City Ledes -- Be Compact

This lede ran on a bit:

A recent study conducted by two school researchers questioned how young adolescent boys would react to firearms and found that a majority of the participants handled a gun with ease and curiosity despite parental warning.

That's a lot to stuff in a lede that's 35 words long, an amount that many editors and teachers woudl question.

If that many words were necessary, you could defend yourself adequately. I'm arguing you could have been more efficient.

For starters, do you need to say what researchers were looking for? I don't think so. The end result essentially suggests that. And even if you thought that information was helpful, is it really necessary in the lede, or can you make later reference of that?

I'd entirely get rid of "questioned how young adolescent boys would react to firearms," and replace "the participants" with "young adolescent boys."

This is what you'd have left:

A recent study conducted by two school researchers questioned found that a majority of young adolescent boys handled a gun with ease and curiosity despite parental warning.

Makes the same point, right? And in only 27 words.

Word order also helps in efficiency. Like with this lede:

After a vote of 7-0, . . .

Instead, why not say this:

After a 7-0 vote . . .

. . . and get rid of "of"? Okay, so saving one word isn't the biggest deal. But save a word here and there, and it can make a real difference in uncluttering copy.