WSU works in partnership with the Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program at the University of Washington to understand firearm-related culture, experiences, and behaviors among rural adolescents and families. Long-term, this work informs firearm injury prevention and safety promotion efforts.
In the Youth Experiences in Rural Washington: Research on Firearm Safety project, we conducted a mixed methods study collecting qualitative (focus group or interview) and quantitative (survey) data from 93 rural youth across Washington State. Using a community-based participatory research process, we engaged WSU Extension 4-H Youth Development as community partners in each step from the grant proposal through dissemination of findings. This project was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the Family Experiences in Rural Washington: Research on Firearm Safety project, Drs. Hall and Weybright conducted a qualitative study conducting interviews with the parents of rural youth from our prior study to understand their perspective on rural firearm culture and practices within the home. This project was funded by the Grandmothers Against Gun Violence Foundation.
WSU Extension faculty and staff collaborators include Dr. Ashley Hall, Dr. Gary Varrella, Toni Gwin, and Linda McLean. We appreciate the support of the WSU 4-H Youth Development program.
Research Briefs and Project Updates
Access research brief and project update files here if not otherwise linked below.
News
November 2025
Drs. Weybright presented on behalf of the research team at the 2025 National Research Conference for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms. The poster was titled Secure Storage in Rural Homes: Gaps Between Firearm Safety Ideals and Practices.
October 2025
Drs. Weybright and Hall presented the process and findings of the Family Experiences in Rural Washington: Research on Firearm Safety project to the Grandmothers Against Gun Violence Foundation who funded this work. This lunch and learn webinar will be available on the foundation’s website.
September 2025
Dr. Weybright and colleagues have a new publication, Trends in firearm death among middle and high-school aged rural and urban adolescents from 2001 to 2022, available in the journal Injury Epidemiology. This publication looks at trends in overall injury death and specifically firearm injury death among middle and high school rural and urban adolescents. Research was highlighted in a related press release and in the media.
May 2025
Dr. Weybright and colleagues, including prevention science graduate student Madeline Fodor, presented two symposia at this year’s Society for Prevention Research.
The first symposium was titled Carrying in Context: Motivations and Access to Information as Predictors of Firearm Behavior. Dr. Weybright’s presentation was titled Understanding Firearm Carrying Perceptions and Behaviors Among Rural Adolescents. Dr. Margaret Kuklinski, Professor and Director of the Social Development Research Group at University of Washington, served as discussant.
The second symposium was titled Handgun Attitudes and Behaviors Among Youth and Young Adults with Diverse Identities: Risk, Protection, and Pathways to Carrying. This symposium was awarded a conference abstract of distinction.
- Dr. Weybright’s presentation was titled Pathways to Handgun Carrying Among Rural Adolescents: Findings from a Qualitative Comparative Analysis.
- Madeline Fodor, prevention science graduate student, gave a presentation titled “I’ve got mixed feelings”: A qualitative inquiry of handgun use and perceptions among transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse young adults.
- Dr. Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Bartley Dobb Professor for the Study and Prevention of Violence and Director of the Firearm Injury Policy & Research Program at the University of Washington, served as discussant.
December 2024
Dr. Weybright and colleagues, including prevention science graduate student Madeline Fodor, presented at this year’s National Research Conference for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms. Presentations included:
- Do All Roads Lead to Rome? Use of Qualitative Comparative Analysis to Identify Pathways to Handgun Carrying Among Rural Adolescents
- Use of a Community-Based Participatory Approach to Understanding the Cultural Context of Firearms Among Rural Adolescents
- The Role of Families and Parents in the Situational Context of Rural Adolescent Handgun Carrying
- Handgun Perceptions and Use Among Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Diverse Young Adults
October 2024
New findings from the project are published! Dr. Weybright and colleagues have published a manuscript titled Firearm Experiences, Behaviors, and Norms Among Rural Adolescents in JAMA Network Open. Find the article here. A related research brief is here.
August 2024
Dr. Weybright and colleagues have published a manuscript titled Conceptualization of Firearm-Related Terms among Rural Adolescents: Definitions Matter in Youth & Society. Find article here. A related research brief is available in the project updates listed above.
July 2024
Dr. Weybright and colleague Dr. Ashley Hall have received a grant from the Grandmothers Against Gun Violence Foundation to continue and expand project work by speaking with the parents of youth who participated in our study. Read more about this work here.
January 2024
Dr. Weybright and colleagues have published a manuscript titled Strategies for recruiting adolescents in rural areas in firearm injury research in Injury Prevention. Find article here. A related research brief is available in the project updates listed above.
November 2023
Dr. Weybright and colleagues from WSU Extension and University of Washington gave a presentation titled Handgun experiences and behaviors among rural adolescents: A convergent mixed methods study at the 2023 National Research Conference for the Prevention of Firearm-related Harms.
April 2023
February 2023
Gavin Mina and Rittick Nandy, both undergraduate students at Washington State University, co-presented a poster titled Handgun Carrying Behaviors Among rural Adolescents: Implications for Prevention at the 2023 Prevention Science Graduate Student Organization poster session. Gavin and Rittick both graduated in May, 2023.
November 2022
Dr. Weybright and colleagues from Extension (Hernandez Hall, Varrella) as well as University of Washington (Rowhani-Rahbar) presented a poster on rural adolescents definition of firearm-related terms at the inaugural 2022 National Research Conference on Firearm Injury Prevention in Washington, DC.
Publications
Publications from the broader project are listed below.
- Halvorson, M. A., Kuklinski, M. R., Gause, E., *Schleimer, J. P., Terral, H. F., Weybright, E. H., Oesterle, S., Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2025). Changes in young adult handgun carrying in the US. JAMA Network Open, 8(2), e2458177. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.58177
- Weybright, E. H., Terral, H. F., Hall, A., Varrella, G., Ellyson, A. M., *Schleimer, J. P., Kuklinski, M. R., Dalve, K., Gause, E. L., Oesterle, S., & Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2024). Firearm experiences, behaviors, and norms among rural adolescents. JAMA Network Open, 7(10), e2441203. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.41203
- Weybright, E. H., Hall, A., Willoughby, J., Dalve, K., *Schleimer, J., Ellyson, A., Watters, C., Gause, E., Kuklinski, M., Varrella, G., & Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2024). Conceptualization of firearm-related terms among rural adolescents: Definitions matter [Special Issue]. Youth & Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X241263968
- Weybright, E. H., Hall, A., Ellyson, A., Varrella, G., Kuklinski, M., Gause, E., *Schleimer, J., Dalve, K., & Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2024). Strategies for recruiting adolescents in firearm injury research. Injury Prevention, 30, 246-250. http://doi.org/10.1136/ip-2023-045104
- Ellyson, A. M., Schleimer, J. P., Dalve, K., Gause, E., Weybright, E. H., Kuklinski, M. R., Oesterle, S., & Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2023). The association of alcohol use and heavy drinking with subsequent handgun carrying among youth from rural areas. The Journal of Rural Health, Advance online publication.
- Rowhani-Rahbar, A., Oesterle, S., Gause, E. L., Kuklinski, M., Ellyson, A. M., Schleimer, J. P., Dalve, K., Weybright, E. H., Briney, J. S., & Hawkins, D. (2023). Effect of the Communities That Care prevention system on adolescent handgun carrying: A community randomized trial. JAMA Network Open, 6(4):e236699.
- Dalve, K., Ellyson, A. M., Gause, E., Lyons, V. H., Schleimer, J. P., Kuklinski, M. R., Oesterle, S., Briney, J. S., Weybright, E. H., Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2023). School handgun carrying among youth growing up in rural communities. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72, 636-639.
- Ellyson, A., M., Gause, E., Lyons, V. H., Schleimer, J. P., Dalve, K., Kuklinski, M., Oesterle, S., Briney, J. S., Weybright, E. H., & Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2023). The prevalence of bullying and physical violence and their association with handgun carrying trajectories among youth growing up in rural areas. Preventive Medicine, 167, 107416.
- Ellyson, A. M., Gause, E., Oesterle, S., Kuklinski, M., Briney, J. S., Weybright, E. H., Haggerty, K., Lyons, V., Schleimer, J. P., & Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2022). Trajectories of handgun carrying in rural communities from early adolescence to young adulthood. JAMA Network Open, 5(4), e225127.
This project was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,432,559 funded by CDC/HHS and $32,000 funded by the Grandmothers Against Gun Violence Foundation, a non-governmental source. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.