In a post-Cold War era inundated with guns, more and more policy makers are scoring guns -- not nuclear bombs or conventional weapons -- as the key threat to world peace and stability. American teenagers who've grown up in violent neighborhoods don't necessarily buy the "ban the gun" argument. Many view guns as tools for staying alive, but at least as many rely on less-lethal weapons. And their chief fear isn't of guns but of the minds of those who wield them. PNS's YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about young people, surveyed over 60 teenagers in the San Francisco Bay Area, half of whom are currently locked up in county detention facilities. PNS editor Sandy Close compiled their oral and written responses. (This is the third of three articles on global guns.)

It used to be that drugs were viewed as the root cause of society's problems. Today adults are fixated on guns. Cut back on the easy access to guns, politicians tell us, and you'll curb rising youth violence.

But are guns the quick fix for reducing violent youth crime so many adults think they are? PNS asked more than 60 teenagers -- all of whom have grown up in violent neighborhoods and some of whom are serving time for violent crimes -- what their weapon of choice was growing up and what weapons they feared the most. Roughly half of the males said they relied on weapons other than guns -- fists, razors, tasers and machetes -- for self defense. Most young women said they found non-lethal ways of protecting themselves -- like acting crazy or using their mouth. One young woman said her belief in God was her most powerful weapon.

Those kids, both male and female, who use guns said they viewed them as the only way to stay alive in a world out of control. The key to making life safer, most agree, is to teach people how to communicate. What almost all kids identified as the most frightening weapon out there was what was in the minds of other people.

STANLEY (19, community college student): In the projects where I live the weapon of choice is guns. No one is skillful enough to take an AK-47 to the roof, aim it and start shooting. So everything is close up. For me the best weapon is words -- mean words that crush people. You say words that shatter them and it feels good.

KREA (19, mother of one): My weapons are words -- if you spiel off enough kind words you can walk your enemy home on your arm. I figure I can use words and talk my way out of anything.

MIKJON (17, Log Cabin Ranch): The weapon I fear most is the mind behind the madness. All thoughts, good and bad, travel through that deep dark tunnel. When you are up against a person controlled by the most powerful weapon of all, the mind, that's when all the fear in the world will hit you dead in the face.

TRINA (17, Youth Guidance Center): My weapon of choice is my belief in the Lord. When I turned 17 I accepted the Lord all the way and asked him to forgive me and those who had hurt me and put me down. And you know what? I felt good and I began loving myself and loving everyone else again. My knowledge expanded on how to live and survive.

PERRY (15, Youth Guidance Center): My weapon of choice is a gun to protect myself because in my neighborhood somebody can come to you with their gang and try to get you out of your money or your manhood. Most of the time they'll do it. But if you strapped (carrying a gun), nobody will want to get near you.

ORA (15, student in adult education): When I'm waiting at night on a downtown street, I act like I belong there. Don't be afraid because if you're afraid people can tell. As soon as I got pepper spray I felt afraid -- it created an "us versus them" feeling. It's better to rely on blending into your surroundings.

MELANIE (16, Youth Guidance Center): When I'm in a dangerous situation I find my way out through the power of my mind. The only thing I'm afraid of is putting my trust, a sacred thing, in somebody else and having that used against me.

JACOB (17, Log Cabin Ranch): The weapon I have used most was a .38 snub nose. It was my most prized possession. Now the weapon I like most -- and fear most-- is a pen. When a judge puts ink from his pen to paper, he could put me in jail for the rest of my life. On the other hand, if I put my power in the pen, it can free my mind while I'm still in jail.

FARIBA (21, recent college graduate): What I'm really scared of isn't guns. I'm scared of the dark. I fear a lot of things are out of control -- like violent men. I hear so much about rape and violence, and I'm small and blond, which means I get a lot of attention. Ignoring it and walking away is my defense.

POPS (15, Log Cabin Ranch): On the outs my weapon was a gun. I used to keep my gun at my boy (friend's) house so my mom wouldn't be mad at me. I know my mom is concerned about me but I tell her stay out of my business. I know she be calling my big cousin on me and telling him to find out my business. But sometimes I see my cousin in his car and I will pull out my gun and shoot at him.

NICOLE (19, college student): On the street at midnight I act crazy -- talk to myself, laugh. People stay away from a crazy person; crazy people stay away from crazy people. For girls the weapon of choice is a box cutter (razor). Girls are way more scandalous than boys -- they won't show you what they got. Then they hit you with their hand and suddenly your face is bleeding.

RI'CHARD (19, college freshman): When I was growing up I used my fists. I had my first gun at nine or ten. My favorite was a .45 -- compact and with a kick that's unheard of. Then I packed machetes -- three foot long. You haven't seen fear until you've pulled a machete on someone. The weapon I'm most scared of is public opinion -- public opinion can shift at any moment and send all of us to concentration camps.

CHRISTY (17, Youth Guidance Center): When I was 15, I'd always carry a gun in my sock and my pants were so big you couldn't see it. When I'd try to hurt someone I'd pretend I was going to tie my shoe lace and take out my gun and scare them. Now the weapon I'm more scared of is myself because I don't know what I'm going to do now.