Gun Use in the United States: Results from Two National Surveys

Author: Hemenway, D. / Azrael, D. / Miller, M.
Publication: Injury Prevention
Topics: Self-defense Gun Use/Deterrence U.S./National
Keywords: Firearms guns legality self defense
Bibliographic information +

The authors use data from national random digit dial telephone surveys of the adult population in conducted in 1996 and 1999. Five criminal court judges were asked to assess whether defensive gun uses reported by respondents to these surveys were likely to have been legal. The authors find that even after excluding many reported firearm victimizations, far more respondents report having been threatened or intimidated with a gun than having used a gun to protect themselves. A majority of the reported self defense gun uses were rated as probably illegal by a majority of judges. The authors conclude that guns are used to threaten and intimidate far more often than they are used in self defense and that most reported self defense gun uses may well be illegal and against the interests of society.