Half Of At-Risk Youth In Pittsburgh Area Lost Family Members To Gun Violence: Survey

PITTSBURGH, PA — More than half of at-risk youth in Allegheny County have lost a family member to gun violence, a new survey shows.

And, almost half of these youth have personally witnessed gun violence — with 10 percent saying they'd seen it four or more times.

Josh Fleitman, western Pennsylvania manager for CeaseFirePA, said it was hard to say how many Allegheny County youth are at risk of being affected by gun violence and "the social ills plaguing so many of the disadvantaged youth in our area."

He said his organization and the Greater Pittsburgh Coalition against Violence worked with community partners to survey 391 people, from children to young adults.

"We focused on organizations providing summer programming for youth," he said.

Homicides of school-aged youth doubled between 2020 and 2021, Allegheny County data shows. Twenty victims 18 and younger were killed in 2021.

And, the number of homicides in Pittsburgh was 25 percent higher in the first half of 2022 than the first half of 2021, the Post-Gazette reported in July.

These statistics "only tell part of the story," the survey organizers said. "For most surveyed youth, the gun violence crisis has them regularly concerned, and many directly impacted."

A majority of the surveyed youth (86 percent) fear gun violence will affect their and their family's health and safety, the survey found.

And 84 percent say only a little, or nothing at all is being done to address violence in their neighborhood, school, or classroom.

Overall, the youth said they felt very safe, or at least somewhat safe, at school and in their neighborhood. Some said it depended on the day.

In a news release, Fleitman and Tim Stevens of the Coalition Against Violence called for state legislators to pass policies reducing the number of illegal guns used in youth violence.

“We are witnessing the mass traumatization of a generation, with long-term individual and societal consequences," said Fleitman. "It’s a tragedy – but with many shootings preventable through life-saving gun safety policies from Harrisburg – it’s also a man-made catastrophe. If the bloodshed so far has not shaken the conscience of many state legislators, I hope this survey’s chilling results will spur them to take urgent action.”

“The survey results are more than troubling and should bring a laser light to all of us as to how deep the pain of gun violence has impacted the lives and minds of our youth,” said Tim Stevens, Co-Convener of the Greater Pittsburgh Coalition Against Violence. “Hopefully, this report will lead to state legislators to pass much-needed legislative reform, and to do so expeditiously."

Policies local advocates are calling for include required reporting of lost and stolen firearms; strengthening inspections of firearm dealers "who studies show are the source of many crime guns," and boosting funding for community-based, trauma-informed youth violence prevention and intervention programs.

Survey respondents ranged from 12 and under to 24 years old. About 43 percent went to Pittsburgh Public Schools. The rest attended other public schools; charter, online, or private schools; or colleges and universities. The Pittsburgh Foundation provided grant support for the project.

To see more detailed survey results, click here.