TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Data from a new national study found 6% of Florida teens have guns. Gun violence prevention advocates in Hillsborough County said they have seen the numbers increasing locally.

“People still haven’t gotten that message that we all have a role and responsibility at preventing this. So seeing those numbers definitely hurts us. It makes us feel like sometimes the work we’re doing isn’t going anywhere, but we know we have to stay vigilant,” said Freddy Barton, the executive director of Safe and Sound Hillsborough.

The organization has a youth gun violence prevention initiative. Barton said the numbers in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) study are eye opening.

AAP looked at trends of carrying handguns among Florida adolescents from 2002-2022. They found handgun carrying in school decreased, and middle school students contributed substantially to the increase in general handgun carrying.

“We’re having conversations with middle school students and even driving down to elementary school students encouraging them that if they see a gun, run and tell someone,” Barton said. “To have kids say, ‘Look, I feel like I needed to have this firearm because I’m scared. I know that this person doesn’t like me, and I feel like they have a gun, so I need to go get one.’ We’ve got to get the message out to these kids that look, there’s always another way.”

Johnny Johnson’s son Jayquon would be turning 26 on Tuesday, had it not been for a shooting that ended his life when he was just a sophomore in high school.

“I see him being a bright star. He had a big heart, I see him helping,” Johnson said.

It’s been eight years and Johnson said it still feels like yesterday. Johnson argues the issues to gun violence haven’t been solved.

“We showing bombs dropping on people in other countries, but we don’t want to talk about the tragedy here,” Johnson said.

Barton said more than 80% of firearms recovered from juvenile offenders are coming from unlocked cars.

“Just here in Hillsborough County, we’ve had, last year in 2024, we had 60 kids that were first time offenders in our program. We’re not even through the month of July and we’re already above that number,” Barton said. “Take the politics out of this, right. It’s not about the right to carry, it’s not about guns, it’s not about ammunition, it’s about the decisions that these kids are making to pick up a firearm in response to something that probably won’t even matter five years from now.”

Johnson is urging kids to brainstorm for solutions that don’t include violence.

“What would your loved one say if you didn’t show up home tonight? What would you think they would be going through? How would you think they’d be feeling? And give that moment a thought before you pick up a gun,” Johnson said.

On July 13, Safe and Sound Hillsborough will be celebrating youth who have successfully completed the Youth Gun Offender Program. Learn more, here.