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Gun-Toting Students Show More Risky Behaviors
Reuters Health via Yahoo ^ | 10-28-02 | Alison McCook

Posted on 10/28/2002 12:58:34 PM PST by Pharmboy

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Approximately 4% of US college students own guns, and those that do are more likely than others to engage in certain high-risk behaviors, such as binge drinking, new study findings show.

Dr. Matthew Miller of Harvard University in Boston and his colleagues found that gun-owning college students tend to drink higher amounts of alcohol at a time, and when doing so, are more likely than others to have unprotected sex and run-ins with police.

Other high-risk behaviors more commonly noted in gun-owners included driving while drunk and using crack and cocaine. Students were also more likely to own guns if they were attending college in a part of the country where gun ownership was more common in the general population.

Miller told Reuters Health that the study did not assess why gun-owners are more likely to show high-risk behaviors in college than those without guns, but he speculated that this tendency "may reflect a disposition to both own guns and engage in risky behavior."

Alternatively, the researcher suggested that some gun-owners may become "emboldened" by their weapons, and may consequently act in ways they would not if they didn't own guns. However, he noted that the behaviors seen in the study--binge drinking and unprotected sex, for example--are not commonly seen as behaviors of an emboldened person.

Miller and his team obtained their findings from questionnaires completed by more than 10,000 undergraduate students from 119 colleges throughout the US.

The authors discovered that 4.3% of college students--and 8% of male students--said they brought guns to college. Half of gun-owners said they purchased a firearm for protection.

The authors discovered that gun-owners in college were most often white men who lived off campus with a significant other.

Gun-owning college students also tended to have more exposure to guns and gun violence than those who did not own firearms, the authors report in the recent issue of the Journal of American College Health. For example, students who owned guns for protection were more likely to be threatened with a gun at college.

Students who hailed from states in which many people own guns--such as states in the East South Atlantic region, where 38% of households have guns--were more than three times as likely as those from New England, where gun ownership is rare, to bring a gun to college. They were also more than twice as likely to have been threatened by a firearm at college.

"I suspect that many administrators are surprised that, on average, across the US 4% of students have guns," Miller told Reuters Health in an interview.

The researcher said that he hopes these results inspire administrators to investigate further what compels students to bring guns to college, and how this tendency might have an impact on violence committed on college campuses.

SOURCE: Journal of American College Health 2002.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; banglist; gungrabbers
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And, students who owned guns were MUCH more likely to question the idiotic points of view that their liberal socialist professors have. Pity.
1 posted on 10/28/2002 12:58:35 PM PST by Pharmboy
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To: Pharmboy
When I see/hear that teens in particular are engaged in violent behavior the first thing that comes to my mind is mood-altering meds.
2 posted on 10/28/2002 1:04:08 PM PST by hsmomx3
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To: Pharmboy
of course tha vast majority of college gun owners (the intelligent ones) leave their guns to home, or simply deny owning them, and are thusly not counted in this pseudo research.
3 posted on 10/28/2002 1:04:24 PM PST by camle
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To: Pharmboy
"I suspect that many administrators are surprised that, on average, across the US 4% of students have guns," Miller told Reuters Health in an interview.

I'd be surprised that the number is that low.
4 posted on 10/28/2002 1:06:18 PM PST by cryptical
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To: Pharmboy
I wonder if the study controlled for gang-bangers who "own" guns that they acquired illegally.
5 posted on 10/28/2002 1:06:39 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: Pharmboy
Darn - I grew up in the NRA and have been around/owned guns all my life (50 years) and haven't done any crack cocaine or even shot at a person. I must be a slow learner...

Who in the HECK do they PAY to come up with some of these results????

6 posted on 10/28/2002 1:07:44 PM PST by trebb
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To: dd5339; cavtrooper21
yet another barf alert
7 posted on 10/28/2002 1:07:51 PM PST by Vic3O3
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To: *bang_list
Bang
8 posted on 10/28/2002 1:09:03 PM PST by Atlas Sneezed
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To: Pharmboy
The authors discovered that gun-owners in college were most often white men who lived off campus with a significant other.

Interesting that this is the only place where race is mentioned in the article. Specifically there is no mention of racial correlations with the "activities" such as smoking crack, only with gun ownership in general. When reading such articles, the most important thing one ought notice is what is not said.

9 posted on 10/28/2002 1:10:49 PM PST by per loin
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To: Pharmboy
Alternatively, the researcher suggested that some gun-owners may become "emboldened" by their weapons, and may consequently act in ways they would not if they didn't own guns.

As this poor excuse for a study shows no causality whatsoever, this can best be described as one-man's opinion. This is a perfect example of the 'Post Hoc Ergo Procto Hoc' logical falicy.

10 posted on 10/28/2002 1:11:50 PM PST by asformeandformyhouse
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To: Pharmboy
Gun-owning college students also tended to have more exposure to guns and gun violence than those who did not own firearms, the authors report

In a related study, it was revealed that college students who repeatedly shop in "big & tall" clothing stores tend to have more exposure to bigness and tallness than those who do not, and tend to exhibit those traits. The research did not address the reasons behind this trend.

11 posted on 10/28/2002 1:13:48 PM PST by Sloth
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To: Pharmboy

12 posted on 10/28/2002 1:35:36 PM PST by Joe Brower
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To: Pharmboy
The authors discovered that gun-owners in college were most often white men who lived off campus with a significant other.

Well, this stupid survey just raised the race card, so I'll see them and raise them a buck. Why was there no racial breakout of the problem gun owners versus the ones without these problems? I think I know the answer to that one.

13 posted on 10/28/2002 1:38:47 PM PST by dirtboy
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To: Pharmboy
The researcher said that he hopes these results inspire administrators to investigate further what compels students to bring guns to college, and how this tendency might have an impact on violence committed on college campuses.

Fat chance this "study" will do anything other than cause college administrators to place greater emphasis on how they will penalize students found to have guns.

The issue of real crime won't be mentioned (can we say assault on campus, boy and girls?) College security departments tend to hide information about "real" crime on campus (not good for student recruiting.)

14 posted on 10/28/2002 1:46:34 PM PST by toddst
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To: Pharmboy
Break this down by economic class, and then we'll see what the numbers look like. I'll bet that, black or white, the kids from the lower economic classes are on average more likely to own guns AND more likely to get into trouble, but within each economic stratum, guns and trouble are not strongly correlated.
15 posted on 10/28/2002 1:47:19 PM PST by Physicist
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To: Pharmboy
Students were also more likely to own guns if they were attending college in a part of the country where gun ownership was more common in the general population.

Stunning.

16 posted on 10/28/2002 1:48:47 PM PST by dead
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To: Pharmboy
Dr. Matthew Miller of Harvard University in Boston

Well, there's the problem! This isn't a "study" its a propaganda tool. 4%. I'm willing to bet that there is NO statistical correlation of student gun ownership to ANY of the so-called behaviors listed by the 'good' professor. Considering that college students drink a lot, and want to have sex a lot, and maybe use drugs a lot, if you flatten out the results from the other 96% of students, you get - nothing. The worst part of this is that the so-called journalists just go along with anything that fits their preconceived bias'.

17 posted on 10/28/2002 1:49:42 PM PST by 45Auto
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To: Pharmboy
students who owned guns for protection were more likely to be threatened with a gun at college.

This is absolute nonsense. A better question might be, "Of those who brought a gun to campus, how many were victims of rape in the last year?"

18 posted on 10/28/2002 1:51:40 PM PST by 45Auto
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To: hsmomx3
like Ritilan, etc?
19 posted on 10/28/2002 1:56:00 PM PST by Khepera
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And what does this prove? Nothing.
20 posted on 10/28/2002 2:05:17 PM PST by King Nothing
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