It's recorded in numerous surveillance videos. Gunfire is too common in too many neighborhoods around the city.

Often, the person pulling the trigger is a teenager, and the person being shot is also a teen.

So what is causing all the violence? NY1 spoke with a group of young men who may have the answer, connecting with them through community groups that help teens involved with gangs and gun violence.

The goal is to get them to stop the shootings. Their faces and names have been kept anonymous due to the repercussions that could come to them from speaking out.

The young men shared their explanations about the root of youth violence and crime, with the hope it can lead to solutions.

"I've been shot before. I basically know what it feels like. Wrong place, wrong time, got shot," one young man said.

"I never got shot, but I got shot at before," another young man said. "It felt like I was watching myself get shot at."

He described it like he was watching a movie. The teen says he ran for his life as someone opened fire while he was headed to school.

According to NYPD statistics, since 2019, the number of youth perpetrators and victims of gun violence has more than doubled.

Last year, 124 people under 18-years-old were arrested for firing a gun, and there were 153 gunshot victims under the age of 18.

"If we come from generations where people glorify this, how are we ever going to see it is wrong?" one teen asked.

The teens say they have been taught this way of living by older gang members and others in the community.

"So like, we basically hearing that our whole life, so that's what stuck in our head, I'm loyal to where I'm from, no matter what. I'm loyal to where I'm from. That's how people feel," one young man explained.

If that means pulling a trigger, they say they will, but these young men also point to drill rap music and social media as being culprits for continued violence. They say bullets are fired over disrespect or taunting that comes online.

"When you think of yourself as a person, as a real street dude, you feel that you have to answer that," one teen said.

Many people have debated whether drill rap and the music videos associated with it are connected to increased violence.

Forrest Stuart, associate professor of sociology and director of the Ethnography Lab at Stanford University, wrote about it in his book, "Ballad of the Bullet."

He told NY1 based on his research, he believes there is no social scientific evidence that drill music and social media are directly causing gang violence, adding that it may even mitigate and sometimes prevent it.

However, this group disagreed. These young men said they live it, and the drill music, which depicts violence, often impacts their moods, beliefs and actions.

"YouTube, YouTube is dangerous. I don't care what no one says," explained one of the young men. "I played [a] song recently. I am going to be honest with you. It was this close to getting me back to my old life, no lie. Just off of the music, what he is saying."

Many advocates argue it is poverty and a lack of resources in neighborhoods that play major roles when it comes to violence.

It may seem like a simple solution, but this group said the key to decreasing shootings is preventing younger kids who are not even teens yet from watching violent content.

They also say getting guns is all too easy in New York City.

Asked how long it would take to get a gun, one replied, "Less than an hour, five to 10 minutes. I am going to be real with you."