This report from The Sentencing Project stems from the premise that youth justice systems are ineffective and excessively punitive in their handling of youth gun possessions. From Punishment to Prevention proposes a better option: comprehensive gun violence interruption initiatives focused on the very narrow population of youth and young adults at highest risk for gun violence. Such efforts have sharply reduced murders and gun crimes in many cities in recent years.
While the share of youth carrying firearms has not changed significantly in recent years, arrests and court cases for weapons possession have risen sharply since the pandemic began. Moreover, Black youth are increasingly likely to be arrested for carrying weapons — representing half of all weapons arrests — despite being no more likely to carry firearms when compared to their white peers.
Among youth who are referred to court on weapons charges, justice system responses have evolved to divert fewer youth from prosecution and funnel more youth into locked detention. In many jurisdictions, youth facing gun possession charges are often transferred to stand trial as adults. All of these practices are likely to increase a young person’s risk re-offending, despite research indicating that their risk to public safety is minimal and their possession is largely linked to self-protection.
Too many jurisdictions are ignoring the root causes of youth gun possession and defaulting to aggressively prosecuting and punishing all youth who carry firearms. Proven solutions exist that better support youth and improve community safety. This report offers a suite of recommendations for youth justice systems, aimed at effectively addressing — and ultimately reducing — youth gun possession rates. Advice includes:
To generate these recommendations, The Sentencing Project gathered information in the following ways:
The authors focused on cases where gun possession was the most serious charge. This means that the young person involved did not fire their weapon, did not use it to threaten others, did not brandish it and did not use it to commit a robbery or carjacking.
Violence interruption initiatives have a proven track record of reducing gun violence. These initiatives aim to break the cycle of violence in high-crime neighborhoods and typically utilize partnerships between law enforcement and community organizations. Social workers are often on the frontlines of violence interruption intiativies as well as individuals known as credible messengers. These individuals have experience with the justice system — some have even been incarcerated — and they work directly with youth at highest risk for gun crimes.
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