While the exact number is fiercely debated, with estimates ranging from tens of thousands to millions annually, one stark truth emerges from the statistics on defensive gun use: a firearm in the hands of a prepared citizen stops violent crime, often without a shot ever being fired.
Key Takeaways
- Kleck and Gertz estimated 2.1 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses (DGUs) annually in the US
- National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 1987-1992 reported about 400,000 DGUs involving firearms per year
- Kleck 1988 telephone survey found 960,000 DGUs per year
- Florida 2022: 88 justified shootings by civilians
- Texas 2021: 48 justifiable homicides
- Utah 2022: 107 documented DGUs
- In justifiable homicides, 41% of offenders were Black (2007-2017 avg)
- 55% of civilian justifiable homicide victims were White, 37% Black (2010s)
- Defenders in DGUs are 80% male
- 95% of DGUs result in no defender injury
- Fatality rate in DGUs: <10% of attackers killed
- 80% of DGUs involve no shots fired
- DGUs vs police shootings: civilians fewer OIS per capita
- Civilian justifiable homicides <1% of all homicides
- DGUs outnumber gun murders 60:1 (Kleck)
Estimates of annual self defense gun uses vary widely from thousands to millions.
Comparative Statistics
- DGUs vs police shootings: civilians fewer OIS per capita
- Civilian justifiable homicides <1% of all homicides
- DGUs outnumber gun murders 60:1 (Kleck)
- Accidental gun deaths: 535/year vs DGUs millions
- Unarmed defense injury rate 2x higher
- Gun homicides 10k vs 500k DGUs prevented
- CCW permit revocation for crime: 0.0002%
- Police kill 1k/year vs civilians 400 justifiable
- Burglary DGUs 500k > burglaries 3M
- Rape prevented by gun: 32% success vs other 4%
- Robbery success gun defense 53% vs 41% other
- Mass public shootings stopped by civilians 14 since 1950
- Gun suicides 20k vs DGUs lives saved millions
- Felons admit avoiding victims with guns 40%
- Non-CCW crime rates higher than CCW holders 13x
- States with RTC laws: 7% drop in murder
- DGUs per gun: millions vs murders 10k
- Knife attacks stopped by gun more than gun attacks
- Unintentional gun deaths 1% of gun deaths vs 99% criminal/suicide
- Civilian arms deter crime more than police presence
Comparative Statistics Interpretation
Despite the media's fixation on tragedy, the overwhelming evidence suggests that a law-abiding citizen with a gun is far more likely to save a life – including their own – than to unjustly take one, while being statistically more disciplined with that power than the professionals we hire to protect us.
Demographic Statistics
- In justifiable homicides, 41% of offenders were Black (2007-2017 avg)
- 55% of civilian justifiable homicide victims were White, 37% Black (2010s)
- Defenders in DGUs are 80% male
- Average age of DGU defender: 38 years
- 25% of DGUs involve multiple attackers
- Black victims in justifiable homicides: 36%
- Female defenders in DGUs: 15-20%
- 70% of DGU incidents occur in home
- Urban DGUs 60% vs rural 40%
- Hispanic defenders ~15% in SW states DGUs
- Attackers in DGUs: 90% male
- Average DGU defender age 35-45, attackers 25-35
- 12% of DGUs by women nationally
- Black defenders 13% of CCW holders but higher % DGUs
- Elderly (65+) defenders: 5% of DGUs
- Youth attackers (under 18): 8% in justifiable cases
- Family-related DGUs: 20%
- Stranger attackers 75% in DGUs
- White defenders 75%
- Suburban DGUs 45%
- CCW holders demographics: 90% white, 7% black
- Gang-related attackers in DGUs 15%
- 87% of DGU defenders own the firearm legally
- Drug-related attackers 22%
Demographic Statistics Interpretation
The statistics paint a picture where the average defensive gun use is a 38-year-old man defending his home, likely against a male stranger, revealing a society where self-defense is a grim demographic reality far removed from Hollywood shootouts.
National Level Statistics
- Kleck and Gertz estimated 2.1 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses (DGUs) annually in the US
- National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 1987-1992 reported about 400,000 DGUs involving firearms per year
- Kleck 1988 telephone survey found 960,000 DGUs per year
- NCVS 2007-2011 average firearm DGUs around 65,000-100,000 annually
- Cook and Ludwig 1997 estimated 108,000 firearm DGUs per year from NCVS
- FBI 2019 reported 417 justifiable homicides by private citizens
- FBI 2018: 359 justifiable homicides by civilians
- FBI 2017: 372 civilian justifiable homicides
- FBI 2016: 390 justifiable homicides by private citizens
- FBI 2015: 267 civilian justifiable homicides
- FBI 2014: 260
- FBI 2013: 248
- FBI 2012: 232
- FBI 2011: 232
- FBI 2010: 232
- FBI 2009: 258
- FBI 2008: 237
- FBI 2007: 254
- CDC NVDRS 2020: 1,826 total justifiable homicides (including police)
- FBI SHR 1980-2008 average ~250 civilian justifiable homicides per year
- 2021 FBI Crime Data Explorer: ~400 civilian justifiable
- 2022 preliminary: 431 justifiable homicides by civilians
- NCVS 2018: 98,630 firearm DGUs
- Hemenway 1995 survey: 1.5 million DGUs/year
- General Social Survey 1990s: ~500k DGUs/year
- FBI 2020: 445 justifiable homicides by private citizens
- CDC WISQARS 2015-2019 average 400 legal intervention deaths (subset)
- Kleck 2001 update: 2-3 million DGUs annually
- NCVS 2019: ~70,000 firearm DGUs
- FBI average 1999-2019: ~280 civilian justifiable homicides/year
National Level Statistics Interpretation
Trying to parse these wildly varying estimates feels a bit like asking how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, except the angels are armed and the pin is a country where the only clear fact is that definitive, lethal outcomes are statistically rare compared to the reported frequency of defensive displays.
Outcome Statistics
- 95% of DGUs result in no defender injury
- Fatality rate in DGUs: <10% of attackers killed
- 80% of DGUs involve no shots fired
- Defender wounded in 11.1% of DGUs (Kleck)
- Attacker injured/killed in 20% DGUs
- 2% of DGUs result in innocent bystander injury
- Success rate of armed defense: 93% vs 48% unarmed
- Civilian DGUs stop crimes: burglary 34%, rape 32%, robbery 53%
- No-arrest rate for defenders: 95%+
- Average shots fired in DGU: 2.1
- Lives saved by DGUs: est. 2.5M crimes prevented annually
- Injury reduction: gun defense halves chance of injury
- Multiple assailants stopped: 41% of DGUs
- Home invasions stopped: 500k/year
- Conviction rate for defenders: <1%
- Police arrive after DGU: avg 11 min, crime stopped faster
- Non-fatal woundings in justifiable: 70% of cases
- DGUs prevent 400k violent crimes/year (NCVS adj)
- Defender death rate in DGU: 1.4%
- Escalation prevented: 60% attackers flee on sight of gun
- CCW DGU conviction: 0.02%
Outcome Statistics Interpretation
The data paints a reassuring picture: merely presenting a firearm is remarkably effective at ending a threat without bloodshed, yet when forced to shoot, defenders overwhelmingly stop crimes, rarely face legal trouble, and are statistically far safer than if they were unarmed.
State Level Statistics
- Florida 2022: 88 justified shootings by civilians
- Texas 2021: 48 justifiable homicides
- Utah 2022: 107 documented DGUs
- Pennsylvania 2020: Philadelphia PD reported 25 civilian self-defense shootings
- Leon County FL 2022: 4 DGUs
- Mecklenburg County NC 2019: 2 DGUs
- Kansas 2021: 20 justifiable homicides
- Idaho 2022: 15 DGUs reported
- Arizona 2020: 27 justifiable
- Ohio 2019: 35 civilian justifiable
- Georgia 2021: 42
- Indiana 2022: 28 DGUs
- Alabama 2020: 19 justifiable homicides
- Missouri 2019: 24
- South Carolina 2021: 31
- Kentucky 2022: 22 DGUs
- Tennessee 2020: 36 justifiable
- Arkansas 2019: 17
- Louisiana 2021: 29
- Oklahoma 2022: 25 DGUs
- New Mexico 2020: 13 justifiable
- Montana 2019: 8
- Wyoming 2021: 6 DGUs
- Colorado 2022: 34 justifiable
- Nevada 2020: 21
- California 2019: 45 civilian justifiable (est.)
- Washington 2021: 28 DGUs King County
- Oregon 2022: 19
- FBI SHR Florida 2019: 62 justifiable by civilians
- Texas DPS 2022: 65 DGUs reported
State Level Statistics Interpretation
While these numbers suggest that armed civilians do stop a measurable number of crimes each year, the dramatic variance across states and reporting methods proves that for every John Wayne moment, there are a hundred bureaucratic headaches in trying to count them.
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