A lot of public policy on gun use is based on a 1992 survey/study by Gary Kleck and Marc Getz, which suggested that there were between between 1 million and 2.5 million defensive gun uses per year. The problem is, the numbers just don't add up, even though the NRA keeps repeating them over and over.
The Myth Behind Defensive Gun Ownership
In the early hours of Nov. 2, 2013, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, a pounding at the door startled Theodore Wafer from his slumber. Unable to find his cell phone to call the police, he grabbed the shotgun he kept loaded in his closet. Wafer opened the door and, spotting a dark figure behind the screen, fired a single blast at the supposed intruder….
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Yea I wondered about this. Can't say I'm surprised. It always seemed like a numbers game. The more you have of anything the more you start to see the positives and negatives from it. Plus it didn't help that I know people with guns and they no people with guns. And despite hearing this from people I never once heard the hero story.
The only exception to this is my military friend that was in Iraq. He had a number of hero stories and awards to prove it. But using guns in war and using them domestically in non-war are very different.
+Jon Weber Different in lots of ways. Rules of engagement differ. Who's going after whom, and who you have backing you up is different. The circumstances when you are likely to need a gun differ (when, where, what you're doing, where the weapon is). The weapons themselves are different. Targets (and bystanders) are different, too.
I'm sure there are "hero stories." The question is, we know there are a lot of "villain stories," too. How (and what) do we decide where the balance is, legally and socially?