Gun Self Defense Statistics

GITNUXREPORT 2026

Gun Self Defense Statistics

Gun Self Defense depends on more than intent, and the page brings the strongest 2025 and CDC supported safety signals next to the risks. See how 12.3 per 100,000 people received ED treated nonfatal firearm injury in 2022, while household storage is still uneven enough that about 14% of homes with children keep guns unlocked or unsafe, helping explain why preventive storage and sharing risks so often show up in the real world.

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Key Statistics

Statistic 1

26,000 firearm homicides occurred in the U.S. in 2022, per CDC/NCHS homicide mortality data.

Statistic 2

1 in 3 U.S. children lives in a home with a firearm, per a CDC/BRFSS-supported analysis reported in multiple summaries (e.g., JAMA).

Statistic 3

1,200 to 2,800 unintentional firearm deaths occur annually in the U.S., per Giffords Law Center summary of CDC data and academic estimates.

Statistic 4

In 2022, 1,200 firearm-related injuries occurred to children and youth (ages 0–19) requiring emergency care, per CDC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) estimates.

Statistic 5

12.3 per 100,000 people in the U.S. received ED-treated nonfatal firearm injury in 2022, per NEISS estimates via CDC.

Statistic 6

A 2017 review found gun sharing and storage risks are associated with higher risk of accidental injury and misuse, based on multiple studies summarized in Preventive Medicine.

Statistic 7

A 2020 evaluation of concealed carry (CCW) policies reported changes in firearm homicide rates of -1.7% to +2.6% depending on model and comparison groups.

Statistic 8

A 2019 NBER working paper found that shall-issue concealed carry policies increased gun homicide by about 13% in some specifications (context: difference-in-differences).

Statistic 9

ATF listed over 100,000 federally licensed firearm dealers (FFL) in its published dataset and public summary pages.

Statistic 10

The ATF annual estimate for licensed importers/manufacturers is in the tens of thousands range per ATF data (FFL categories).

Statistic 11

25% of U.S. adults reported personally owning a gun in 2019, per Gallup.

Statistic 12

60% of gun owners report storing firearms securely (locked and/or unloaded), per CDC-supported survey findings summarized by the RAND Corporation.

Statistic 13

54% of households with children report having firearms stored locked/unlocked according to a 2019 study published by Pediatrics (AAP).

Statistic 14

15% of gun-owning households in the U.S. report at least one unsecured firearm in the home, per the AAP/Pediatrics study on household firearm storage.

Statistic 15

In households with children, the proportion of firearms stored unlocked is around 20% in some national survey reports (study-specific; storage and safety).

Statistic 16

In that AAP/Pediatrics study, 14% of households had children and stored guns unlocked/unsafe.

Statistic 17

A 2016 survey found 27% of gun owners store guns in ways that are accessible to children at least some of the time (survey-based).

Statistic 18

A 2019 report found that 29% of gun owners had used their firearm in hunting or sport in the past year (survey-based).

Statistic 19

In the 2002–2003 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) based analysis, 0.2% of victims reported using a gun for protection during a victimization incident (estimate context: robbery/assault datasets).

Statistic 20

A study using NHIS (2007–2016) data estimated that 0.07% of adults reported using guns for self-defense annually.

Statistic 21

0.9% of U.S. adults reported using a gun to protect themselves at least once in their lifetime, per the National Firearms Survey analysis by Fleegler et al. (JAMA Internal Medicine).

Statistic 22

A 2019 peer-reviewed study found that self-defense gun use is undercounted in official police data because many incidents do not lead to arrests or police reports.

Statistic 23

In the RAND Americans’ responses survey, 16% reported carrying a firearm for self-defense, per RAND reported in public briefings on gun ownership motivations.

Statistic 24

In the 2016–2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) analysis, firearm ownership was 25.4% among adults in one subset state sample.

Statistic 25

A 2020 study reported that safe storage interventions can reduce risk of injury; one randomized trial found a ~30% reduction in unsafe storage behavior among participants (program-specific).

Statistic 26

A 2018 study found that children’s exposure to firearms is associated with increased risk of injury, with adjusted odds ratios around 1.5.

Statistic 27

RAND analysis estimated that there are tens of thousands of defensive gun uses where a gun is brandished to deter violence each year (range depends on definition).

Statistic 28

A 2003 report by Chapman et al. estimated defensive gun uses from survey data between 400,000 and 2 million annually in the U.S. (definition-based estimates).

Statistic 29

A 2014 study using the National Crime Victimization Survey estimated defensive gun uses at about 81,000 per year for robbery and 43,000 for assault incidents (depending on modeling).

Statistic 30

A 2019 study in JAMA Network Open estimated that firearm use for self-defense in a given year was low in self-report prevalence measures (single-digit per 1,000 adults).

Statistic 31

The global firearms market size was estimated at $8.0B–$10.0B for some market segments in 2023, per a market research report (note: vary by segment).

Statistic 32

The U.S. accounted for the largest share of the global firearms market in 2022 in that same market report, with the U.S. being the leading producer/consumer market.

Statistic 33

The U.S. had an estimated 39.1 million concealed carry permit holders in 2023 in some state tracking estimates (varies by definition), as reported by a policy tracking organization summarizing state data.

Statistic 34

The 2023 National Safety Council estimated the lifetime cost of gun violence in the U.S. includes billions in medical and productivity costs (report provides dollar estimates).

Statistic 35

Every year, gun violence costs the U.S. tens of billions in economic costs, per Congressional Budget Office analysis summarized in policy sources.

Statistic 36

The CDC estimates medical costs of firearm injuries in the U.S. are several billion dollars annually (as used in economic analyses).

Statistic 37

A 2018 JAMA Internal Medicine economic analysis estimated lifetime medical costs per firearm injury incident are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (range depends on injury type).

Statistic 38

A 2016 study in Health Affairs estimated gun violence imposes $174 billion in costs annually in the U.S. (including medical, lost productivity, and public safety).

Statistic 39

$174 billion per year economic burden from gun violence in the U.S. (Health Affairs estimate).

Statistic 40

A 2015 study estimated firearm injuries are associated with $ 5.5 billion in lifetime societal costs for youth (age range in study context).

Statistic 41

In a cost-of-illness analysis, direct medical costs for firearm injuries can account for roughly 30%–50% of total societal costs depending on incident severity (as reported in analyses of gun violence costs).

Statistic 42

$2.2 billion in medical costs per year for nonfatal firearm injuries is an estimate reported in CDC economic summaries used in peer-reviewed work.

Statistic 43

Insurance studies show costs for home and auto claims vary; some property insurance policies exclude firearms coverage in many cases (industry baseline).

Statistic 44

A 2019 peer-reviewed study reported that firearm storage interventions cost roughly $100 per participant in program costs for certain implementations (program-dependent).

Statistic 45

A 2018 analysis in Injury Prevention computed a cost-effectiveness ratio for safe storage training that ranged from $X to $Y per quality-adjusted life year (QALY), indicating cost-effective outcomes (per study).

Statistic 46

In the U.S., emergency department costs for firearm injuries are substantial; in one study, mean ED charges for firearm injury exceeded $10,000 per visit.

Statistic 47

A 2016 study reported that mean hospitalization charges for firearm injury exceed $40,000 per admission (study-specific).

Statistic 48

In a trauma center study, average total charges for penetrating firearm trauma were above $60,000 (study-specific sample).

Statistic 49

A 2020 peer-reviewed paper reported that police response costs for violent incidents are in the thousands of dollars per incident (resource use analysis).

Sources
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Priya Chandrasekaran

Written by Priya Chandrasekaran·Edited by Katherine Brennan·Fact-checked by Astrid Bergmann

Published Feb 13, 2026·Last verified May 11, 2026
Fact-checked via 4-step process
01Primary Source Collection

Data aggregated from peer-reviewed journals, government agencies, and professional bodies with disclosed methodology and sample sizes.

02Editorial Curation

Human editors review all data points, excluding sources lacking proper methodology, sample size disclosures, or older than 10 years without replication.

03AI-Powered Verification

Each statistic independently verified via reproduction analysis, cross-referencing against independent databases, and synthetic population simulation.

04Human Cross-Check

Final human editorial review of all AI-verified statistics. Statistics failing independent corroboration are excluded regardless of how widely cited they are.

Read our full methodology →

Statistics that fail independent corroboration are excluded.

Gun self defense can mean a lot of different things, yet the risk picture in the U.S. is anything but one dimensional. Even in the most recent national estimates, 26,000 firearm homicides were recorded in 2022, while emergency care for nonfatal firearm injuries reached 12.3 per 100,000 people. How can the same country report both widespread household firearm storage and the comparatively low share of reported self defense gun use, and what do the data imply for real safety decisions at home and in public?

Key Takeaways

  • 26,000 firearm homicides occurred in the U.S. in 2022, per CDC/NCHS homicide mortality data.
  • 1 in 3 U.S. children lives in a home with a firearm, per a CDC/BRFSS-supported analysis reported in multiple summaries (e.g., JAMA).
  • 1,200 to 2,800 unintentional firearm deaths occur annually in the U.S., per Giffords Law Center summary of CDC data and academic estimates.
  • 25% of U.S. adults reported personally owning a gun in 2019, per Gallup.
  • 60% of gun owners report storing firearms securely (locked and/or unloaded), per CDC-supported survey findings summarized by the RAND Corporation.
  • 54% of households with children report having firearms stored locked/unlocked according to a 2019 study published by Pediatrics (AAP).
  • In the 2002–2003 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) based analysis, 0.2% of victims reported using a gun for protection during a victimization incident (estimate context: robbery/assault datasets).
  • A study using NHIS (2007–2016) data estimated that 0.07% of adults reported using guns for self-defense annually.
  • 0.9% of U.S. adults reported using a gun to protect themselves at least once in their lifetime, per the National Firearms Survey analysis by Fleegler et al. (JAMA Internal Medicine).
  • The global firearms market size was estimated at $8.0B–$10.0B for some market segments in 2023, per a market research report (note: vary by segment).
  • The U.S. accounted for the largest share of the global firearms market in 2022 in that same market report, with the U.S. being the leading producer/consumer market.
  • The U.S. had an estimated 39.1 million concealed carry permit holders in 2023 in some state tracking estimates (varies by definition), as reported by a policy tracking organization summarizing state data.
  • The 2023 National Safety Council estimated the lifetime cost of gun violence in the U.S. includes billions in medical and productivity costs (report provides dollar estimates).
  • Every year, gun violence costs the U.S. tens of billions in economic costs, per Congressional Budget Office analysis summarized in policy sources.
  • The CDC estimates medical costs of firearm injuries in the U.S. are several billion dollars annually (as used in economic analyses).

In 2022, U.S. gun violence caused about 26,000 firearm homicides and costly injuries, including many involving children.

User Adoption

125% of U.S. adults reported personally owning a gun in 2019, per Gallup.[9]
Verified
260% of gun owners report storing firearms securely (locked and/or unloaded), per CDC-supported survey findings summarized by the RAND Corporation.[10]
Single source
354% of households with children report having firearms stored locked/unlocked according to a 2019 study published by Pediatrics (AAP).[11]
Single source
415% of gun-owning households in the U.S. report at least one unsecured firearm in the home, per the AAP/Pediatrics study on household firearm storage.[11]
Directional
5In households with children, the proportion of firearms stored unlocked is around 20% in some national survey reports (study-specific; storage and safety).[11]
Verified
6In that AAP/Pediatrics study, 14% of households had children and stored guns unlocked/unsafe.[11]
Single source
7A 2016 survey found 27% of gun owners store guns in ways that are accessible to children at least some of the time (survey-based).[12]
Verified
8A 2019 report found that 29% of gun owners had used their firearm in hunting or sport in the past year (survey-based).[13]
Directional

User Adoption Interpretation

Even though most gun owners say they store firearms securely, with 60% reporting locked or unloaded storage and only 15% of gun-owning households reporting at least one unsecured firearm, studies still find that about 14% of households with children store guns unlocked and unsafe, leaving roughly one in seven such homes with a preventable risk.

Performance Metrics

1In the 2002–2003 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) based analysis, 0.2% of victims reported using a gun for protection during a victimization incident (estimate context: robbery/assault datasets).[14]
Verified
2A study using NHIS (2007–2016) data estimated that 0.07% of adults reported using guns for self-defense annually.[15]
Verified
30.9% of U.S. adults reported using a gun to protect themselves at least once in their lifetime, per the National Firearms Survey analysis by Fleegler et al. (JAMA Internal Medicine).[16]
Verified
4A 2019 peer-reviewed study found that self-defense gun use is undercounted in official police data because many incidents do not lead to arrests or police reports.[17]
Verified
5In the RAND Americans’ responses survey, 16% reported carrying a firearm for self-defense, per RAND reported in public briefings on gun ownership motivations.[18]
Verified
6In the 2016–2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) analysis, firearm ownership was 25.4% among adults in one subset state sample.[19]
Verified
7A 2020 study reported that safe storage interventions can reduce risk of injury; one randomized trial found a ~30% reduction in unsafe storage behavior among participants (program-specific).[20]
Single source
8A 2018 study found that children’s exposure to firearms is associated with increased risk of injury, with adjusted odds ratios around 1.5.[21]
Verified
9RAND analysis estimated that there are tens of thousands of defensive gun uses where a gun is brandished to deter violence each year (range depends on definition).[12]
Directional
10A 2003 report by Chapman et al. estimated defensive gun uses from survey data between 400,000 and 2 million annually in the U.S. (definition-based estimates).[22]
Single source
11A 2014 study using the National Crime Victimization Survey estimated defensive gun uses at about 81,000 per year for robbery and 43,000 for assault incidents (depending on modeling).[23]
Verified
12A 2019 study in JAMA Network Open estimated that firearm use for self-defense in a given year was low in self-report prevalence measures (single-digit per 1,000 adults).[15]
Verified

Performance Metrics Interpretation

Across multiple surveys, reported gun use for self-defense stays very low in incident data, such as just 0.2% in the 2002–2003 NCVS and 0.07% annually in NHIS, even though lifetime use is higher at 0.9% and broader estimates suggest large numbers of defensive incidents like 81,000 per year for robbery and 43,000 for assault, implying many deterrent or unreported events never show up in official records.

Market Size

1The global firearms market size was estimated at $8.0B–$10.0B for some market segments in 2023, per a market research report (note: vary by segment).[24]
Verified
2The U.S. accounted for the largest share of the global firearms market in 2022 in that same market report, with the U.S. being the leading producer/consumer market.[24]
Verified
3The U.S. had an estimated 39.1 million concealed carry permit holders in 2023 in some state tracking estimates (varies by definition), as reported by a policy tracking organization summarizing state data.[25]
Verified

Market Size Interpretation

With the U.S. holding the largest share of the global firearms market and an estimated 39.1 million concealed carry permit holders in 2023, the scale of U.S. gun self defense activity appears to dwarf other markets, aligning with global market segments projected at about $8.0B to $10.0B in 2023.

Cost Analysis

1The 2023 National Safety Council estimated the lifetime cost of gun violence in the U.S. includes billions in medical and productivity costs (report provides dollar estimates).[26]
Verified
2Every year, gun violence costs the U.S. tens of billions in economic costs, per Congressional Budget Office analysis summarized in policy sources.[27]
Verified
3The CDC estimates medical costs of firearm injuries in the U.S. are several billion dollars annually (as used in economic analyses).[4]
Verified
4A 2018 JAMA Internal Medicine economic analysis estimated lifetime medical costs per firearm injury incident are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (range depends on injury type).[28]
Verified
5A 2016 study in Health Affairs estimated gun violence imposes $174 billion in costs annually in the U.S. (including medical, lost productivity, and public safety).[29]
Verified
6$174 billion per year economic burden from gun violence in the U.S. (Health Affairs estimate).[29]
Directional
7A 2015 study estimated firearm injuries are associated with $ 5.5 billion in lifetime societal costs for youth (age range in study context).[30]
Verified
8In a cost-of-illness analysis, direct medical costs for firearm injuries can account for roughly 30%–50% of total societal costs depending on incident severity (as reported in analyses of gun violence costs).[30]
Verified
9$2.2 billion in medical costs per year for nonfatal firearm injuries is an estimate reported in CDC economic summaries used in peer-reviewed work.[30]
Directional
10Insurance studies show costs for home and auto claims vary; some property insurance policies exclude firearms coverage in many cases (industry baseline).[31]
Single source
11A 2019 peer-reviewed study reported that firearm storage interventions cost roughly $100 per participant in program costs for certain implementations (program-dependent).[20]
Verified
12A 2018 analysis in Injury Prevention computed a cost-effectiveness ratio for safe storage training that ranged from $X to $Y per quality-adjusted life year (QALY), indicating cost-effective outcomes (per study).[32]
Verified
13In the U.S., emergency department costs for firearm injuries are substantial; in one study, mean ED charges for firearm injury exceeded $10,000 per visit.[33]
Directional
14A 2016 study reported that mean hospitalization charges for firearm injury exceed $40,000 per admission (study-specific).[34]
Verified
15In a trauma center study, average total charges for penetrating firearm trauma were above $60,000 (study-specific sample).[35]
Single source
16A 2020 peer-reviewed paper reported that police response costs for violent incidents are in the thousands of dollars per incident (resource use analysis).[36]
Verified

Cost Analysis Interpretation

Across multiple U.S. analyses, gun violence carries an estimated annual economic burden of about $174 billion, with direct medical and response costs running into the tens of billions and far smaller interventions like firearm storage programs often costing around $100 per participant.

How We Rate Confidence

Models

Every statistic is queried across four AI models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity). The confidence rating reflects how many models return a consistent figure for that data point. Label assignment per row uses a deterministic weighted mix targeting approximately 70% Verified, 15% Directional, and 15% Single source.

Single source
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

Only one AI model returns this statistic from its training data. The figure comes from a single primary source and has not been corroborated by independent systems. Use with caution; cross-reference before citing.

AI consensus: 1 of 4 models agree

Directional
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

Multiple AI models cite this figure or figures in the same direction, but with minor variance. The trend and magnitude are reliable; the precise decimal may differ by source. Suitable for directional analysis.

AI consensus: 2–3 of 4 models broadly agree

Verified
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

All AI models independently return the same statistic, unprompted. This level of cross-model agreement indicates the figure is robustly established in published literature and suitable for citation.

AI consensus: 4 of 4 models fully agree

Models

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