Defensive Gun Use is Not a Myth

Anti-gun groups and organizations across America have been trying to tell us for years now that the use of guns for self-defense by private citizens is extremely rare. Groups such as the Violence Policy Center say that “…research has found a gun is far more likely to be used in a homicide or suicide than in a justifiable homicide. More guns are stolen each year than are used in self-defense.”

But is this true? Let’s take a look at the facts.

According to a 2013 study by the CDC, almost every major study on defensive gun use has found that Americans use their firearms defensively between 500,000 and 3 million times each year. The reason why we don’t hear about these incidents is twofold. First, because the vast majority of defensive gun use situations don’t involve a single shot being fired, and most are never reported to the police. Second, because the incidents that do involve gunfire and are reported to the police (and there are many) don’t fit in with the media’s accepted narrative that guns are bad and the people who own them should feel bad for exercising their Second Amendment rights.

The Heritage Foundation has been tracking reported situations involving defensive gun use since 2019, and features an interactive map where you can look up over 1,000 such incidents with links to media reports. Another handy website to track reported defensive gun use cases is at the Gun Violence Archive, where they update the page with articles every day.

Here are a few of the most recent.

• On May 20^th, a home invasion in Columbia, MO was thwarted when the homeowners exchanged fire with the perpetrator(s). The suspect or suspects got away, but nobody was injured or killed by the gun-wielding home invaders.
• On May 18^th in Big Prairie, OH, a teenager home alone opened fire on two men when they broke into his home. One of the men was shot in the head and is in critical condition, while the other man fled.
• On May 17^th in Fort Worth, TX, three men staged a home invasion on the wrong house and were confronted by gunfire from the homeowner. One man was shot, and all three are now in custody.
• On May 16^th, a man who was under the influence of narcotics assaulted his mother with a chunk of concrete weighing about 25 pounds in Houston, TX, and was intending to cause serious harm to the 52-year-old woman when his brother stopped the rampage by shooting him in the leg.
• Also on May 16^th, a 37-year-old man in Shreveport, LA forcefully entered a home without permission and was shot in the stomach by someone at the residence. The man died from his injuries.
• On May 15^th, a home invasion in San Antonio, TX led to the suspect being shot when he attacked the homeowner in front of his family. The suspect fled and the homeowner had to be taken to the hospital for injuries to his head.
• On May 14^th in Fayetteville, AR, a burglar traded gunfire with the homeowner he was trying to rob and came out of the fight the loser, after being shot in the right side of his body. He went to the hospital, and was then arrested.
• Finally, on May 13^th a naked man broke into a home in Scottsdale, AZ and entered a child’s room while wielding a large piece of wood as a weapon. He was shot and killed by the homeowner.

All these incidents happened within the last week, and that’s not even close to all of the reported defensive gun use situations during that week. Browsing through the two sites that I linked above, you can quickly become overwhelmed with the sheer number of cases that are being largely ignored by the mainstream media. Defensive use of guns saves countless lives, literally every day in America. Don’t be fooled by the narrative that the criminal and malicious use of firearms outweighs the benefits of an armed society. Just ask any of the people in the cases I highlighted above, and they’ll likely tell you that they are alive today because they had access to a gun when it mattered the most.

Defensive gun use statistics are purposefully ignored in America, and that’s a tragedy. We should always be informed of all the facts, not just the facts that the left and the media want to present to us in an attempt to sway public opinion against gun ownership. Take a look at the databases that I linked above, and then share them with your friends and family. It’s time to combat the narrative that defensive gun use is a myth.