Alcohol use and subsequent handgun carrying were positively associated during adolescence and young adulthood among individuals who grew up in rural areas, similar to findings in urban areas. Reducing alcohol use may be an important strategy to prevent handgun carrying and firearm-related harm among young people in rural areas.

In the rural United States, an adolescent who drinks heavily has a 43% greater probability of carrying a handgun in the following year, according to a study published this month in The Journal of Rural Health.

“While there has been a lot of research on this correlation in urban areas, little is known about the association between alcohol use, particularly heavy drinking, and handgun carrying in rural areas,” said lead author Alice Ellyson, an acting assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and investigator in UW Medicine’s Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program.

  • vlad@lemmy.sdf.org
    7·
    1 year ago

    Youg men like guns.

    Young men like alcohol.

    In rural areas young men normally have more access to both and they’re more likely to already take part in activities with guns. Like pest control, hunting.

    Also guns are fun!

    Drinking is also fun!

    Doing those together is more fun! But stupid.

    Young men are stupid.

    Source: am man

    There isn’t much here to think about.