Brian Lair on WNYC and we will hear in detail now about research that we mentioned briefly

with DA Alvin Bragg yesterday that investigates why some boys and young men in New York City

carried guns.

The report comes from the Center for Justice Innovation and a personal look at the gun

and violence plaguing communities in the city is part of that.

It finds that fear of being the victim of crime is the overwhelming reason that young

people carry guns and it takes into account not only interpersonal violence but structural

violence.

So with us now are three authors of the study, Javonte Alexander and Beseem Spade Community

Research Coordinators at the Center for Justice Innovation and Elise White direction

of Act Director of Action Research at the Center for Justice Innovation.

Welcome all three of you to WNYC, thank you for coming on today.

Thanks for having us.

Elise White, how did this study come about and what were the goals or questions you and

your colleagues really sought to answer?

Our department at the Center has a research program that we're developing looking at

gangs at gun use, at gun violence and the realities that young people face.

So this is building on a study that we completed in 2020.

But in this piece what we were really looking at is trying to identify what some of the

structural factors and the cultural realities are of gun culture in U.S. city.

So this is one city that's part of a four city study that we're doing looking at those

issues.

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