Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website to its version as of 12:00 AM on January 29, 2025. Information on this page may be modified and/or removed in the future subject to the terms of the court’s order and implemented consistent with applicable law. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from truth. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology due to the harms and divisiveness it causes. This page does not reflect reality and therefore the Administration and this Department reject it.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce gun carrying among adolescents — IVP‑12 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), CDC/NCCDPHP

Baseline: 4.8 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 reported that they had carried a gun (excluding carrying guns only for hunting or for a sport such as target shooting) on at least 1 day in the past 12 months in 2017

Target: 3.7 percent

Numerator
Number of students in grades 9 through 12 who report carrying a gun on at least 1 day during the past 12 months.
Denominator
Number of students in grades 9 through 12.
Target-setting method
Minimal statistical significance
Target-setting method details
Minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline.
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were not available for this objective. The standard error was used to calculate a target based on minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline. This method was used because trends for the Healthy People 2020 objective, adolescent weapon carrying, have remained relatively stable, so the Healthy People 2030 Workgroup Subject Matter Experts did not expect a large decline in adolescent gun carrying.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System:

Numerator:
During the past 12 months, on how many days did you carry a gun? (Do not count the days when you carried a gun only for hunting or for a sport, such as target shooting.)
  1. 0 days
  2. 1 day
  3. 2 or 3 days
  4. 4 or 5 days
  5. 6 or more days

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Modified, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 but underwent a change in measurement.
Changes between HP2020 and HP2030
This objective differs from Healthy People 2020 objective IVP-36 in that objective IVP-36 tracked weapon carrying on school property among adolescents, while this objective tracks gun carrying among adolescents.
Revision History
Revised. 

In 2024, the baseline race/ethnicity data were revised at the request of the data provider.