# Hand Guns **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2000, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357 "2000-03-01T13:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carl\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@Carl\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Berry)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/1 "2000-03-01T13:57:00Z")
Are there any statistics as to how many crimes are detered using hand guns? Gun owners keep them to protect their property. I wonder how often they are used for this purpose successfully. Please no NRA fights that will get this moved to GD, where it will never be heard of again! * * * Zymurgist ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/2 "2000-03-01T14:05:00Z")
I’m sure the NRA has such statistics. I’m not a member, but I seem to recall hearing 1-2 million crimes were averted/resolved with the use of a firearm (not necessarily a handgun). I think “use” doesn’t mean actually pulling the trigger. I think that many (most?) of the resolutions mearly involved the display of the firearm or the sound of it being cocked. I don’t think there are any stats about how many crimes were detered because the perpatrator knew the victim was armed and decided not to do a crime upon him. ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/3 "2000-03-01T15:19:00Z")
Gary Kleck’s research, often considered the most reliable because of his robust methodology, has it at 2.5 million. From “Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control” [quote] More than 15 studies have shown that citizens use guns in self-defense between 764,000 and 3.6 million times annually. [quote] > [@](#): > > Criminologist Gary Kleck has estimated there are more than 2.5 million defensive gun uses per year. From “Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms” > [@](#): > > An additional 9,000 to 17,000 criminals are wounded by civilians each year From “Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America” > [@](#): > > Approximately 3,000 criminals are lawfully killed each year by armed civilians - more than three times the number killed by the police. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/4 "2000-03-01T15:28:00Z")
John Lott of the University of Chicago did a study that indicated concealed carries reduced crime (assaults?). He later published his findings in a book, **More Guns, Less Crime**. While there have been several people who have taken issue with his premise and his conclusions (as you will imagine), I do not yet recall seeing anyone demolish his methodology. * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![InutilisVisEst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d2c977/32.png) [@InutilisVisEst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InutilisVisEst)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/5 "2000-03-01T15:38:00Z")
Dredged this out of old e-mail, so no citation available yet: Number of physicians in the United States = 700,000 Accidental deaths caused by physicians/year = 120,000 Ratio: 0.171 ``` Number of gun owners in United States = 80,000,000 Number of accidental gun deaths/year = 1500 Ratio: 0.0000188 Conclusion: Doctors are approximately 9000 times more dangerous than ``` gunowners! Maybe yes, maybe no. Still, it makes you wonder how many lives are lost from various causes which could be easily prevented by throwing even a fraction of the anti-gun budget at them. * * * Sure, I’m all for moderation – as long as it’s not excessive. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2000, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/6 "2000-03-01T16:19:00Z")
So next time you need to have a surgical procedure, go to your nearest convenience store? Hmmmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![InutilisVisEst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d2c977/32.png) [@InutilisVisEst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InutilisVisEst)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/7 "2000-03-02T06:22:00Z")
Helllllllooooo ev-er-y-body! Helllllllooooo Dr. Nick! (scene from Dr’ Nick Riviera’s new office in the back of the Qwik-E-Mart) Don’t want to come across as violently pro-gun anti-doctor. Some of my best friends are in the medical profession, and I don’t think they’ve accidentally killed anyone. Hmmm… Need to check into that. [trying to dodge GD rumblings] Anyway, I think it’s like airline safety. Airline accidents can kill lots of people at once and get lots of publicity when they do. In the meantime, thousands of people are dying from car wrecks, drowning, CO poisoning, etc. This is not to minimize the need to make and maintain safe airplanes. It just means that there are lots of other things out there too that could possibly save more lives with equal investment. For example, we use bleach for whitening our clothes (let the Romans use urine if they want). Yet lots of young children die or are injured each year from ingesting bleach. No one talks about illegalizing bleach, but no one suggests fairly inexpensive child-resistant caps, either. Also, you seldom hear each case of children poisoned by household chemicals, just like you seldom hear about sucessful use of guns for self-defense. I guess this is just a rant about the selectivity in reporting that made the OP necessary in the first place. [/trying to dodge GD rumblings] * * * Sure, I’m all for moderation – as long as it’s not excessive. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2000, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/8 "2000-03-02T06:30:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Helllllllooooo ev-er-y-body! > Helllllllooooo Dr. Nick! > (scene from Dr’ Nick Riviera’s new office in the back of the Qwik-E-Mart) - - - Now’s about the time the lawyer-guy would have showed up . . . (sigh) - MC, with something in his eye ---
**Author:** ![Popillia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Popillia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popillia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2000, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/9 "2000-03-08T10:23:00Z")
- Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals as many as 2.5 million times every year – or about 6,850 times a day.1 This means that each year, firearms are used more than 60 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives.2 - Of the 2.5 million self-defense cases, as many as 200,000 are by women defending themselves against sexual abuse.3 - Citizens shoot and kill at least twice as many criminals as police do every year (1,527 to 606).4 And readers of Newsweek learned in 1993 that "only 2 percent of civilian shootings involved an innocent person mistakenly identified as a criminal. The “error rate” for the police, however, was 11 percent, more than five times as high."5 - Of the 2.5 million times citizens use their guns to defend themselves every year, the overwhelming majority merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers. Less than 8% of the time, a citizen will kill or wound his/her attacker.6 - Handguns are the weapon of choice for self-defense. Citizens use handguns to protect themselves over 1.9 million times a year.7 Many of these self-defense handguns could be labeled as “Saturday Night Specials.” ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2000, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/10 "2000-03-08T14:55:00Z")
Good stats, **Popilla** , and welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board. Do you have a link or a cite so that members can examine the stats themselves? * * * [Change Your Password, Please](http://204.95.48.199/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getannounce&ForumNumber=3&Start=2451545.99&End=2451911&Session=2451598.1854) and don’t use HTML, as it has been disabled, but you can learn about superscripts [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000795.html) ---
**Author:** ![SingleDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SingleDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleDad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2000, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/11 "2000-03-08T16:44:00Z")
For an alternative viewpoint, see The [Violence Policy Center](http://www.vpc.org) Among other things they cite: **Survey Research and Self-Defense Gun Use: An Explanation of Extreme Overestimates** , David Hemenway, PhD, The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Vol. 87, No. 4, 1997, pp. 1430-1445. This paper analyzes survey methodology by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, who have claimed that civilians use guns in self-defense against offenders up to 2.5 million times each year—a number repeatedly cited by gun advocates. This paper concludes that the Kleck and Gertz survey design contains a huge overestimation bias and that their estimates are highly exaggerated. ## **Concealed Handguns: The Counterfeit Deterrent** , Franklin Zimring and Gordon Hawkins, The Responsive Community, Spring 1997, pp. 46-60. This essay sharply criticizes the work of John Lott and David Mustard who claim that “shall-issue” concealed carry laws lead to a decrease in crime. The authors point out that, since Lott and Mustard make no attempt to measure how many citizens actually carry handguns on the street or how many times civilians have used them to defend themselves against criminals, their work tells nothing of value about concealed carry laws. He’s the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor, shouting ‘All Gods are Bastards!’ ---
**Author:** ![SingleDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SingleDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleDad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2000, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/12 "2000-03-08T17:05:00Z")
> [@](#): > > No one talks about illegalizing bleach, but no one suggests fairly inexpensive child-resistant caps, either. Also, you seldom hear each case of children poisoned by household chemicals. Perhaps my radar is more sensitive because I have kids, but I do see PSA’s from time to time telling people with small children to secure their poisons. And the bleach that I buy does have childproof caps (even though my children are old enough not to drink bleach). * * * He’s the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor, shouting ‘All Gods are Bastards!’ ---
**Author:** ![Popillia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Popillia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popillia)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2000, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/13 "2000-03-09T06:24:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by manhattan: > \*\*Good stats, **Popilla** , and welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board. Do you have a link or a cite so that members can examine the stats themselves? > \*\* [http://www.gunowners.org/fs9901.htm](http://www.gunowners.org/fs9901.htm) This site has the stats I listed previously and many more. The references are all carefullly cited at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/14 "2000-03-10T00:26:00Z")
I haven’t read Lott’s book, but there are links to some of his essays in this thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001382.html), as well as some problems I found with his numbers when I checked out the [CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/data/nvs47_19.pdf) mortality page. * * * Enough of voting for the _lesser_ of evils - vote Cthulhu 2000! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-guns/8357/15 "2000-03-10T01:01:00Z")
In 1997, there were 2,314,245 deaths reported in the USA. According to the CDC (see link above; go to ‘injury mortality’), 3,043 deaths were due to ‘misadventures during medical care, abnormal reactions, and late complications,’ and another 248 due to adverse effects of drugs used in treatment. That’s a bit more than the 1,618 firearms deaths that weren’t homicide or suicide, but a lot fewer than 120,000. Total deaths of children under 15, other than homicide or suicide, 1997, By poisoning: 95. By firearm: 157. Total deaths of children under 15, 1997, By poisoning: 132. By firearm: 630. There were 146,400 deaths due to injury (which includes suicides, homicides, and accidents) in 1997; of them, 42,473 involved cars, 32,435 involved guns, 17,692 poisonings, 12,555 falls, and so on. So if you died without getting sick first, a gun was the second most likely way you went. 19,481 people in the US were victims of a homicide in 1997; 13,252 people were victims of gun homicides, so a gun was used in 68% of homicides that year. Right now I’m not arguing anything, but there were some slightly inaccurate numbers up, so I thought I’d put up some honest ones, with a link to more. But FTR, guns seem to be more deadly, here, than poison or doctors. * * * Enough of voting for the _lesser_ of evils - vote Cthulhu 2000!