Clayton Cramer.: How Often Are Guns Used in Self-Defense?

Clayton Cramer.: How Often Are Guns Used in Self-Defense?

Thursday, June 23, 2016

How Often Are Guns Used in Self-Defense?

“According to a recent report from the Violence Policy Center, for every one justifiable homicide involving a gun in 2013, there were 37 criminal homicides. The same ratio was true across a five-year period from 2009 to 2013.”

This is a recurring claim of the mainstream media: that gun murders so far outnumber justifiable homicides that gun ownership is a net loss. This is a statement that is technically accurate but misleading.

This would be an interesting argument if the FBI’s justifiable homicide statistics included all defensive killings by civilians. But it does not.