Do you believe that 2 million Americans use a gun to defend themselves annually?

1. 81

   ketageposted 8 years ago

   Do you believe that 2 million Americans use a gun to defend themselves annually?
   
   This number is often used by NRA supporters to prove to Americans how essential it is for people who want to defend themselves and their families to own a gun. Do you believe that the numbers are accurate?

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2. 87

   Alphadogg16posted 8 years ago

   Growing up in Chicago, I would definitely think those numbers are pretty accurate.

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3. 78

   junksellerposted 8 years ago

   I don't believe anything the NRA says. That figure comes from a very old, very poor study, that has been widely criticized. See here for example: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ … mSmgb9u3Cc
   
   According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, between 2007 and 2011 there were 29.6 million violent crimes. Of those, people used a firearm in self-defense 235,700 times (0.8%). There were also 84.5 million property crimes. Of those a gun was used in self-defense 103,000 times (0.1%).
   
   Combined that amounts to 67,740 defensive gun uses/year. Still a lot, but nowhere near the 2-2.5 million ridiculous figure that the NRA trots out.

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   1. 81

      ketageposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I came up with about the same figures as you after a little bit of research, I was curious how many people thought that study done over the phone with a control group of 5k interviews was believed by people.

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4. 88

   Zelkiiroposted 8 years ago

   I highly doubt it's that high. Most home robberies take place when the house is empty, and the vast majority of burglars will simply flee if they find that the house is, in fact, not empty; petty thieves aren't going to risk their lives for a few bucks, and they most certainly won't risk manslaughter charges, either. The actual numbers are probably closer to between 20,000-30,000 cases of successful self-defenses annually, and that's being generous.

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   1. 81

      ketageposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I did find the numbers ludicrously high when I read the article study that came up with those statistics.

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