# Not sure how to extrapolate crime rate based on this survey of defensive gun use

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-how-to-extrapolate-crime-rate-based-on-this-survey-of-defensive-gun-use/989211>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [August 28, 2023, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-how-to-extrapolate-crime-rate-based-on-this-survey-of-defensive-gun-use/989211 "2023-08-28T03:35:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-how-to-extrapolate-crime-rate-based-on-this-survey-of-defensive-gun-use/989211/21 "2023-09-05T22:12:32Z")

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> [@Buck\_Godot](#):
>
> Also the author does appear to be firmly on the guns rights side of the spectrum.
> 
> He wrote a paper entitled "“Economic and Ideological Corruptions of the Regulatory State” with the following abstract

While I agree that gun rights and a dislike of regulations both tend to be positions of conservatives, I don’t see how that abstract says anything at all about gun rights per se.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-how-to-extrapolate-crime-rate-based-on-this-survey-of-defensive-gun-use/989211/22 "2023-09-05T22:16:33Z")

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He says that “recent gun control measures” are an example of “unwarranted regulation”. That sure looks like a statement about gun rights.

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**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-how-to-extrapolate-crime-rate-based-on-this-survey-of-defensive-gun-use/989211/23 "2023-09-05T22:27:32Z")

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Also I didn’t include it in my quote but the [site](https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA372450451&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=01472011&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E54faa980&aty=open-web-entry) I got it from of listed Gun Control (and no other specific examples) as a Key Word for the paper. So I assume that Gun Control is his primary example of a corrupt ideological based regulation that serves no economic benefit.

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**Author:** ![Digger11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Digger11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digger11)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-how-to-extrapolate-crime-rate-based-on-this-survey-of-defensive-gun-use/989211/24 "2023-09-10T03:09:55Z")

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> [@sweeteviljesus](#):
>
> > [@sweeteviljesus](#):
> >
> > I was really trying to get a sense about whether the 1.67 million figure would indicate crime was much higher than it is.
> 
> Are there sufficient incidents nationwide to make this figure plausible (or even the lower figure of about 100k)?

Out of a population of 300 million (rounding down to account for people in jail, in the hospital, and other situations where somebody almost certainly would not have a gun, and/or would be physically unable to use it) – 1.67 million is only 0.56% of the population.

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-sure-how-to-extrapolate-crime-rate-based-on-this-survey-of-defensive-gun-use/989211/25 "2023-09-10T19:33:38Z")

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> [@Digger11](#):
>
> Out of a population of 300 million (rounding down to account for people in jail, in the hospital, and other situations where somebody almost certainly would not have a gun, and/or would be physically unable to use it) – 1.67 million is only 0.56% of the population.

You should exclude minors, which is like 22%.

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