Gun are very popular in America. It is estimated that there are about 300 millions guns in America in roughly 40% of American households. With all these guns, it should be no surprise that there are a lot of gunshot injuries in America: every year over 100,000 Americans get shot.
Many gun enthusiasts tell us they want to have a gun to protect themselves from crime. In truth, guns in America are used far more often in criminal attacks, suicides, and accidental shootings than they are used for “defensive gun uses” (DGU). Guns kill and injure maliciously far more often than protect against crime. The idea that guns are protective is a fiction used by the gun industry to promote sales of a dangerous consumer product. But like most advertising copy, that fiction has no basis in fact
When I repeat the facts about offensive vs. defensive gun uses here at dKos, I have sometimes been accused by gun enthusiasts of making unsupported claims or “pulling numbers out of my ass”. So I am writing this article to provide factual basis for the truth that guns in America are used far more often to harm and injury than to protect against crime. I have provided sources for this data so readers can go and review the material for themselves.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Here is data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program. In 2010, the FBI counted 230 justifiable homicides using a gun in the USA. That same year the FBI counted 8,275 criminal homicides using a gun in the USA. According to the FBI in 2010, for every one time a gun was used to kill a criminal attacker, there were 36 criminal homicides. In 2012, the FBI counted 259 justifiable homicides using a gun in the USA. That same year, the FBI counted 8,342 criminal homicides using a gun in the USA. According to the FBI in 2012, for every one time a gun was used to kill a criminal attacker, there were 32 criminal killings using a gun.
The Washington Post used this FBI data and data from the CDC to report that for every ONE time a gun is used to kill a criminal attacker there are 34 lethal homicidal shootings, 77 lethal suicidal shootings, and 2 lethal accidental shootings (Washington Post, June 2015: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/19/guns-in-america-for-every-criminal-killed-in-self-defense-34-innocent-people-die/)
Here is data from the US Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS is a twice yearly survey of American households that has been conducted every year since 1973. During the 5 year period from 2007-2012, of all violent crime (murder, rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault), in only 0.8% of violent attacks did the crime victims use a gun to defend themselves (irrespective of how the gun was used). During the 5 year period 2007-2012, for all property crime (household burglary, motor vehicle theft, property theft), the crime victim used a gun to protect themselves in 0.1% of the criminal attacks (irrespective of how the gun was used). The raw number look like this: total number of violent crimes: 29,618,300; total number of DGUs in violent attacks: 235,700; total number of property crimes; 84,495,500; total number of DGUs in property crimes: 103,000. These numbers are totals for a five year period: to get a yearly average, divide by five. Compare these numbers to the claim of the gun industry that there are 2.5 million DGUs every year.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Now data published in peer-reviewed medical and public health journals. There are literally hundreds of thousands of published peer-reviewed studies of guns and safety and health. This list is a small sample of the available data.
Kellerman AL. New England Journal of Medicine 1986; 314:1557-1580
This study reviewed all deaths caused by a firearm in King County, Washington (pop. 1,270,000) between 1978 and 1983. A total of 743 firearm-related deaths were recorded during this period, of which 398 occurred in the residence where the firearm was kept. Two of the deaths (0.5%) were of an intruder shot during an attempted entry. Seven persons (1.8%) were killed in a self-defense shooting. For every case of self-defensive shooting, there were 1.3 accidental deaths, 4.6 criminal homicides, and 37 suicides. Handguns were used in 70.5% of these shootings. A homeowner's gun is 43 times more likely to kill the homeowner, a family member, or friendly acquaintance, than to kill an intruder or criminal. The authors conclude that keeping a firearm in the home is not safe.
McDowell D. American Journal of Public Health 1994; 84:1982-84
This study used data from the National Crime Victimization Survey from the years 1987-1990. The authors report that during the study period there were 258,460 incidents of firearms used to defend against criminal attack, for a yearly average of 68,615 DGUs. Crime victims used a gun to defend themselves in 0.18% of criminal attacks. The authors conclude that using a gun to defend against criminal attack is a rare occurrence.
Kellerman AL. New England Journal of Medicine. 1993; 329:1084-91
The authors reviewed police and medical examiners' records of homicides in the most populous counties in Tennessee, Washington, and Ohio. Data on homicide victims was compared to control (not killed by homicide) subjects. The authors report that keeping a gun in the home is a strong and independent risk factor for being killed by homicide. For those with live where there is a gun, there is a 3.7-fold increase in the risk of homicide. The authors conclude that guns do not confer protection, but rather increase the risk of homicide.
Bailey JE. The Archives of Internal Medicine. 1997;157(7):777-782
A follow-on report of the Kellermann 1993 study to specifically examine data on domestic violence against women. That authors report that having a gun in the home is an strong risk factor for both homicide and suicide for women. The increased risk of homicide for women is attributable to homicide by husband/intimate partner or close relative. The authors conclude that instead of conferring protection, keeping a gun in the home is associated with an increased risk of both suicide and homicide for women.
Kellerman AL Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection, and Critical Care. 1998; 45:263-267
This study examined 12 months of police, hospital, and medical examiners' records in Memphis TN., Galveston TX., and Seattle WA., to review data on shootings. During the study period, the authors report there were 626 shootings in or around a residence, including 54 unintentional shootings, 118 attempted or completed suicides, and 438 assaults/homicides. During that time, there were 13 shooting found to be legally justified or an act of self-defense, including three shooting involving a law enforcement officer acting in the line of duty. The authors report that for every one time a gun was used in or around a residence in self-defense, there were 4 unintentional shootings, 7 homicidal shootings, and 11 suicidal shootings. The authors conclude that guns kept in homes are more likely to be involved in a fatal or nonfatal accidental shooting, criminal assault, or suicide attempt than to be used to injure or kill in self-defense.
(thanks to reader Donovan469 for the reference)
Hemenway D. Injury Prevention. 2000; 6:263-267
This study used a telephone survey of random US household in 1996 and 1999 to ask respondents about defensive gun uses and gun victimization. The study also asked sitting US criminal court judges to review respondents' stories about DGU. The authors report that there were 152 respondents provided 271 incidents of being a victim of a hostile gun display, and there were 43 respondents who provided 146 self-defensive gun uses. There were three times as many reports of being the victim of a hostile gun display as there were DGUs. When sitting US criminal court judges were asked to review the incidents of DGUs, a majority of the DGUs were found to be probably illegal by a majority of the judges. The authors conclude that guns in the home are used far more often to threaten and intimidate than they are used for self-defense, and that most purported self-reports of DGU are in fact illegal use of a gun under US laws.
Campbell JC. American Journal of Public Health 2003; 93:1089-1097
This study look at data from homicides of women in 11 US cities from 1994 thru 2000, and compared that data with women who had been assaulted but not killed. Women were almost eight times more likely to be killed when their abuser had a firearm. Interestingly, the risk of being killed for women was not changed up or down if the woman owns a gun. The authors conclude that women who live in a home where there is a gun have an increased risk of a violent death, and having a gun for a woman does not decrease that risk.
Dahlberg LL. The American Journal of Epidemiology 2004; 160:929-936
This study used data from the 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey to determine whether having a firearm in the home increases the risk of a violent death in the home and whether risk varies by storage practice, type of gun, or number of guns in the home. The authors report that those living in a home where there is a gun have a two-fold increase in dying by homicide, compared to those who live in a home where there is no gun. Those who live in a home where there is a gun have an increased risk of dying by gunshot, tho' that risk varied by age and whether others were also in the home at that time. Those who live in a home where there is a gun have a greater than 10-fold increase of dying by suicide compared to those living in a home without a gun. The results also showed that regardless of storage practice, type of gun, or number of firearms in the home, having a gun in the home was associated with an increased risk of firearm homicide and firearm suicide in the home.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Now My Editorial Comment
I do not advocate a gun ban, and I am not a “gun-grabber”, nor do I think the Second Amendment should be abolished. My opinion is that those who follow the law and want to keep a gun should be allowed to do so. But gun owners, and the American public generally, deserve to know the truth about guns, instead of the self-serving fictions promoted by the gun industry. The truth is that guns are used far more often in America in malicious or accidental shooting that they are used to defend against criminal attack. Our best estimates show that for every one defensive gun use, there are between 30 and 40 homicidal, suicidal, and accidental shootings. From these numbers, it becomes impossible to conclude that guns confer safety and protection. Of course, the gun industry wants us to believe that guns are somehow protective. Similarly, the cigarette industry hopes we will believe that cigarettes are safe, the petroleum and coal companies tell us global climate change is a hoax. These are all advertising slogans used to promote sales of dangerous or harmful products for the profit of industries. These claims are simply not true.
If someone wants to own a gun, they should know the truth about guns. Having learned the truth, those who wish to endanger themselves and their housemates (including spouse, children, relatives and visitors) can then make an adult informed choice.