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 2019

[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Location and student characteristic	1993			1999			2001			2003			2005			2007			2009			2011			2013			2015			2017			2019
1	2			3			4			5			6			7			8			9			10			11			12			13
Anywhere (including on school     property)1
Total	22.1		(1.18)	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)	16.2		(0.91)	15.7		(1.26)	13.2		(0.65)
Sex
Male	34.3		(1.68)	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)	24.3		(1.27)	24.2		(1.67)	19.5		(0.92)
Female	9.2		(0.85)	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)	7.5		(0.79)	7.4		(0.85)	6.7		(0.48)
Race/ethnicity
White	20.6		(1.43)	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)	18.1		(1.37)	18.1		(1.78)	15.0		(0.96)
Black	28.5		(1.24)	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)	12.4		(1.37)	10.8		(1.13)	9.4		(0.96)
Hispanic	24.4		(1.35)	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)	13.7		(1.16)	12.7		(1.09)	11.7		(1.13)
Asian2	---		(†)	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)	7.1		(1.33)	5.6		(1.10)	5.2		(0.81)
Pacific Islander2	---		(†)	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)	26.3		(7.87)	18.2		(5.25)	10.0	!	(4.77)
American Indian/Alaska Native	34.2		(8.08)	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)	22.4		(4.01)	21.3		(4.50)	27.3		(6.56)
Two or more races2	---		(†)	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)	20.8		(2.52)	16.1		(2.95)	17.5		(2.38)
Sexual identity3
Heterosexual	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	16.0		(0.96)	15.6		(1.13)	12.7		(0.66)
Gay, lesbian, or bisexual	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	18.9		(2.07)	16.2		(1.49)	13.9		(1.64)
Not sure	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	14.7		(3.00)	17.4		(3.25)	12.9		(2.46)
Grade
9th	25.5		(1.42)	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)	16.1		(1.11)	15.3		(1.66)	12.5		(0.78)
10th	21.4		(1.11)	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)	16.3		(1.49)	15.3		(1.14)	12.2		(0.95)
11th	21.5		(1.66)	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)	16.0		(1.19)	16.8		(1.56)	12.9		(1.10)
12th	19.9		(1.46)	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)	15.8		(1.26)	14.6		(1.32)	14.9		(1.24)
On school property4
Total	11.8		(0.73)	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)	4.1		(0.29)	3.8		(0.45)	2.8		(0.34)
Sex
Male	17.9		(0.96)	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)	5.9		(0.45)	5.6		(0.64)	3.7		(0.39)
Female	5.1		(0.65)	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)	2.0		(0.28)	1.9		(0.29)	1.7		(0.38)
Race/ethnicity
White	10.9		(0.86)	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)	3.7		(0.42)	3.8		(0.63)	2.1		(0.33)
Black	15.0		(0.85)	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)	3.4		(0.69)	3.6		(0.72)	4.2		(0.94)
Hispanic	13.3		(1.09)	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)	4.5		(0.57)	3.5		(0.39)	3.1		(0.55)
Asian2	---		(†)	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)	2.3	!	(0.78)	2.2	!	(0.89)	1.3	!	(0.47)
Pacific Islander2	---		(†)	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)	15.0	!	(6.42)	2.7	!	(1.36)	‡		(†)
American Indian/Alaska Native	17.6	!	(5.70)	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)	10.5		(2.48)	6.3	!	(2.66)	10.8	!	(3.78)
Two or more races2	---		(†)	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)	5.7		(1.54)	4.1		(1.11)	3.3		(0.71)
Sexual identity3
Heterosexual	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	3.7		(0.31)	3.4		(0.37)	2.1		(0.26)
Gay, lesbian, or bisexual	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	6.2		(1.18)	5.9		(1.38)	4.3		(1.07)
Not sure	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	7.1		(1.88)	4.9		(1.09)	6.9	!	(2.20)
Grade
9th	12.6		(0.73)	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)	3.4		(0.31)	2.5		(0.46)	2.0		(0.38)
10th	11.5		(0.97)	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)	4.1		(0.54)	3.2		(0.56)	2.2		(0.49)
11th	11.9		(1.41)	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)	4.8		(0.50)	5.0		(0.59)	3.3		(0.45)
12th	10.8		(0.83)	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)	3.6		(0.56)	4.2		(0.59)	3.3		(0.60)

---Not available.

†Not applicable.

!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.

‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.

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 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 with data from later years.

3 Students were asked which of the following--"heterosexual (straight)," "gay or lesbian," "bisexual," or “not sure"--best described them.

4 In the question asking students about carrying a weapon at school, "on school property" was not defined for respondents.

NOTE: Respondents were asked about carrying "a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club." Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), 1993 through 2019. (This table was prepared September 2020.)