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Digest of Education Statistics
2015 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 231.40. Percentage of students in grades 9-12 who reported carrying a weapon at least 1 day during the previous 30 days, by location and selected student characteristics: Selected years, 1993 through 2013
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Location and student characteristic 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Anywhere (including on school
   property)1
                                                               
Total 22.1   (1.18) 20.0   (0.66) 18.3 (0.91) 17.3   (0.97) 17.4   (0.99) 17.1   (0.90) 18.5   (0.80) 18.0   (0.87) 17.5   (0.73) 16.6   (0.65) 17.9   (0.73)
                                                                 
Sex                                                                
Male 34.3   (1.68) 31.1   (1.03) 27.7 (1.57) 28.6   (1.71) 29.3   (1.67) 26.9   (1.31) 29.8   (1.35) 28.5   (1.41) 27.1   (1.45) 25.9   (1.07) 28.1   (1.31)
Female 9.2   (0.85) 8.3   (0.72) 7.0 (0.54) 6.0   (0.56) 6.2   (0.41) 6.7   (0.60) 7.1   (0.43) 7.5   (0.66) 7.1   (0.38) 6.8   (0.41) 7.9   (0.56)
                                                                 
Race/ethnicity2                                                                
White 20.6   (1.43) 18.9   (0.93) 17.0 (1.29) 16.4   (1.36) 17.9   (1.30) 16.7   (0.95) 18.7   (1.13) 18.2   (1.28) 18.6   (1.16) 17.0   (1.05) 20.8   (0.90)
Black 28.5   (1.24) 21.8   (2.03) 21.7 (1.99) 17.2   (2.68) 15.2   (1.23) 17.3   (1.77) 16.4   (0.81) 17.2   (1.05) 14.4   (1.33) 14.2   (0.85) 12.5   (0.96)
Hispanic 24.4   (1.35) 24.7   (1.87) 23.3 (1.44) 18.7   (1.35) 16.5   (0.78) 16.5   (1.31) 19.0   (1.10) 18.5   (1.21) 17.2   (0.94) 16.2   (0.82) 15.5   (0.95)
Asian3   (†)   (†) (†) 13.0   (2.01) 10.6   (2.10) 11.6   (2.67) 7.0   (1.70) 7.8   (1.41) 8.4   (1.28) 9.1   (1.57) 8.7   (1.79)
Pacific Islander3    (†)   (†) (†) 25.3   (5.02) 17.4   (4.35) 16.3 ! (6.37) 20.0 ! (6.52) 25.5   (4.35) 20.3   (3.40) 20.7   (5.00) 12.6 ! (3.98)
American Indian/Alaska Native 34.2   (8.08) 32.0   (5.69) 26.2 (3.65) 21.8   (5.68) 31.2   (5.52) 29.3   (4.58) 25.6   (3.79) 20.6   (3.02) 20.7   (3.40) 27.6   (2.41) 17.8   (4.01)
Two or more races3   (†)   (†) (†) 22.2   (3.34) 25.2   (3.41) 29.8   (5.03) 26.7   (3.11) 19.0   (2.46) 17.9   (1.61) 23.7   (2.58) 18.8   (2.09)
                                                                 
Grade                                                                
9th 25.5   (1.42) 22.6   (1.24) 22.6 (1.34) 17.6   (1.58) 19.8   (1.44) 18.0   (1.81) 19.9   (1.21) 20.1   (1.41) 18.0   (0.87) 17.3   (1.07) 17.5   (0.99)
10th 21.4   (1.11) 21.1   (0.94) 17.4 (1.33) 18.7   (1.31) 16.7   (1.11) 15.9   (1.14) 19.4   (1.19) 18.8   (1.21) 18.4   (1.51) 16.6   (0.89) 17.8   (1.09)
11th 21.5   (1.66) 20.3   (1.40) 18.2 (1.69) 16.1   (1.31) 16.8   (1.26) 18.2   (1.21) 17.1   (1.13) 16.7   (1.08) 16.2   (0.93) 16.2   (0.84) 17.9   (1.43)
12th 19.9   (1.46) 16.1   (0.93) 15.4 (1.65) 15.9   (1.44) 15.1   (1.28) 15.5   (1.06) 16.9   (0.95) 15.5   (1.28) 16.6   (0.85) 15.8   (0.90) 18.3   (1.17)
                                                                 
Urbanicity4                                                                
Urban   (†)   (†) 18.7 (1.34) 15.8   (0.85) 15.3   (0.99) 17.0   (1.32)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Suburban   (†)   (†) 16.8 (1.02) 17.0   (1.34) 17.4   (1.39) 16.5   (1.36)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Rural   (†)   (†) 22.3 (2.12) 22.3   (2.19) 23.0   (1.86) 18.9   (1.91)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
                                                                 
On school property5                                                                
Total 11.8   (0.73) 9.8   (0.45) 8.5 (0.79) 6.9   (0.60) 6.4   (0.52) 6.1   (0.57) 6.5   (0.46) 5.9   (0.37) 5.6   (0.32) 5.4   (0.35) 5.2   (0.44)
                                                                 
Sex                                                                
Male 17.9   (0.96) 14.3   (0.76) 12.5 (1.50) 11.0   (1.07) 10.2   (0.88) 8.9   (0.74) 10.2   (0.83) 9.0   (0.65) 8.0   (0.52) 8.2   (0.59) 7.6   (0.70)
Female 5.1   (0.65) 4.9   (0.53) 3.7 (0.37) 2.8   (0.38) 2.9   (0.27) 3.1   (0.50) 2.6   (0.30) 2.7   (0.33) 2.9   (0.24) 2.3   (0.19) 3.0   (0.40)
                                                                 
Race/ethnicity2                                                                
White 10.9   (0.86) 9.0   (0.65) 7.8 (1.16) 6.4   (0.87) 6.1   (0.62) 5.5   (0.57) 6.1   (0.66) 5.3   (0.55) 5.6   (0.44) 5.1   (0.40) 5.7   (0.65)
Black 15.0   (0.85) 10.3   (1.13) 9.2 (0.98) 5.0   (0.50) 6.3   (0.92) 6.9   (0.96) 5.1   (0.66) 6.0   (0.46) 5.3   (0.74) 4.6   (0.67) 3.9   (0.42)
Hispanic 13.3   (1.09) 14.1   (1.63) 10.4 (0.99) 7.9   (0.73) 6.4   (0.53) 6.0   (0.56) 8.2   (0.91) 7.3   (0.82) 5.8   (0.58) 5.8   (0.70) 4.7   (0.61)
Asian3   (†)   (†) (†) 6.5   (1.44) 7.2   (2.05) 6.6 ! (2.44) 2.8 ! (1.24) 4.1   (1.01) 3.6   (0.84) 4.3 ! (1.66) 3.8   (1.13)
Pacific Islander3    (†)   (†) (†) 9.3   (2.66) 10.0 ! (3.05) 4.9 ! (2.05) 15.4 ! (6.10) 9.5 ! (3.40) 9.8   (2.33) 10.9 ! (3.73) 4.0 ! (1.95)
American Indian/Alaska Native 17.6 ! (5.70) 13.0 ! (4.35) 15.9 (3.68) 11.6 ! (5.13) 16.4   (4.02) 12.9   (3.40) 7.2   (1.60) 7.7   (2.08) 4.2 ! (1.50) 7.5   (1.62) 7.0 ! (3.22)
Two or more races3   (†)   (†) (†) 11.4   (2.76) 13.2   (3.61) 13.3 ! (4.10) 11.9   (2.99) 5.0   (1.11) 5.8   (1.35) 7.5   (1.87) 6.3   (1.58)
                                                                 
Grade                                                                
9th 12.6   (0.73) 10.7   (0.76) 10.2 (0.90) 7.2   (1.07) 6.7   (0.66) 5.3   (1.13) 6.4   (0.75) 6.0   (0.59) 4.9   (0.46) 4.8   (0.50) 4.8   (0.69)
10th 11.5   (0.97) 10.4   (0.78) 7.7 (0.99) 6.6   (0.83) 6.7   (0.60) 6.0   (0.53) 6.9   (0.70) 5.8   (0.61) 6.1   (0.57) 6.1   (0.72) 4.8   (0.58)
11th 11.9   (1.41) 10.2   (0.94) 9.4 (1.33) 7.0   (0.60) 6.1   (0.74) 6.6   (0.80) 5.9   (0.71) 5.5   (0.68) 5.2   (0.44) 4.7   (0.44) 5.9   (1.19)
12th 10.8   (0.83) 7.6   (0.68) 7.0 (0.91) 6.2   (0.78) 6.1   (0.71) 6.4   (0.64) 6.7   (0.64) 6.0   (0.58) 6.0   (0.57) 5.6   (0.51) 5.3   (0.88)
                                                                 
Urbanicity4                                                                
Urban   (†)   (†) 7.0 (0.67) 7.2   (1.09) 6.0   (0.67) 5.6   (0.81)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Suburban   (†)   (†) 8.7 (0.68) 6.2   (0.74) 6.3   (0.68) 6.4   (1.01)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Rural   (†)   (†) 11.2 (2.19) 9.6   (1.61) 8.3   (1.48) 6.3   (0.67)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
1 The term "anywhere" is not used in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) questionnaire; students were simply asked how many days they carried a weapon during the past 30 days.
2 Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
3 Before 1999, Asian students and Pacific Islander students were not categorized separately, and students could not be classified as Two or more races. Because the response categories changed in 1999, caution should be used in comparing data on race from 1993, 1995, and 1997 with data from later years.
4 Refers to the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) status of the respondent’s household as defined in 2000 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Categories include "central city of an MSA (Urban)," "in MSA but not in central city (Suburban)," and "not MSA (Rural)."
5 In the question asking students about carrying a weapon at school, "on school property" was not defined for survey respondents.
NOTE: Respondents were asked about carrying "a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club."
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), 1993 through 2013. (This table was prepared June 2014.)

2015 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest