swaner, Elise White, Andrew Martinez, Anjelica Camacho, Basaime Spate, Javonte Alexander, Lysondra Webb, and Kevin Evans

Download the report and tables here.

James Van Bramer is Associate Editor of The Crime Report.