Dramatic Results of UCAN 2012 National Teen Gun Survey Released:

More youth report both a lack of hope and that it iseasy to access handguns, while
increasing numbers say they have schoolmates whohave been shot

Teens Impacted by Gun Violence Participate in Listening Panel With Chicago Officials

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Deanne Benos

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 773/960-8228

APRIL 18, 2012 – As Chicago continues to battle an ongoing spate of gun violence impacting young people -- including a 60 percent increase in shootings from this period last year -- UCAN released its 2012 National Teen Gun Survey today at a listening panel with a group of young people who have experienced gun violence and public officials. The panel took place at Homan Square, 3517 W. Arthington St. from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Public Officials present included Cook County Commissioner Robert Steele, representatives of the Office of the Mayor, Chicago Police Department, and Office of the Cook County State’s Attorney, and Reverend Robin Hood.

Generously funded by The Joyce Foundation, UCAN’s national survey (which has been running for more than a decade) indicated some fairly disturbing trends about youth fears, experiences and attitudes toward gun violence. A comparison of survey results from May 2009 to January 2012 showed that:

Teens are finding it increasingly easy to obtain a handgun, with a dramatic 30% rate of increase among all teens and a shocking 62% increase among African-American youth. The percentage of teens reporting that they could get a handgun if they really wanted to increased by a rate of 29% (from 34% to 44%). This represented a rate of increase among Caucasiansof 30% (from 33% to 43%), among African-Americans of 62% (from 29% to 47%) and among Hispanics by 14% (from 35% to 40%).

More than one in three teens fear being shot someday. While 37% of teens are fearful of being shot someday, these fears have declined among Hispanic youth. The percentage of teens expressing a fear of getting shot someday decreased among Hispanics at a rate of 21% (from 48% to 38%), while rising amongst African-Americans at a rate of 26% (from 34% to 43%) and among Caucasians by 6% (from 32% to 34%).

Teens are becoming less hopeful that the problem of gun violence will be solved, with the most dramatic loss of hope among African-American youth. The percentage of teens who are hopeful that the problem of gun violence in society will be solved decreased at a rate of 6% (from 68% to 64%), representing a rate of decline of 3% among Caucasians(from 69% to 67%), 22% among African-Americans (from 73% to 57%),and 5% (58% to 55%) among Hispanics.

The percentage of youth who know someone who has been shot is on the rise among all racial and ethnic groups, with the largest increase among Caucasian youth. The percentage of teens reporting that they know someone who has been shot increased by 27% from 26% to 33%. The increase impacted all racial and ethnic groups, with Caucasians reporting an increase of 42% (from 19% to 27%), African Americans of 14% (from 43% to 49%) and Hispanics of 5% (from 37% to 39%). The percentage of youth who reported knowing more than one person that has been shot increased by 29%.

The percentage of youth reporting that at least one student from their school was killed by gun violence slightly increased, while the percentage of youth reporting that they fear gun violence in their schools decreased. The percentage of youth reporting that at least one student from their school had been killed by gun violence in the past year increased at a rate of 8% from 12% in May 2009 to 13% in January 2012. However, the percentage of youth reporting that they fear gun violence in their schools decreased at a rate of 16% from 43% to 36%.

“We are dedicated to helping young people in Chicago who have experienced trauma to become future leaders and escape the threat of gun violence, but everyone in the community needs to play a consistently active role to keep these teens safe,” said Claude Robinson, UCAN Executive Vice President of External Affairs and Diversity. “As Chicago continues to fight and suffer from far too many shootings that are tearing at the fabric of our city, we owe it to our teens to listen to them and to take action now.”

The survey also indicated that 76 percent of teens nationwide believe that young people would benefit from more violence prevention programs, and 64 percent believe that government officials are not doing enough to create common sense gun laws. Several young people who have experienced gun violence and who now participate in programs that UCAN operates, including Project Visible Man, a group mentoring program for young men of color, and Hands Without Guns, classroom-based anti-violence programming in Chicago Public Schools, participated in a listening session to discuss the survey.

“I was walking home, and all of a sudden shots were fired. My first natural reaction was to start running. As I began to run, I heard more shots, and then I felt a bullet rip through my leg. Once I made it to safety, I was simply happy to be alive. Here’s what I don’t get: I am not affiliated with gangs. I am a youth leader in my community, and enrolled in college. How could something like this happen to me? Are any of us safe?” said Bryan James, 19, anda participant on the listening panel.

“The results from the survey are disturbing, especially considering how gun violence disproportionately impacts our community,” said Cook County Commissioner Robert Steele. “It is our hope that the results of this survey help to shed light on this problem and encourage everyone to take action, because it is our moral obligation to keep kids safe. I commend UCAN and the young leaders with whom they work for their efforts in creating a life free of gun violence for our youth.”

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The 2012 UCAN National Teen Gun Survey was created and commissioned by UCAN, a multi-faceted social service organizationserving almost 14,000 at-risk children, youth and families in Chicagoland annually. The survey was conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, with a nationally representative sampling of 600 teens ages 13-18 and a +/- 3 percent margin of error. Visit UCAN at

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