Stricter state gun laws are linked to safer high school experiences for students, new research has found.

In a report published Thursday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, researchers found that strengthening gun laws at the state level was associated with teens being less likely to report being threatened or injured with a weapon at school, or missing school because they felt unsafe. Stricter gun laws were also linked less incidences of students carrying a weapon anywhere.

The researchers used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which has surveyed high school students every two years since 1991, asking nearly a million young people in 45 states about weapons-related behaviors, among other things. Students self-reported on their experiences carrying weapons at school, the number of times they were threatened or injured related to weapons, the number of school days they missed because they felt unsafe and weapon-carrying in general.

Researchers then took gun laws from each state and year and created an index of gun control strength, with higher scores on the index corresponding to stricter statewide gun policies.

Controlling for individual and state characteristics including age, sex and race, unemployment rates and crime rates, the researchers found that stronger state gun control policies were associated with a 1.9 percentage point decrease in the probability that a teen carried a weapon at any location – which 16 percent of teens overall reported doing. They also found a 1.1 percentage point dip in the probability that a student skipped school because they felt unsafe. Stricter laws were also linked with a 0.8 percentage point decrease in the probability of being threatened or injured with a weapon at school, which 7 percent of high schoolers overall reportedly experienced.

Carrying a weapon was overall more common among white students compared with black and Hispanic students, according to the study. Black students were more likely to carry weapons at school in response to stricter gun laws, though the authors say that may be due to a substitution toward non-firearm weapons.

The authors also said that the study relies on information reported by teens, which may be misreported because of "social desirability" factors.

